William Aspdin
William Aspdin had a ritual for every kiln firing at his southeast London cement plant. When a batch of raw mix stood ready for heat, he would step from his office. He scattered handfuls of brightly colored crystals over the top. Anyone watching saw what appeared to be a proprietary additive. Aspdin encouraged the impression that the crystals were his product's secret. He was also described by those who dealt with him as "an incorrigible liar and swindler." Both the invention and the fraud lived in the same man. Tracing both requires following his career from Leeds through London to Germany. A marriage record from the 28th of December 1841, at a church in Barnsley, recorded his wedding to Jane Leadman. Not one member of his family attended.
Joseph Aspdin secured a patent for Portland cement in 1824, placing the family at the center of a new English industry. The product that patent covered was a fast-setting cement, useful in mortars and stuccos but not suited to structural applications. William was born in Leeds on the 23rd of September 1815. He was Joseph's second son, and he joined his father's manufacturing firm in 1829 at the age of fourteen. He spent twelve years inside that operation.
In July 1841, William left after a major disagreement with his father. Joseph formed a new partnership with his elder son James. He posted a public notice naming William as "my late agent" and declaring he was "not now in my employment." The notice explicitly barred him from contracting debts or receiving money on the firm's behalf. By 1843, Aspdin had established his own plant at Rotherhithe.
The Rotherhithe plant quickly caused a sensation among builders in London. Aspdin had achieved this by modifying his father's formula in two specific ways. He increased the proportion of limestone in the mix and burned it at much higher temperatures. The result was a cement that set slowly and developed high strength, making it suitable for concrete rather than just mortars. It was also significantly more expensive to produce. Extra limestone, extra fuel, and the difficulty of grinding the resulting hard clinker all drove costs up.
Aspdin chose not to patent this product and gave it no new name. He kept his methods secret instead. In 1845, a rival named Isaac Charles Johnson produced a similar cement at the Swanscombe plant, working for J. B. White and Company. Aspdin soon formed new partnerships and moved his manufacturing operation away from London.
"Maude, Jones and Aspdin" was the trading name William used when he acquired the Parker and Wyatt plant at Northfleet Creek in Kent in 1846. He transferred his operations there from Rotherhithe. In 1852, he sold out his share of the Northfleet plant and established a new firm, "Aspdin, Ord and Company," in Gateshead, County Durham. In 1857, he sold that interest too and relocated to Germany.
From 1860, Aspdin set up cement plants at Altona and Lagerdorf. These were the first facilities outside the United Kingdom to produce modern Portland cement. He died at Itzehoe, near Hamburg, on the 11th of April 1864. At each point of departure, creditors followed in his wake.
Aspdin went bankrupt at least twice. His finances were, by any account, chaotic. At each relocation, unpaid creditors followed. Among his false claims was one about Marc Isambard Brunel. Aspdin asserted that his father's cement had been used by Brunel in the construction of the Thames Tunnel in London. No evidence has ever supported it.
The historian Courland examined his business dealings and documented evidence of both forgery and embezzlement. Courland identified him without reservation as a con man. He also allowed customers to believe his cement was covered by his father's 1824 patent, though the two products were mineralogically distinct. Of his many fabrications, the Thames Tunnel claim has been judged among the most preposterous.
Like his father, Aspdin had little formal chemical training. His innovations appear to have been a matter of luck rather than design. By increasing limestone proportions and raising kiln temperatures, he had inadvertently produced the first cement ever to contain alite as an active ingredient. He was unaware of that compound's chemical significance at the time. He knew only that the product worked.
Aspdin is credited with launching the modern Portland cement industry, even though he neither understood nor named what he had actually created. The two plants he left behind outlived him by decades. The Northfleet facility, by then operating as Robins and Company, was absorbed by APCM in 1900 and closed shortly afterward. APCM was also known as Blue Circle. The Gateshead plant was purchased by Isaac Charles Johnson. Johnson had first replicated Aspdin's formula at Swanscombe in 1845. He ran the Gateshead plant until 1911, when Blue Circle acquired it and closed it down.
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Common questions
Who was William Aspdin and what is he credited with inventing in the history of Portland cement?
William Aspdin was an English cement manufacturer born on the 23rd of September 1815, credited as the inventor of "modern" Portland cement. He developed a formula using higher limestone content fired at much greater heat, producing a slow-setting, high-strength product suitable for structural concrete. He is also known for a career marked by bankruptcy, fraud, and fabricated claims.
How did William Aspdin's Portland cement differ from his father Joseph Aspdin's original 1824 patent?
Joseph Aspdin's 1824 patent described a fast-setting cement useful only in mortars and stuccos. William's formula increased the limestone proportion and applied much higher kiln temperatures, creating a slow-setting, high-strength material suitable for concrete. The two products were mineralogically distinct, and William's material was significantly more expensive to produce.
When and where did William Aspdin die?
William Aspdin died on the 11th of April 1864 at Itzehoe, near Hamburg, Germany. He had relocated to Germany in 1857 and from 1860 established the first modern Portland cement plants outside the United Kingdom, at Altona and Lagerdorf.
What was the crystal or "magic ingredient" trick associated with William Aspdin's cement kilns?
Aspdin would scatter handfuls of brightly colored crystals over the raw kiln mix just before firing, giving observers the impression that his cement's superior strength came from a secret additive. The real source of the product's quality was his higher limestone content and kiln temperature, not any special crystal. He kept the actual formula secret and did not patent the product.
Why was William Aspdin described as an incorrigible liar and swindler?
Aspdin went bankrupt at least twice and left unpaid creditors at each business relocation. The historian Courland documented evidence of forgery and embezzlement in his dealings and identified him as a con man. He also falsely asserted that his father's cement was used by Marc Isambard Brunel in the construction of the Thames Tunnel in London, a claim that has since been shown to be false.
What chemical contribution is William Aspdin credited with and how was it discovered?
Aspdin is credited with producing the first cement ever to contain alite as an active ingredient, a discovery he made by increasing limestone proportions and raising kiln temperatures without understanding the chemistry involved. His innovations appear to have been the result of luck rather than formal scientific training. He is recognized as the founder of the modern Portland cement industry.
All sources
6 references cited across the entry
- 1BookThe cement industry, 1796–1914 : a historyA. J. Francis — David and Charles — 1978
- 2JournalHard-Headed ManMeir Rinde — Chemical Heritage Foundation — 2015
- 3BookConcrete planet : the strange and fascinating story of the world's most common man-made materialRobert Courland — Prometheus Books — 2011
- 4JournalOne Hundred Years of Portland CementAlfred Sidney Johnson — 1911
- 5BookAutobiography of Isaac Charles Johnson, Esq., J.P.: Being a Brief Account of the Gracious Dealings of God with Him, During a Period of Seventy-Five Years, Both in Providence and Grace; to Which Is Added a Continuation, by His Daughter, Up to the Time of His Death in His 101st YearIsaac Charles Johnson — Farncombe & Son — 1912
- 6BookLea's chemistry of cement and concreteButterworth-Heinemann — 2001