Henry Bessemer
Henry 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 French Revolution. Anthony worked as an inventor and created machines for making medallions at the Paris Mint. He later designed improvements to optical microscopes which earned him membership in the French Academy of Sciences by age 26. The family returned to Britain after political unrest forced them out of France. They settled in Charlton near Hitchin where Henry grew up. A man named Henry Caslon gave the boy his name while employing his father as a punchcutter.
Bessemer generated his first wealth through steam-powered machines that produced bronze powder. This material was essential for creating gold paint used in various manufacturing processes. At that time only Nuremberg could produce this specific type of bronze powder. He examined samples from Germany and then copied the production method. His machines improved upon the original process enough to allow mass production lines. The secret remained within his immediate family who alone accessed the factory floor. Hand-made powder from Nuremberg sold for five pounds twelve shillings per pound in London markets. Bessemer reduced the price to just twelve pence per pound. These profits funded all future research projects he would undertake.
His attention turned toward steel manufacture while attempting to improve gun construction methods. From 1850 until 1855 he worked on creating cheap steel for military ordnance purposes. On the 24th of August 1856 he described the process to a meeting in Cheltenham titled The Manufacture of Malleable Iron and Steel without Fuel. The Times published his full description shortly after the presentation. Oxygen contained in air blew through molten pig iron to burn off impurities. James Nasmyth had explored similar ideas but abandoned the project after hearing Bessemer speak. William Kelly received an American priority patent in 1857 which nullified Bessemer's US filing. The process revolutionized structural engineering by making steel cheaper and faster to produce.
Many industries struggled due to reliance on cast iron and wrought iron alone. Railway bridges collapsed suddenly causing treacherous accidents like the Dee Bridge disaster of May 1847. Bessemer licensed his patent to five ironmasters who faced great difficulty producing good quality steel. Göran Fredrik Göransson from Sweden made successful steel using purer charcoal pig iron. Even with Cumberland hematite iron Bessemer found carbon levels difficult to control. Robert Forester Mushet conducted thousands of experiments at Darkhill Ironworks in the Forest of Dean. He discovered that adding spiegeleisen allowed precise control over carbon content. When Bessemer tried to induce makers to adopt his system he met general rebuffs. He eventually erected steelworks in Sheffield with partners including W & J Galloway & Sons. Steel traders became aware that his firm undersold them by ten to fifteen pounds per ton. Royalties exceeded one million pounds sterling overall despite initial struggles.
Bessemer held at least 129 patents spanning from 1838 until 1883 across multiple fields. These included military ordnance devices movable dies for embossed postage stamps and sugar cane extruders. After suffering from seasickness in 1868 he designed a passenger steamship called SS Bessemer. The vessel featured a cabin on gimbals intended to stay level regardless of sea conditions. Hydraulics controlled by a steersman watching a spirit level operated the mechanism. A trial version built in his garden at Denmark Hill worked successfully in model form. The ship demolished part of Calais pier during its maiden voyage causing investor confidence loss. It was scrapped before receiving proper seagoing tests. Continuous casting between contrarotating rollers formed another patent obtained in 1857.
Queen Victoria knighted him for contributions to science on the 26th of June 1879. That same year he became a fellow of the Royal Society. An honorary membership came from the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland in 1891. He was elected an International Member of the American Philosophical Society in 1894. In 1895 he received election as a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Eight cities or towns in the United States bear his name today. English engineers felt deep regret that he did not receive higher government recognition. Sheffield maintains an early example of a Bessemer converter at Kelham Island Industrial Heritage Museum.
Bessemer died in March 1898 at Denmark Hill in London. He is buried in West Norwood cemetery located in SE27. Other influential Victorians like Sir Henry Tate and Baron de Reuters rest there too. A school named after him stood in Hitchin until demolition during the 1980s. The new road built in its place received the name Bessemer Close in 1995. Bessemer Way exists in Rotherham honoring his memory. The public house called The Fountain in Sheffield city centre changed names to The Bessemer in 2009. Workington Cumbria now hosts a Wetherspoons pub bearing his name. The Institute of Materials Minerals and Mining established the Bessemer Gold Medal under his tenure from 1871 to 1873.
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Common questions
When was Henry Bessemer born and where did he grow up?
Henry Bessemer entered the world on the 19th of January 1813 in London. The family settled in Charlton near Hitchin where Henry grew up after returning to Britain from France.
How much money did Henry Bessemer make from his bronze powder business?
Bessemer reduced the price of bronze powder to just twelve pence per pound while hand-made powder sold for five pounds twelve shillings per pound. These profits funded all future research projects he would undertake and eventually generated royalties exceeding one million pounds sterling overall.
What date did Henry Bessemer describe his steel manufacturing process to a meeting?
On the 24th of August 1856 he described the process to a meeting in Cheltenham titled The Manufacture of Malleable Iron and Steel without Fuel. Oxygen contained in air blew through molten pig iron to burn off impurities during this presentation.
Why did Robert Forester Mushet conduct experiments at Darkhill Ironworks?
Robert Forester Mushet conducted thousands of experiments at Darkhill Ironworks in the Forest of Dean because carbon levels were difficult to control with Cumberland hematite iron. He discovered that adding spiegeleisen allowed precise control over carbon content.
When was Henry Bessemer knighted by Queen Victoria?
Queen Victoria knighted him for contributions to science on the 26th of June 1879. That same year he became a fellow of the Royal Society.