Wilkinson, John
Achievements: A founder (literally) of the Industrial Revolution.
Born: 1728; Little Clifton, near Workington, England.
Died: July 14, 1808; Irongate, near Bradley, England (Aged 80)
Field & Discipline: Industry; Metallurgy
Education: Dr. Rotherham’s Academy, near Kendal
Major Work: Smelting iron using coal. Perfecting the cylinder on James Watt’s steam engine.
Life & Times:
In 1774, Wilkinson designed and patented a new method of casting and boring large gun barrels. His method, which reversed the conventional way of boring, involved a static cutting tool around which the barrel was rotated. At the same time, [worked for] Watt* was developing the steam engine and was having trouble casting iron cylinders with enough accuracy to provide a good seal. His sponsor, [worked for] Boulton*, suggested that Watt should talk to Wilkinson. Wilkinson was able to solve the problem, which involved making a very large cylindrical boiler nine feet long with a diameter of seven feet. So successful was his work that Boulton immediately put Watt’s improved steam engine on the market and for the next two decades, the boilers were produced almost exclusively by Wilkinson.
In 1777, work began on a bridge across the River Severn, to help local iron smelters to more easily move their materials around the area. Wilkinson had put money into the project and was able to influence the decision to build the bridge out of iron. The bridge, at the time unique in the world, was opened to traffic in 1781. It still stands.
Early in the 1780s, a new canal was opened between Birmingham, Tipton and Bilston, which connected with the existing Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal at Autherley.
The new canal ran across Wilkinson’s land and he set up his second factory on the canal at Bradley, where Watt’s new rotative engine was installed, to be commercially employed for the first time, driving a forge hammer. Before the end of the decade, a third plant had been established in the same location. To house the influx of workers from around the country, Wilkinson built a workers’ village to accommodate them, which he made self-sufficient with its own potteries, brickworks and glass factory. He encouraged small tradesmen to set up there and he even built churches and pubs and issued his own currency.
In 1785, Wilkinson and his brother William installed the first Watt engine in France, at a foundry in a village outside Paris called Creusot. The plant was connected to Paris by forty miles of Wilkinson-make iron pipes, which carried a supply water to the city for a company part owned by French spy Caron de [supplied pipes for] Beaumarchais.* Following the first successful French installation, the Wilkinsons built furnaces and an engineering plant, and taught the French how to smelt iron using coal, and to bore cannon barrels. Controversially, it was later rumored that the French had converted the Creusot pipes to gun barrels and used the weapons against British troops.
Wilkinson’s last great industrial development, in 1794, was a cupola furnace for the production of cast pig iron.
Extra Connections:
[brother-in-law was] Joseph Priestley* was his brother-in-law.
His work related to that of [work related to] Gribeauval* and [work related to] JohnHuntsman*.
He knew [knew] Erasmus Darwin* and [knew] Wedgwood*.
His French water pipes were tested by [waterpipes tested by] Coulomb*
Assessment: The greatest iron-master of his generation.
Oneliner: John Wilkinson, a founder of the Industrial Revolution
Bibliography:
- Ravies, Ron, John Wilkinson, The Dulston Press, Kingswinford, West Midlands, 1987.
Connections II 14
Language: English
Father: Isaac Wilkinson
Mother: Unknown
Siblings: John; William; Sarah; Mary
Spouse: 1) Ann Mawdsley (m. 1754/55, d. 1756); 2) Mary Lee (m. 1763, d. 1806)
Children: by Mawdsley: May. Illegitimate: Mary Ann; Johnina; John