Early Pioneers of the Industrial Revolution

Listed in order of birth year

• 1580-1657 Richard Foley prominent ironmaster
• 1599-1684 Dud Dudley succeeds in making iron by using coal / coke

• 1601-1667 Edward Somerset, 2nd Marquis of Worcester invents a steam engine. Details published in 1663
• 1647-1714 Denis Papin invents the steam digester, steam safety valve, and applies a steam piston to lift a weight: steps towards the development of the steam engine
• 1650-1712 Thomas Savery Inventor of a steam engine and a boat driven by paddle-wheels
• 1663-1725 John Calley Partner of Thomas Newcomen and developer of engines
• 1664-1729 Thomas Newcomen Developed the Newcomen engine c1710
• 1678-1717 Abraham Darby Introduced coke as a fuel for smelting in 1709
• 1685-1739 Thomas Lombe, with his brother John, introduced Italian silk-throwing processes into the silk industry in Derby.
• 1687-1743 Henry Beighton Improved the Newcomen engine 1718

• 1693-1722 John Lombe developed the first continuous-production unit using external power.
• 1695-1784 Isaac Wilkinson one of the founders of the iron industry
• 1696-1762 Joseph Hornblower Developed steam power
• 1699-1758 Jonathan Hulls Steam boat inventor

• 1700-1771 Henry Hindley pioneer clockmaker and engineer
• 1704-1776 Benjamin Huntsman invented the process of producing crucible steel
• 1704-1780 John Kay inventor of the flying shuttle
• 1705-1788 Thomas Boulsover inventor of Sheffield Plate
• 1708-1777 William Cadell, Senior development of coke-fired iron industry

• 1711-1763 Abraham Darby (1711-1763) Refined the process of producing wrought iron
• 1711-1775 John Taylor major manufacturer
• 1716-1772 James Brindley Canal builder
• 1717-1780 Jonathan Hornblower Steam engine builder
• 1717-1803 Samuel Garbett founder of the Carron Co ironworks
• 1718-1794 John Roebuck founder of the Carron Co ironworks
• 1719-1811 Andrew Meikle inventor of the threshing machine

• 1720-1778 James Hargreaves Inventor of the Spinning Jenny in 1764
• 1721-1792 John Adam (1721-1792) one of the early partners in the Carron Co
• 1722-1787 John Guest of the Dowlais Ironworks
• 1723-1795 Jonathan Howarth
• 1723-1795 Robert Peel (1723-1795)
• 1724-1792 John Smeaton Civil engineer who designed the third Eddystone Lighthouse
• 1724-1798 Peter Onions inventor of an iron puddling process
• 1728-1808 John Wilkinson Promoted the use of cast iron where other materials had previously been used.
• 1728-1809 Matthew Boulton Entrepreneur and partner to James Watt

• 1730-1795 Josiah Wedgwood industrialised the production of pottery
• 1730-1803 John Harvey founder of Harveys of Hayle
• 1732-1792 Richard Arkwright invented the spinning frame; applied it in a cotton mill, initiating the factory system.
• 1734-1775 William Small Professor and member of the Lunar Society
• 1735-1816 Richard Reynolds Ironmaster of Coalbrookdale Co
• 1735-1820 James Keir chemist, geologist, industrialist and inventor
• 1736-1819 James Watt steam engine pioneer
• 1737-1819 William Cadell, Junior of the Carron Co
• 1739-1810 Richard Crawshay Developed Cyfarthfa Ironworks one of the most important ironworks in South Wales

• 1740-1800 Henry Cort Patented the puddling process for refining iron ore
• 1740-1813 William Yates Partner in Peel, Yates and Co major calico printers
• 1742-1811 Thomas Edington Ironmaster of the Carron Co and merchant
• 1744-1808 William Wilkinson (1744-1808) Ironmaster
• 1744-1814 Jabez Carter Hornblower Steam engine pioneer
• 1744-1817 Richard Lovell Edgeworth Inventor and member of the Lunar Society
• 1745-1814 William Jessop Engineer noted for his work on canals, harbours and railways
• 1748-1814 Joseph Bramah Inventor and engineer famous for the lock he invented

• 1750-1789 Abraham Darby (1750-1789)
• 1750-1830 Robert Peel of Peel, Yates and Co major calico printers
• 1751-1803 Thomas Longridge of the Bedlington Ironworks
• 1751-1831 William West Cornish engineer who worked with Richard Trevithick
• 1753-1815 Jonathan Hornblower
• 1753-1827 Samuel Crompton inventor of the spinning mule
• 1753-1830 Robert Ransome founder of the company that became Ransomes, Sims and Jefferies
• 1754-1829 William Murdoch steam engine pioneer with James Watt
• 1757-1831 Samuel Bentham inventor of woodworking machinery for making blocks for sailing ships
• 1757-1834 Thomas Telford road, bridge and canal builder
• 1758-1821 Richard Fothergill ironmaster of Aberdare Ironworks
• 1759-1798 Edward Bull inventor of the inverted steam engine
• 1759-1831 Joseph Burrell founder of Charles Burrell and Sons
• 1759-1842 Andrew Vivian engineer, inventor and captain of the Dolcoath Mine

• 1760-1810 John Hazledine of Hazledine and Rastrick
• 1761-1821 John Rennie (the elder) Civil engineer
• 1764-1805 Benjamin Outram Civil engineer noted for canals, bridges and railways
• 1764-1820 Benjamin Latrobe Architect
• 1764-1831 William Symington builder of the first practical steam boat
• 1765-1826 Matthew Murray of Fenton, Murray and Wood, steam engine and machine tool manufacturer
• 1766-1837 Arthur Woolf Steam engine inventor
• 1769-1835 Joseph Storrs Fry factory techniques being introduced into the cocoa business,
• 1767-1839 Davies Gilbert inventor and scientist
• 1767-1858 Edward Pease early railway pioneer and founding partner of Robert Stephenson and Co
• 1768-1832 Thomas Hewes machine maker
• 1769-1823 Adam Parkinson machine maker
• 1769-1849 Marc Isambard Brunel Civil engineer

• 1770-1843 John Penn, Senior founder of the business which became John Penn and Sons
• 1771-1831 Henry Maudslay founding father of machine tool technology
• 1771-1837 William James first surveyor and engineer of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway
• 1771-1833 Richard Trevithick steam engine pioneer
• 1772-1833 William Ward Williams founding partner of Peel, Williams and Co
• 1772-1847 David Mushet metallurgist
• 1773-1847 Simon Goodrich engineer
• 1775-1850 Henry Harvey of Harveys of Hayle
• 1775-1860 Thomas Cochrane steam pioneer
• 1776-1850 Aaron Manby of Horseley Ironworks and built the first iron steamer the PS Aaron Manby
• 1776-1860 Timothy Burstall pioneer of steam carriages
• 1779-1843 William Hedley industrial and railway pioneer
• 1779-1844 Joseph Clement engineer and industrialist

• 1780-1841 Thomas Sharp of Sharp, Roberts and Co
• 1780-1856 John Urpeth Rastrick of Hazledine and Rastrick‎
• 1781-1845 John Birkinshaw of the Bedlington Ironworks, inventor of wrought iron rails for railway use
• 1781-1848 George Stephenson railway pioneer
• 1781-1862 James Walker Civil engineer
• 1782-1849 James Ransome of Ransomes and May
• 1783-1831 John Blenkinsop steam locomotive pioneer
• 1784-1846 George Crane of the Ynyscedwyn Ironworks and user of coke in iron making
• 1785-1852 John Josiah Guest of the Dowlais Ironworks
• 1785-1858 Michael Longridge of the Bedlington Ironworks
• 1785-1861 William Cubitt Civil engineer, railway engineer
• 1786-1850 Timothy Hackworth Railway engines
• 1786-1840 Francis Bramah of Bramah and Sons
• 1786-1862 Joshua Field Civil engineer
• 1787-1847 Francis Giles canal and railway engineer
• 1788-1846 Francis Maceroni inventor, steam carriage
• 1788-1873 Thomas Shaw Brandreth inventor and railway pioneer
• 1788-1873 David Napier of D. Napier and Son
• 1789-1862 Joseph Hall the inventor of 'Wet Puddling'
• 1789-1864 Richard Roberts development of high-precision machine tools
• 1789-1874 William Fairbairn engineer
• 1789-1851 Richard Fothergill (1789-1851) of the Aberdare Ironworks
• 1789-1864 Richard Roberts machine tools

• 1790-1842 Benjamin Hick founder of Benjamin Hick and Sons
• 1790-1854 Edward Bramah of Bramah and Sons
• 1790-1862 George Faulkner partner in Samuel Faulkner and Co, cotton and silk spinners
• 1791-1858 Thomas Fothergill (1791-1858) ironmaster
• 1791-1866 George Rennie civil engineer
• 1793-1842 Henry Platt founder of Platt Brothers
• 1793-1875 Charles Vignoles railway pioneer
• 1794-1857 George Frederick Muntz inventor of Muntz's metal
• 1794-1862 Ralph Heaton, Junior of the Birmingham Mint
• 1794-1871 Rowland Fothergill ironmaster of Aberdare Ironworks
• 1794-1882 David Thomas pioneer in using anthracite for iron production
• 1795-1846 Francis Lewis of Francis Lewis and Sons, machine tools
• 1795-18?? James Murgatroyd machine maker
• 1795-1848 Benjamin Cubitt railway engineer
• 1795-1864 Robert Ransome agricultural engineer
• 1795-1865 Nicholas Wood railway engineer
• 1795-1879 Joseph Fry of J. S. Fry and Sons, chocolate and cocoa manufacturer
• 1796-1867 Robert Hawthorn engineer and founder of R. and W. Hawthorn
• 1797-1856 Nathaniel Ogle of Summers and Ogle ironfounder and pioneer in steam vehicles
• 1797-1870 John Braithwaite produced the first practical steam fire-engine
• 1797-1872 William Bridges Adams inventor and locomotive engineer
• 1798-1846 John Joseph Bramah ironmaster of Horseley Ironworks
• 1798-1869 John Brogden of John Brogden and Sons, railway contractors and iron smelters
• 1799-1852 Walter Hancock builder of steam powered road vehicles
• 1799-1856 James Meadows Rendel civil engineer

• 1803-1887 Joseph Whitworth
• 1803-1859 Robert Stephenson
• 1805-1860 Joseph Locke
• 1806-1859 Isambard Kingdom Brunel
• 1808-1890 James Nasmyth
• 1810-1900 William Armstrong
• 1813-1898 Henry Bessemer

See Also

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Sources of Information

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