Who was Abraham Darby?
First Successful Smelter of Iron with Coke.
Date and Place of Birth:
1678, Wren's Nest, Sedgley, Dudley, West Midlands,
England.
Family Background:
Son of a Farmer.
Education:
Within the family by Quakers and self-taught.
Apprenticed as a metal worker.
Chronology/Biography of Abraham Darby:
1700: Founded the
Baptist Mills Brass works near Temple Meads in Bristol and over
the next few years turned Britain into a major producer and exporter
of brass. Using sand moulds made the process continuous.
1708: Founded the
Bristol Iron Company.
1709: First successful
manufacture of good quality iron in furnaces fired with Coke at
his new premises in Coalbrookdale, Shropshire, on the banks of the
River Severn. Charcoal was becoming too scarce and could not achieve
fires for furnaces of the right temperature and coal contained many
impurities including Sulphur which made inferior quality iron.
1712: 250 tons of
coal were being used per week at the Baptist Mills Brass Works.The
advent of the new Newcomen steam engine created major new market
for iron.
(1779): His grandson
Abraham Darby the Third created the world's first cast iron bridge
at Iron Bridge Coalbrookdale, which still crosses the River Severn
today.
Marriage:
1. 18th September 1699 to Mary Sarjeant.
2. To a woman called Abiah.
Places of Interest:
SHROPSHIRE:
Iron Bridge Gorge Museums, Coalbrookdale. His
grandson Abraham Darby the Third cast and erected the world's first
iron bridge at Coalbrookdale, Shropshire.
Date and Place of Death:
8th March 1717, Madeley Court, Worcestershire,
England.
Age at Death:
39.
Site of Grave:
All Saint’s Church, Broseley, Shropshire,
England.
