Wolverhampton: John Wilkinson – part one

John “Iron-Mad” Wilkinson was an English industrialist who pioneered the manufacture of cast iron and the use of cast-iron goods during the Industrial Revolution.

John Wilkinson started life inauspiciously in 1728, born in a cart as his mother was on her way to market in Workington, Cumbria.

The adult Wilkinson was involved from the start in the ‘new’ iron industry, eventually operating nine ironworks including the New Willey Ironworks near Broseley, which was established in 1757. He was a man of huge energy and foresight, the ultimate inventor and entrepreneur, a member of the Lunar Society.  His 88-acre site at Bradley near Wolverhampton became the first integrated ironworks in the world and included everything necessary for iron production, from blast furnaces to canals and housing for his workers, earning him the sobriquet the ‘Father of the South Staffordshire Iron Industry’. He was also a major force behind the construction in 1779 of a certain bridge across the Severn linking Broseley with what is now the town of Ironbridge.

Despite being ‘mad on iron’ Wilkinson did not confine his interests to the iron industry. He had investments in copper and lead mines, chemical plants, canals and banking, and is famed for his work in developing cannon to be more accurate and safe. He even took advantage of the government’s inability to produce enough copper coinage to meet demand and began to mint his own trade tokens depicting his own head.

There is so much to hear about with John “Iron-Mad” Wilkinson that the talk is divided into two parts: part two will follow in June.

Presenter: Richard Sells

Doors open at 7.15 p.m. for a meeting start of 7.30