John Gibbons (1777–1851), ironmaster
1777 Born, son of Thomas Gibbons
John and his 2 brothers, Benjamin and Thomas, were involved in a set of interlocking partnerships, centred on the Level works
1816 The three brothers were recorded as bankrupt as bankers, bringing the iron business down with them.
1820s the 3 brothers built three new furnaces in the mid-1820s at the Corbyn's Hall Colliery and Ironworks; they also worked together at the Ketley works near Dudley.
1832 Designed No. 4 furnace at Corbyn's Hall, larger than previous furnaces and having a different internal form, including a round hearth instead of square. The tunnel head height was increased, and the air blast pressure was doubled from 1 psi. The weekly output was increased by a third compared with No. 3 furnace. The furnace was built by Timothy Oakes who, in 1838, erected three more, of larger dimensions, at Ketley, Kingswinford.[1]
1838 John Gibbons was of Edgbaston, ironmaster.
John proved to be the most technically adept of the brothers, publishing two short works on industrial practice: Practical Remarks on the "Construction of the Staffordshire Blast Furnace" (1839) and "Practical remarks on the use of the cinder pig in the puddling furnaces, and on the management of the forge and mill" (1844).
He was married to Elizabeth Steen (d. 1889), who survived his death in 1851.
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ 'The Black Country Iron Industry' by W. K. V. Gale, the Iron and Steel Institute, 1966
- Biography of the Gibbons family, ODNB