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. This facility was one of the first to use coke instead of charcoal for smelting iron. Abraham Darby had pioneered this fuel shift decades earlier. Young John grew up surrounded by the heat and smoke of industrial production. He attended a dissenting academy run by Dr Caleb Rotherham in Kendal. This school served non-conformist families who were barred from Oxford or Cambridge universities. His half-brother William was seventeen years younger than him. They shared a Presbyterian upbringing that shaped their worldview.
Wilkinson established his own foundry operations starting in 1753 when he moved to Bersham near Wrexham. He erected a new blast furnace at Willey in Shropshire two years later. His headquarters became a house called The Lawns located in Broseley. He built additional works at New Willey, Snedshill, Hollinswood, Hadley, and Hampton Loade. Bradley became his largest enterprise with extensive experiments substituting raw coal for coke. At its peak, the site included brick works, potteries, glass works, and rolling mills. By 1796, he produced about one-eighth of Britain's total cast iron output. He bought the Brymbo Hall estate in Denbighshire during 1792 to expand further north.
James Watt struggled for years to obtain accurately bored cylinders for his steam engines. He had to use hammered iron which was out of round and caused leakage past the piston. Wilkinson invented a boring machine in 1774 where the shaft held the cutting tool extended through the cylinder. This design supported the shaft on both ends unlike cantilevered borers then in use. He bored the cylinder for Boulton & Watt's first commercial engine successfully. An exclusive contract followed due to lower tolerance between the piston and cylinder. Steam losses dropped significantly because the gap narrowed. This achievement marked a milestone in boring technology as fields expanded into pumps and industrial uses. The main market shifted from pumping water out of mines to driving machinery in ironworks.
Thomas Farnolls Pritchard wrote to Wilkinson with plans for a bridge connecting Broseley across the River Severn. A committee formed mostly including Broseley businessmen agreed to use iron rather than wood or stone. Abraham Darby III quoted £3,150 to build the structure after winning the bid. Construction started but Wilkinson sold his shares to Darby in 1777. The project concluded successfully in 1779 and opened to the public in 1781. In 1787 he launched the first barge made of wrought iron constructed in Broseley. This development became common over years ahead in large ships during the following century. The area eventually attained World Heritage Site status partly because of this engineering feat.
The Royal Navy clad the hull of a frigate with copper sheet in 1761 to reduce marine biofouling. Shipworms caused severe hull damage especially in tropical waters so all ships should be clad. Wilkinson bought shares in eight Cornish copper mines to meet this demand. He met Thomas Williams known as the Copper King of the Parys Mountain mines in Anglesey. They supplied Williams with plate and equipment plus iron scrap for recovery processes. Wilkinson bought a one-sixteenth share in the Mona Mine at Parys Mountain. Jointly they set up the Cornish Metal Company in 1785 as a marketing entity. Warehouses were established in Birmingham, London, Bristol and Liverpool to distribute goods. To service trade tokens they bought into partnerships with banks across multiple towns.
Wherever new works were established cottages were built to accommodate employees and their families. Wilkinson gave significant financial support to his brother-in-law Joseph Priestley who was a famous chemist. He became a church warden in Broseley before being elected High Sheriff of Denbighshire. In schools lacking slates he provided iron troughs to hold sand for writing practice. A cast-iron pulpit stood inside the church at Bilston thanks to his donation. His reputation as an employer remained good throughout his career. He invested in lead mines at Minera five miles from Bersham during the 1790s. Steam pumping engines made these mines viable again after installation in 1784.
Wilkinson died on the 14th of July 1808 at his works in Bradley likely from diabetes. He left a very large estate worth more than £130,000 in his will. Three children were named principal heirs with executors managing the estate for them. Nephew Thomas Jones contested the will in the Court of Chancery shortly after. By 1828 the estate had largely been dissipated by lawsuits and poor management. His corpse sat in a distinctive iron coffin which was moved several times over decades. The grave now stands lost despite the massive obelisk marking it in Lindale-in-Cartmel. During the 1790s almost everything around him was made of iron including coffins. This eccentricity reached its peak when he owned nearly every industrial asset imaginable.
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Common questions
When and where was John Wilkinson born?
John Wilkinson entered the world in Little Clifton, Cumberland, during 1728. His father Isaac worked as a potfounder at the local blast furnace.
What invention did John Wilkinson create for James Watt's steam engines?
Wilkinson invented a boring machine in 1774 where the shaft held the cutting tool extended through the cylinder. This design supported the shaft on both ends unlike cantilevered borers then in use.
How much iron output did John Wilkinson produce by 1796?
By 1796, he produced about one-eighth of Britain's total cast iron output. He bought the Brymbo Hall estate in Denbighshire during 1792 to expand further north.
Who designed the iron bridge that opened in Broseley in 1781?
Thomas Farnolls Pritchard wrote to Wilkinson with plans for a bridge connecting Broseley across the River Severn. The project concluded successfully in 1779 and opened to the public in 1781.
When did John Wilkinson die and what was his net worth?
John Wilkinson died on the 14th of July 1808 at his works in Bradley likely from diabetes. He left a very large estate worth more than £130,000 in his will.