Henry Cort (around 1740 – May 23, 1800) was an English ironware maker who previously worked as a Navy pay agent. During the Industrial Revolution in England, Cort developed new methods to change pig iron into wrought iron (or bar iron). In 1784, he received a patent for a better version of Peter Onions's puddling process, which was used to refine cast iron. However, this process became commercially successful only in the 1790s, due to additional improvements made by Richard Crawshay and Homfray at the Cyfarthfa Ironworks in Merthyr Tydfil.
Biography
Little is known about Cort's early life. He may have been born into a family from Lancaster, but his family lived in Jamaica when his father, named Henry Cort, was alive. His parents are not certain. His birth year is usually said to be 1740, but this is not confirmed. His early life remains a mystery. By 1765, Cort worked as a Royal Navy pay agent, collecting payments for sailors and widows from an office in London. At that time, even though Abraham Darby improved iron production by using coke instead of charcoal in furnaces, the process to make bar iron from this iron was still very difficult and time-consuming. This made bar iron imported from the Baltic cheaper than British-made bar iron.
In 1768, Cort married Elizabeth Heysham, the daughter of a man who worked with the Duke of Portland. Her uncle, William Attwick, owned an iron business in Gosport that supplied the navy with items like anchors and chains.
In 1780, the Royal Navy agreed with Cort, who had taken over Attwick's business, to reuse scrap iron hoops for their barrels. Cort had recently bought a rolling mill in Titchfield, which later made bar iron. Without enough money, he borrowed nearly £58,000 from Adam Jellicoe, a Royal Navy clerk. Jellicoe's son, Samuel, became a partner in Cort's business. This arrangement later caused problems for Cort.
Cort worked at his iron mill, which he renamed Fontley Works, and created two important inventions. In 1783, he patented a furnace that heated pig iron from above. In 1784, he patented a puddling furnace with rollers that made the process of refining iron faster. His work improved earlier ideas, including those of the Cranege brothers and Peter Onions, who used heat and stirring to make better iron.
The puddling furnace reduced carbon in cast iron by burning it away. A worker used a tool to pull out iron from the furnace, shaped it into a "shingle," and then rolled it into bar iron. Cort's method did not work well at first until other ironmakers, like Richard Crawshay, made changes to use coke instead of charcoal.
In 1789, Adam Jellicoe died suddenly, and Cort could not repay the £58,000 he owed. The government took over Cort's business and declared him bankrupt. Later, the government returned the business to Samuel Jellicoe.
Cort's improvements in making bar iron were recognized as early as 1786. Lord Sheffield compared them to James Watt's steam engine, calling them more important than the loss of America. In 1787, Cort agreed to receive 10 shillings per ton of iron made using his patents. However, problems with production and Jellicoe's death led to legal action. Cort declared bankruptcy, fixed his finances, but never worked in industry again.
Personal life
Cort married Elizabeth Heysham and had 13 children. His business efforts did not make him rich, even though many of the puddling furnaces he created were later used (about 8,200 by 1820). These furnaces used a different version of his method, which meant he did not receive money for his invention. Later, he was given a government pension, but he died without money and was buried in the churchyard of St John-at-Hampstead, London.