Curated category
People of the Industrial Revolution
- Thomas HighsThomas Highs was born in Leigh, Lancashire during the year 1718. He lived most of his life within this same town. His initial trade involved making reeds for…
- Abraham Darby IIAbraham Darby II entered the world on the 12th of May 1711 within the valley of Coalbrookdale, Shropshire. His parents were Abraham and Mary Sergeant…
- John LombeJohn Lombe entered the world in Norwich around 1693. He was born into a family of textile workers as the son of a worsted weaver.
- James Beaumont NeilsonJames Beaumont Neilson was born on the 22nd of June 1792 in Shettleston. His father Walter Neilson worked as a millwright and later became an engine wright…
- James HargreavesJames Hargreaves was born at Stanhill, Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire. He stood about five-foot ten and was described as a stout, broad man.
- Lewis PaulLewis Paul died in 1759, but his story began much earlier with a family steeped in medicine and faith. His father served as the physician to Lord…
- John RoebuckJohn Roebuck was born in Sheffield, where his father ran a prosperous manufacturing business. He attended Sheffield Grammar School before studying at Dr.
- Abraham Darby IIIAbraham Darby III entered the world on the 24th of April 1750 within the iron-rich valley of Coalbrookdale. He was the eldest son of Abraham Darby the…
- Claude Louis BertholletClaude Louis Berthollet entered the world on the 9th of December 1748 in Talloires. This small town sat near Annecy within the Duchy of Savoy.
- Joseph AspdinJoseph Aspdin arrived in the world on the 25th of December 1778. He was born into a family living in Hunslet, a district within Leeds, Yorkshire.
- John Kay (flying shuttle)John Kay entered the world on the 17th of June 1704 in the Lancashire hamlet of Walmersley. His father Robert owned the Park estate there before dying before…
- Abraham Darby IAbraham Darby was born on the 14th of April 1677 at a place called Wren's Nest in Woodsetton. This location now sits within Dudley, West Midlands.
- Richard Roberts (engineer)Richard Roberts was born on the 22nd of April 1789 at Llanymynech, Powys. This village sat directly on the border between England and Wales.
- Thomas SaveryThomas Savery was born around 1650 at the manor house of Shilstone, near Modbury in Devon. He received a solid education that prepared him for military…
- Richard ArkwrightRichard Arkwright opened a small shop on Churchgate in Bolton during the early 1760s. He worked as a barber and wig-maker for local customers.
- Henry MaudslayHenry Maudslay was born on the 22nd of August 1771 in an alley off Beresford Square at Woolwich. His father worked as a wheelwright for the Royal Engineers…
- Marc Isambard BrunelMarc Isambard Brunel arrived into the world on the 25th of April 1769. He was born on a family farm in Hacqueville, Normandy.
- Samuel CromptonSamuel Crompton was born at 10 Firwood Fold in Bolton, Lancashire on the 3rd of December 1753. His father George worked as a caretaker at Hall i' th' Wood…
- Matthew BoultonMatthew Boulton was born on the 3rd of September 1728 in Birmingham, England. His father, also named Matthew, ran a small workshop specializing in buckles…
- Robert StephensonRobert Stephenson was born on the 16th of October 1803 at Willington Quay, east of Newcastle upon Tyne. His father George worked as a brakesman on a…
- William MurdochIn 1763, a young William Murdoch built a tricycle from wood and hand cranks. He called it his wooden horse on wheels. This small machine appeared in the…
- Antoine LavoisierOn the 8th of May 1794, in Paris, Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier was guillotined alongside 27 co-defendants, at the age of 50.
- Josiah WedgwoodOn the 12th of July 1730, Josiah Wedgwood was born into a family of potters in Burslem. The village had several related families working clay near St John's…
- Humphry DavyHumphry Davy was born on the 17th of December 1778 in Penzance, Cornwall. He grew up as the eldest of five children to Robert Davy and Grace Millett.
- George StephensonGeorge Stephenson was born on the 9th of June 1781 in Wylam, Northumberland. His parents Robert and Mabel could not read or write.
- Henry BessemerHenry Bessemer entered the world on the 19th of January 1813 in London. His father Anthony was a member of a Huguenot family that had fled Paris during the…
- Thomas TelfordThomas Telford was born on the 9th of August 1757 at Glendinning, a hill farm east of Eskdalemuir Kirk. His father John Telford died shortly after his birth.
- Charles TennantCharles Tennant entered the world on the 3rd of May 1768 at Laigh Corton in Alloway, Ayrshire. He was the sixth child among thirteen surviving siblings born…
- Edmund CartwrightEdmund Cartwright entered the world on the 24th of April 1743 at Marnham in Nottinghamshire. He was the fourth son born to William Cartwright and his wife…
- Henry CortHenry Cort lived in an office on Crutched Friars near Aldgate in London during 1765. He served as a Royal Navy pay agent collecting half pay and widows'…
- John Loudon McAdamJohn Loudon McAdam was born on the 23rd of September 1756 in Ayr, Scotland. He entered the world as the youngest of ten children and the second son of the…
- Joseph WhitworthJohn Street in Stockport, Cheshire, marked the birthplace of Joseph Whitworth on the 21st of December 1803. The site now holds a blue plaque on the back wall…
- Matthew MurrayMatthew Murray was born in Newcastle upon Tyne during 1765. He left school at the age of fourteen to begin an apprenticeship as a blacksmith or whitesmith.
- Richard TrevithickRichard Trevithick was born on the 13th of April 1771 at Tregajorran in the parish of Illogan. This location sat between Camborne and Redruth within one of…
- John SmeatonJohn Smeaton was born on the 8th of June 1724 in Austhorpe, Leeds. He initially joined his father's law firm after attending Leeds Grammar School.
- John Wilkinson (industrialist)John Wilkinson entered the world in Little Clifton, Cumberland, during 1728. His father Isaac worked as a potfounder at the local blast furnace.
- Benjamin HuntsmanBenjamin Huntsman was born on the 4th of June 1704 in Epworth, Lincolnshire. He was the fourth child of William and Mary Huntsman, a farming couple who…
- Ned LuddIn 1779, a weaver from Anstey near Leicester smashed two knitting frames in what was described as a fit of passion. The story claims he acted after being…
- Nicolas LeblancNicolas Leblanc was born in Ivoy le Pré, Cher, France on the 6th of December 1742. His father worked as a minor official at an iron works before dying in…