William Crawshay was a South Wales

South Wales

South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...

 industrialist.

The son of Richard Crawshay

Richard Crawshay

Richard Crawshay was a London iron merchant and then South Wales ironmaster.Richard Crawshay was born in Normanton in the West Riding of Yorkshire...

, he took over the Cyfarthfa Ironworks

Cyfarthfa Ironworks

The Cyfarthfa Ironworks was a major 18th century and 19th century ironworks located in Cyfarthfa, on the north-western edge of Merthyr Tydfil, in South Wales.-The beginning:...

 from his father, but it was never his primary concern, and he continued to live in London. He already had trading interests in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 and had only taken a role in the business because of the death of his elder brother. After his father's death in 1810, he left the running of the works mostly in the hands of his own son, William Crawshay II

William Crawshay II

William Crawshay II was the son of William Crawshay I, the owner of Cyfarthfa Ironworks in Merthyr Tydfil, south Wales....

.