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CUMBRIANS: JOHN WILKINSON etc
Only a limited amount of ironworking is done
in Cumbria, but its influence is important because of the ironmasters involved.
Remarkable how often they seem to be
related. Charles Wood's wife Jemima is
William Brownrigg's sister. Brownrigg's
wife Mary is Anthony Bacon's cousin.
Unrelated to other Cumbrian ironmasters, as
far as we know, is Isaac Wilkinson.
He evidently comes from Washington, County
Durham. An Isaac Wilkinson baptised at
Lorton, Cumberland, in 1704 is a red herring.
His career begins at Little Clifton furnace
near Workington, and moves ever southwards: first to Backbarrow in Furness,
where he duly sets up his own works; later to Bersham, near Wrexham.
In the
meantime he sires five children, at least three of whom deserve our attention:
"iron mad" John, the eldest; John's brother (or half-brother,
according to one account) William, who also becomes an ironmaster; and Mary
their sister, mostly remarkable for marrying the noted scientist and
philosopher Joseph Priestley.
Though most of John Wilkinson's wealth can
be ascribed to his ingenuity and enterprise, some of its origins can surely be
traced to two astute marriages.
By the age of 32 he is already a partner
with his father at Bersham, member of another partnership at Broseley (across
the Severn from Coalbrookdale) and sole
proprietor of a blast furnace at Bradley near Wolverhampton.
The Bradley furnace may have broken new
ground, as there is no sign of a stream near Bradley strong enough to drive
bellows. Likely explanation is that the
blast is produced using a Newcomen steam engine.
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“Iron Mad Wilkinson” they called him, and it was not an unlikely
title for John, who like so many other youngsters of his time was early
inured to the arts of the forge and the smelting of iron. From monograph by Ron Davies |
John's second wife, née Mary Lee, is sister-in-law of one of the
Broseley partners, Edward Blakeway, an enterprising draper from Shrewsbury.
According to the ODNB, she takes over
Blakeway's holdings when he is bankrupted in 1759.
Meanwhile Isaac Wilkinson is involved in a
new venture at Dowlais near Merthyr Tydfil, which
later brings him back into contact with fellow Cumbrians William Brownrigg and
Anthony Bacon.
It is to
Isaac's son John that Bacon turns in anticipation of the American war,
requesting a way to make cannon fire more accurately.
John obliges with a method whereby the
cannon barrels are cast solid, then bored by rotation while advancing over a
static blade.
The device is patented, and Bacon starts
making cannon at his Cyfarthfa works near Merthyr
Tydfil.
Soon hostilities break out across the
Atlantic. The Government needs cannon
urgently, and wants to use all the suppliers it can. When a contractor named Jones foresees
problems in agreeing terms with Wilkinson, it cancels his patent.
This is less of a worry than it may seem,
because Matthew Boulton can see another use for the process.
The cylinders of Watt's steam engine need
an accurately machined bore, and Wilkinson's process is just right to provide
it.
From
this point his fortunes are closely linked to those of Boulton and Watt. But he jeopardises his chances by secretly
selling cylinders in competition with them.
They eventually find out after he falls out
with his brother William, who spills the beans.
John Wilkinson's business has prospered
nevertheless, but his legacy is undermined by a liaison that produces a crop of
illegitimate children.
Like Anthony Bacon,
he leaves his property to these bastards, but his executors are less
cooperative than Bacon's when his will is challenged by a nephew.
A long legal battle ensues, which consumes
all the Wilkinson fortune and leads both his heirs and their challengers into
bankruptcy.
Among numerous websites with information
about John Wilkinson, I have found a comprehensive one at www.iron.oakengates.com
There is also the Broseley History Society
site.
henrycort.net
fi