Ironmaster: Difference between revisions

{{about|for-multi|the films|The Ironmaster (1933 film)|and|The Ironmaster (1948 film)|the 1983 film|Ironmaster (film)}}

The ironmaster was usually a large -scale [[entrepreneur]] and thus an important member of a community. He would have a large country house or [[mansion]] as his residence. The organization of operations surrounding the [[smelting]], [[refining]] and [[casting]] of iron was labour-intensive, and so there would be numerous workers reliant on the furnace works.

==17th -century ironmasters (examples)==

An early ironmaster was [[John Winter (Royalist)|John Winter]] (about 1600–1676) who owned substantial holdings in the [[Forest of Dean]]. During the [[English Civil War]] he cast cannons for [[Charles I of England|Charles I]].<ref>{{cite book |publisher = Collins |author = Wedgewood, C.V. |title = The King's War 1641 -– 1647 |date = 1958|ol = 25430542M }}</ref> Following the [[Restoration (England)|Restoration]], Winter developed his interest in the iron industry, and experimented with a new type of [[Ferrous metallurgy#Transition to coke in England|coking oven]]. This was a precursor to the later work of [[Abraham Darby I]] who successfully used [[coke (fuel)|coke]] to smelt iron.<ref name="knight">{{cite book |last=Knight |first=Jeremy |title=Civil War and Restoration in Monmouthshire |publisher=Logaston Press |year=2005 |isbn=1-904396-41-0}}</ref>

==18th-century ironmasters (examples)==

[[File:Portrait of John Wilkinson.jpg|thumb|upright=0.6|"Iron mad" [[John Wilkinson (industrialist)|John Wilkinson]], (1728-18081728–1808)]]

Three successive generations of the same family all bearing the name [[Abraham Darby (disambiguation)|Abraham Darby]] are renowned for their contributions to the development of the English iron industry. Their works at [[Coalbrookdale]] in Shropshire nurtured the start of improvements in [[metallurgy]] that allowed large-scale production of the iron that made the development of the [[steam engine]]s and [[railway]]s possible, although their most notable innovation was [[The Iron Bridge]].<ref>{{DNB|prescript=|wstitle=Darby, Abraham|volume=14}}</ref>

One of the best -known ironmasters of the early part of the industrial revolution was [[John Wilkinson (industrialist)|John Wilkinson]] (1728–1808), who was considered to have "iron madness", extending even to making [[cast iron]] [[coffins]].<ref>Harris, J.R. ''[http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/29428 Wilkinson, John (1728–1808)]''. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2011.</ref> Wilkinson's patented method for boring iron cylinders werewas first used to create cannons, but later provided the precision needed to create [[James Watt]]'s first steam engines.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Wilkinson|title=John Wilkinson {{!}} English ironmaster|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=2020-02-04}}</ref>

[[File:Samuel Van Leer.jpg|thumb|upright=0.6|"Capt]] Vanwas Leer"a [[Samuel Van Leer]], (1747well-1825)]][[Samuelknown Vanironmaster Leer]] wasand a wellUnited knownStates IronmasterArmy officer during the [[American Revolutionary War]] and United States Army officer. He started a military career with enthusiasm with his neighbor General [[Anthony Wayne|General Anthony Wayne]] in 1775.<ref>{{Cite web|url=httphttps://www.vanleerplusvanleerarchives.org/8samuel.htmsamuel-van-leer/|title=Samuel Van Leer welcomed the Revolution with enthusiasm.}}</ref> His furnace, [[WarwickReading Furnace FarmsHistoric District|Reading Furnace]] in Pennsylvania, supplied cannon and cannon ballscannonballs for the [[Continental Army]].<ref>{{cite web | title = PHMC Historical Markers | work =Historical Marker Database | publisher = Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission | url =http://search.pahistoricalmarkers.com/ | access-date = December 20, 2013}}</ref> Van Leer's furnace was a center of colonial iron makingironmaking and is associated with the introduction of the [[Franklin Stove]], and the retreat of [[George Washington]]'s army following its defeat at the [[Battle of Brandywine]], where they came for musket repairs.<ref>"General Washington retreated to WarwickReading to have the army's muskets repaired,," ''WarwickReading Furnace Historical Marker'', May 12, 1948.[https://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-2AC]</ref> The location is listed as a temporary [[List of Washington's Headquarters during the Revolutionary War|George Washington Headquarter]].[[File:WarwickReading FarmhouseFurnace and Farm buildings.JPG|thumb|upright=0.6|"WarwickReading FarmhouseFurnace MansionProperty", [[WarwickReading Furnace FarmsHistoric District]]]]W<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ironandsteelheritage.org/SE/east_nantmeal.cfm|title=The Iron and Steel Heritage partners with Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.}}</ref> Van Leer's children would all joinjoined the iron business as well.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pennsylvania Historical Marker Search |url=http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/apps/historical-markers.html |access-date=2022-07-06 |website=www.phmc.state.pa.us}}</ref>

==19th -century ironmasters (examples)==

[[File:Isaac Lowthian Bell - britischer Industrieller.jpg|thumb|upright=0.6|[[Lowthian Bell]], (1816-19041816–1904) by [[Frank Bramley]]]]

[[Lowthian Bell]] (1816–1904) was, like Abraham Darby, the forceful patriarch of an ironmaking dynasty. Both his son [[Sir Hugh Bell, 2nd Baronet|Hugh Bell]] and his grandson Maurice Bell were directors of the Bell iron and steel company. His father, Thomas Bell, was a founder of [[Losh, Wilson and Bell]], an iron and alkali company. The firm had works at Walker, near [[Newcastle upon Tyne]], and at [[Port Clarence]], [[Middlesbrough]], contributing largely to the growth of those towns and of the economy of the northeast of England. Bell accumulated a large fortune, with mansions including [[Washington New Hall]], [[Rounton Grange]] near [[Northallerton]], and the mediaeval [[Mount Grace Priory]] near [[Osmotherley, North Yorkshire|Osmotherley]].<ref>{{cite book | last=Howell | first=Georgina | title=Gertrude Bell: Queen of the Desert, Shaper of Nations | publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux | year=2008|edition=paperback|pages=5–6, 64–66}}</ref><ref>{{cite bookODNB | url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/index/30/101030690 | title=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography | publisher=Oxford University Press | work=Lowthian Bell |last=Tweedale |first=Geoffrey | year=2011 | doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/30690 | access-date=28 November 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/about/news/arts-and-crafts-mount-grace/ | title=Arts and crafts revival planned at Mount Grace | publisher=English Heritage | date=14 January 2010 | access-date=28 November 2012}}</ref>

| caption1 = [[Henry Bolckow]] (1806-18781806–1878), founder and financier

| caption2 = [[John Vaughan (Ironmaster)|John Vaughan]] (1799-18681799–1868), founder and ironmaster

[[Andrew Handyside and Company|Andrew Handyside]] (1805-18871805–1887) was born in Edinburgh and set up works in Derby where he made ornamental items, bridges and pillar boxes, many of which survive today.