Charles Wood (ironmaster)
Encyclopedia
Charles Wood was an ironmaster and one of the inventors of the potting and stamping
method of making wrought iron
from pig iron
.
of Wolverhampton
and his wife Margaret, daughter of Richard Molyneux, an ironmonger in that area. William Wood followed his father-in-law's trade until 1715, when he became an ironmaster
too and later entered into a contract to provide copper coinage for Ireland
. He was also a projector, floating his business as an ironmaster as a joint stock company
at the time of the South Sea Bubble (1720). Later, he sought to develop a new process of ironmaking and to obtain a charter for a "Company of Ironmasters of Great Britain". However the process (carried on at Frizington
, Cumberland) produced little iron and he probably died in debt.
in 1733 following his bankruptcy but only stayed there a couple of years. He returned to Cumberland to marry Anne Piele of Buttermere
and then went to Jamaica
to superintend lead
mines in Liguanea
. They had a child in Jamaica in 1739, but the next was born at Whitehaven
. His activities between 1741 and 1747 remain unknown, but in 1747, he was appointed assaymaster to the Governor of Jamaica.
(from 1742 a Fellow of the Royal Society
) reported Wood's experiments on a metal, subsequently known as platinum
. This had been found in the course of alluvial gold working in what is now Colombia
, and had been smuggled
from Cartagena
to Jamaica. Wood reported this to Brownrigg in about 1741. Brownrigg reported it to the Royal Society in 1750. They found the metal did not react with acid and was unaffected by the usual process for extracting silver from lead.
. His partners were Peter How, William Hicks, and Gabriel Griffiths, a Whitehaven brazier. Wood and How leased coal mines in Egremont, while How, Griffiths, William Brownrigg and Joseph Bowes (a merchant) leased iron ore mines. He recorded experiments in iron making in a memorandum book. Initially he sued iron ore according to his father's process, but later moved on to reworking scrap iron and later still "coldshort metal", probably pig iron
.
In September 1754, Wood and toured the Midlands with Gabriel Griffiths, visiting ironworks in the area. They visited fireclay works at Stourbridge
and his brother John Wood, who had a forge at Wednesbury
. John was working scraps and using pots to do so.
In 1763, Charles and John Wood patented their ironmaking process, which is usually described by historians as potting and stamping
. This followed one to John Wood alone in 1761.
In December 1763, Peter How's tobacco firm became bankrupt, as did the braziers' business of Gabriel Griffiths and Robert Ross. The fate of the forge is not clear. In 1789, the building had been suffered to decay, and the expense of repairing it was more than the lease was worth, so that the lease was surrendered. However, Wood had left there in 1766 to go to Merthyr Tydfil
.
(a London merchant born in Whitehaven) leased the mines in 4000 acres (16.2 km²) at Merthyr Tydfil. Wood was brought in to build a forge for them there and he reached Merthyr in April 1766. The forge had six races leading off the river Taff
, for a clay mill, two stampers, two hammers, and a chafery. In addition there were air furnaces, in which the iron was heated during the refining process. A drying shed for the pots and other buildings.
A blast furnace
, 50 feet (15.2 m) high and blown by blowing cylinders was begun to be built that autumn, but was probably not completed until the following year. In the meantime, pig iron was needed for the forge to work, so Wood arranged for the owners to take over the nearby Plymouth Furnace
. Wood returned to Lowmill in January 1766, but was back at Merthyr in April. He remained there as manager until his death in 1774. His widow stayed there until her death in 1799.
Potting and stamping
Potting and stamping is a modern name for one of the 18th century processes for refining pig iron without the use of charcoal.-Inventors:The process was devised by Charles Wood of Lowmill, Egremont in Cumberland and his brother John Wood of Wednesbury and patented by them...
method of making wrought iron
Wrought iron
thumb|The [[Eiffel tower]] is constructed from [[puddle iron]], a form of wrought ironWrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon...
from pig iron
Pig iron
Pig iron is the intermediate product of smelting iron ore with a high-carbon fuel such as coke, usually with limestone as a flux. Charcoal and anthracite have also been used as fuel...
.
Parents
Charles Wood was the 7th of 15 children of William WoodWilliam Wood (Mintmaster)
William Wood was a hardware manufacturer and mintmaster, noted for receiving a contract to strike an issue of Irish coinage from 1722 to 1724. He also struck the 'Rosa Americana' coins of British America during the same period....
of Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
and his wife Margaret, daughter of Richard Molyneux, an ironmonger in that area. William Wood followed his father-in-law's trade until 1715, when he became an ironmaster
Ironmaster
An ironmaster is the manager – and usually owner – of a forge or blast furnace for the processing of iron. It is a term mainly associated with the period of the Industrial Revolution, especially in Great Britain....
too and later entered into a contract to provide copper coinage for Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. He was also a projector, floating his business as an ironmaster as a joint stock company
Joint stock company
A joint-stock company is a type of corporation or partnership involving two or more individuals that own shares of stock in the company...
at the time of the South Sea Bubble (1720). Later, he sought to develop a new process of ironmaking and to obtain a charter for a "Company of Ironmasters of Great Britain". However the process (carried on at Frizington
Frizington
Frizington is a village in Cumbria, England. Historically, it was a collection of farms and houses, but became a unified village as a result of the mining opportunities in the area. The village is known for its church, which was built in 1867-1868...
, Cumberland) produced little iron and he probably died in debt.
Career
Charles Wood was a partner in some of the businesses, and certainly in the final one. His father's will left him a legacy of £15000, but his father died insolvent. The result was that Charles and some of his brothers were also made bankrupt in the following years.Jamaica
Charles Wood went out to CarolinaCarolina
-Geography:* South Carolina, U.S. state* North Carolina, U.S. state* The Carolinas, term used to refer collectively to the states of North and South Carolina* Province of Carolina, the British colonial province until 1729* Carolina, Alabama...
in 1733 following his bankruptcy but only stayed there a couple of years. He returned to Cumberland to marry Anne Piele of Buttermere
Buttermere
Buttermere is a lake in the English Lake District in North West England. The adjacent village of Buttermere takes its name from the lake. Historically within the former county of Cumberland, the lake is now within the county of Cumbria. It is owned by the National Trust, forming part of their...
and then went to Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
to superintend lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
mines in Liguanea
Liguanea
Liguanea is a historically significant area in the island of Jamaica in the West Indies. Its name came from the language of the pre-Columbian Taino people who inhabited the island and named it after the iguana lizard that is endemic to the island, and an important source of food for the...
. They had a child in Jamaica in 1739, but the next was born at Whitehaven
Whitehaven
Whitehaven is a small town and port on the coast of Cumbria, England, which lies equidistant between the county's two largest settlements, Carlisle and Barrow-in-Furness, and is served by the Cumbrian Coast Line and the A595 road...
. His activities between 1741 and 1747 remain unknown, but in 1747, he was appointed assaymaster to the Governor of Jamaica.
Platinum
In this period, William BrownriggWilliam Brownrigg
William Brownrigg M.D. F.R.S. was a doctor and scientist, who practised at Whitehaven in Cumberland. While there, William Brownrigg carried out experiments that won him not only a place in The Royal Society but the prized Copley Medal....
(from 1742 a Fellow of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
) reported Wood's experiments on a metal, subsequently known as platinum
Platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pt and an atomic number of 78. Its name is derived from the Spanish term platina del Pinto, which is literally translated into "little silver of the Pinto River." It is a dense, malleable, ductile, precious, gray-white transition metal...
. This had been found in the course of alluvial gold working in what is now Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, and had been smuggled
Smuggling
Smuggling is the clandestine transportation of goods or persons, such as out of a building, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.There are various motivations to smuggle...
from Cartagena
Cartagena, Colombia
Cartagena de Indias , is a large Caribbean beach resort city on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region and capital of Bolívar Department...
to Jamaica. Wood reported this to Brownrigg in about 1741. Brownrigg reported it to the Royal Society in 1750. They found the metal did not react with acid and was unaffected by the usual process for extracting silver from lead.
Low Mill, Egremont
In 1749, Wood returned to Cumberland to build and manage a forge at EgremontEgremont, Cumbria
Egremont is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Copeland in Cumbria, England, south of Whitehaven and on the River Ehen. The town, which lies at the foot of Uldale Valley and Dent Fell, was historically within Cumberland and has a long industrial heritage including dyeing, weaving and...
. His partners were Peter How, William Hicks, and Gabriel Griffiths, a Whitehaven brazier. Wood and How leased coal mines in Egremont, while How, Griffiths, William Brownrigg and Joseph Bowes (a merchant) leased iron ore mines. He recorded experiments in iron making in a memorandum book. Initially he sued iron ore according to his father's process, but later moved on to reworking scrap iron and later still "coldshort metal", probably pig iron
Pig iron
Pig iron is the intermediate product of smelting iron ore with a high-carbon fuel such as coke, usually with limestone as a flux. Charcoal and anthracite have also been used as fuel...
.
In September 1754, Wood and toured the Midlands with Gabriel Griffiths, visiting ironworks in the area. They visited fireclay works at Stourbridge
Stourbridge
Stourbridge is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands of England. Historically part of Worcestershire, Stourbridge was a centre of glass making, and today includes the suburbs of Amblecote, Lye, Norton, Oldswinford, Pedmore, Wollaston, Wollescote and Wordsley The...
and his brother John Wood, who had a forge at Wednesbury
Wednesbury
Wednesbury is a market town in England's Black Country, part of the Sandwell metropolitan borough in West Midlands, near the source of the River Tame. Similarly to the word Wednesday, it is pronounced .-Pre-Medieval and Medieval times:...
. John was working scraps and using pots to do so.
In 1763, Charles and John Wood patented their ironmaking process, which is usually described by historians as potting and stamping
Potting and stamping
Potting and stamping is a modern name for one of the 18th century processes for refining pig iron without the use of charcoal.-Inventors:The process was devised by Charles Wood of Lowmill, Egremont in Cumberland and his brother John Wood of Wednesbury and patented by them...
. This followed one to John Wood alone in 1761.
In December 1763, Peter How's tobacco firm became bankrupt, as did the braziers' business of Gabriel Griffiths and Robert Ross. The fate of the forge is not clear. In 1789, the building had been suffered to decay, and the expense of repairing it was more than the lease was worth, so that the lease was surrendered. However, Wood had left there in 1766 to go to Merthyr Tydfil
Merthyr Tydfil
Merthyr Tydfil is a town in Wales, with a population of about 30,000. Although once the largest town in Wales, it is now ranked as the 15th largest urban area in Wales. It also gives its name to a county borough, which has a population of around 55,000. It is located in the historic county of...
.
Cyfarthfa
William Brownrigg and Anthony BaconAnthony Bacon (industrialist)
Anthony Bacon was an English-born merchant and industrialist who was significantly responsible for the emergence of Merthyr Tydfil as the iron-smelting centre of Britain.-Background:...
(a London merchant born in Whitehaven) leased the mines in 4000 acres (16.2 km²) at Merthyr Tydfil. Wood was brought in to build a forge for them there and he reached Merthyr in April 1766. The forge had six races leading off the river Taff
River Taff
The River Taff is a large river in Wales. It rises as two rivers in the Brecon Beacons — the Taf Fechan and the Taf Fawr — before joining to form the Taff north of Merthyr Tydfil...
, for a clay mill, two stampers, two hammers, and a chafery. In addition there were air furnaces, in which the iron was heated during the refining process. A drying shed for the pots and other buildings.
A blast furnace
Blast furnace
A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally iron.In a blast furnace, fuel and ore and flux are continuously supplied through the top of the furnace, while air is blown into the bottom of the chamber, so that the chemical reactions...
, 50 feet (15.2 m) high and blown by blowing cylinders was begun to be built that autumn, but was probably not completed until the following year. In the meantime, pig iron was needed for the forge to work, so Wood arranged for the owners to take over the nearby Plymouth Furnace
Plymouth Ironworks
The Plymouth Ironworks was a major 18th century and 19th century ironworks located at Merthyr Tydfil, in South Wales....
. Wood returned to Lowmill in January 1766, but was back at Merthyr in April. He remained there as manager until his death in 1774. His widow stayed there until her death in 1799.
Sources
- J. Gross (ed.): The diary of Charles Wood of Cyfarthfa Ironworks, Merthyr Tydfil, 1766-1767, with P. Riden, 'Introduction' (Merton Priory Press, Cardiff 2001).
- L B Hunt: 'The First Experiments on Platinum - Charles Wood’s Samples from Spanish America', Platinum Metals Review, 29(4), 1985, 180-184.open link
- J. M. Treadwell: 'William Wood and the Company of Ironmasters of Great Britain', Business History 16(2), 1974, 93-112.
- J. M. Treadwell: 'Swift, William Wood, and the Factual Basis of Satire', The Journal of British Studies, Vol. 15(2) (Spring, 1976), pp. 76–91.subscription required