Abraham Darby, also known as Abraham Darby the Elder and sometimes referred to as Abraham Darby I (born on April 14, 1677, and died on May 5, 1717), was the first and most well-known of several people with the same name. He was an English ironmaster and foundryman. He was born into an English Quaker family that was important during the Industrial Revolution. Darby created a method to make pig iron using coke instead of charcoal in a blast furnace. This was a significant advancement in making iron, which was essential for the Industrial Revolution.
Early life
Abraham Darby was the son of John Darby, a farmer and locksmith, and his wife Ann Baylies. He was born at Wren's Nest in Woodsetton, Staffordshire, which is now part of Dudley in the West Midlands. His family had noble roots; his great-grandmother Jane was born out of wedlock to Edward Sutton.
Abraham's great-grandmother was a full-blooded sister of Dud Dudley, who claimed to have melted iron using coal as fuel. However, the iron Dudley made was not accepted by other ironmakers who used charcoal. This may have inspired Abraham's great-grandnephew, Darby, to improve this new method of melting iron.
In the early 1690s, Darby worked as an apprentice for Jonathan Freeth, a fellow Quaker who made brass mills for grinding malt. During this time, Darby saw how coke was used to fuel ovens for making malt. This helped prevent coal's sulfur from polluting the beer and avoided using the more scarce charcoal as fuel. These observations later helped Darby create the first coke-fueled blast furnace in 1709.
Freeth encouraged Darby to join the Society of Friends, a group also known as Quakers, and Darby remained a member for his entire life. In 1699, after finishing his apprenticeship, Darby married Mary Sergeant (1678–1718) and moved to Bristol, where he started his own business making malt mills.
Bristol
In Bristol, there was a small group of Quakers, and Darby became well-known for his skills and business abilities. In 1702, Darby and other Quakers started the Bristol Brass Company, which operated at Baptist Mills in Bristol. He hired workers from the Netherlands to run a brass battery work, where they made cooking pots and other metal items using a heavy hammer. Darby also created a new method to shape pots using molds made from a type of sand called "greensand," which had been used only for small castings before. This method allowed pots and large cooking vessels to be made in large numbers and made them thinner than those made with older methods. To do this, he built the Cheese Lane Foundry in 1704. At first, he made brass pots, but by 1705, he began using iron. A young apprentice from Wales named John Thomas helped solve a problem by using sand molds with a special box and core. This method allowed Darby to make pots that were thin and light. In 1707, Darby received a patent for this new casting method. His company later sold cooking pots across much of England and Wales and controlled most of the trade. For this, he used a special furnace developed by Sir Clement Clerke, originally for melting lead near Bristol, and later adapted by him or his son Talbot for making iron products at Vauxhall.
Copper at Coalbrookdale
In 1700, a group of Bristol Quakers, including Edward Lloyd and Charles Harford, decided to establish a brass works in England. The exact location is unknown, but by 1712, Caleb Lloyd, Jeffrey Pinnell, Abraham Darby, and Thomas Harvey had set up a brass works at Coalbrookdale. This development may be connected to increased shipments of Calamine up the River Severn beginning in 1704 and Darby’s agreement in 1710 to open a copper mine at Harmer Hill in Myddle on behalf of the "Company of the City of Bristol." However, Darby was not involved in founding Tern Mill near Tern Hall (now Attingham Park) in 1709, even though his partners Thomas Harvey, Lloyd, and Pinnell were. At this time, Darby chose to leave the brass company and focus on his work in iron founding.
Coalbrookdale furnace
In September 1708, Darby leased a furnace and began preparing to start it. His first account book, which covers the period from 20 October 1708 to 4 January 1710, still exists. This record shows the production of "charked" coal in January 1709 and indicates that the furnace was successfully started on 10 January. During that year, Darby sold 81 tons of iron goods.
The furnace was first used on 10 January 1709, and the operation appears to have been successful. Darby likely benefited from the fact that the Shropshire "clod coal" he used contained little sulfur. However, he continued testing different types of fuel for some time, including coal transported up the Severn River from Bristol and Neath. Some of the molten iron produced was poured into molds called "pigs" and sent down the Severn to be used in Bristol foundries. Much of the iron was also used to make pots and other cast iron items.
The reasons why Darby’s iron was not used in forges to produce wrought iron have been widely discussed. One possible explanation is that his pig iron was better suited for casting than charcoal-based pig iron. However, the presence of silicon as an impurity made it less desirable for use in finery forges. Recent research, however, has questioned this explanation, as it is based on data from the 1720s when the Coalbrookdale Company operated a forge, which struggled to make a profit even with charcoal-based iron.
The business was partly funded by a loan from Thomas Goldney II of Bristol. Graffin Prankard and James Peters became partners in the venture. Later, John Chamberlayne joined as a partner, and Darby’s brother-in-law, Thomas Baylies, became a manager.
Expansion
In 1712, Darby offered to teach William Rawlinson, a fellow Quaker and ironmaster, how to use coke to extract iron. Rawlinson, who started the Backbarrow Iron Company in Furness, did not accept the offer.
In 1714, Darby and his partners renewed their lease, which became effective in 1717. They then built a second blast furnace. This furnace produced more iron than the Old Blast Furnace during the 1720s. It is unknown when the furnace started working, but it was definitely in use by 1718.
The company also acquired Vale Royal Furnace in central Cheshire. However, they did not gain control of this furnace until after Abraham Darby’s death. Afterward, Thomas Baylies and other partners took over the furnace.
The company also began a similar project at Dolgûn, near Dolgellau. John Kelsall was appointed as clerk for this effort. It is likely that the furnace there was not completed until after Darby’s death, when his widow and other partners sold their lease.
Death
Abraham Darby died on May 5, 1717, at his home, Madeley Court in Madeley, Shropshire. He was 40 years old. He had built a house for himself in Coalbrookdale, but he did not live to move into it. He was buried in the Quaker burial ground in Broseley, Shropshire. His wife died a few months after his death.
New company
Darby's death caused problems for the business. His shares were used as collateral for a loan to Thomas Goldney, who later received eight shares (out of 16 total) in exchange for the debt. Richard Ford, who married Abraham's daughter Mary, owned two shares and became the manager. However, after Abraham's wife died, Thomas Baylies, a creditor, took legal steps to sell the business. Darby's eldest son, Abraham Darby II, was only six years old, and his two younger brothers were even younger. Because of this, their uncle, Joshua Sergeant, purchased some shares on their behalf. The children were sent to school, and Abraham II began helping manage the business in 1728. In 1732, he was given four shares in the company.
Legacy
Abraham Darby made an important contribution to the Industrial Revolution. His method of casting pots in sand created a successful business. This business continued for more than two hundred years.
Smelting iron with coke allowed the iron industry to move away from the first step of making charcoal. This process required cutting and burning trees. Using coke instead of charcoal changed the fuel used for making steel from renewable wood to a non-renewable fuel. This helped protect natural forests. Iron made with coke was used in steam engines, bridges, and many 19th-century inventions. The large amounts of iron produced through coke smelting helped cause the Industrial Revolution.
A room at Friends House in London, UK, is named after Abraham Darby.