Iron Families

For five generations the Darby Family managed the Coalbrookdale Ironworks. Business links with other Quaker families were cemented by marriage, with members of the Ford and Reynolds family marrying into the Darby dynasty. Here you can find out more about the business, home and religious lives of some of the people who helped to make the Coalbrookdale ironworks so famous.

Abraham Darby I (1678-1717)

Abraham Darby I was born 1678 at Wren's Nest near Dudley. After serving an apprenticeship in Birmingham with a malt mill maker, he moved to Bristol and set up in business himself. He was soon involved with other Quakers in the city's brass industry and it was this that set him on route to his greatest innovation.

Abraham and his partners were manufacturing brass pans for domestic use; the problem was they were very labour intensive to make. His solution was to make cast iron pots using molten metal poured into moulds made from sand. He patented the process in 1707 and the following year leased the Coalbrookdale furnace in order to make his own iron. Instead of using traditional charcoal to fuel the furnace, Abraham used coke made from the local coal, an innovation that opened the way to a huge expansion in the smelting and use of iron.

Thomas Goldney II (1663-1731)

Thomas Goldney II was a Bristol merchant and a leading member of the city's Quaker community. He provided the financial backing Abraham Darby I, allowing him to develop and expand the Coalbrookdale ironworks.

After the death of Abraham Darby I in 1717 he became the majority shareholder, as well as the Company's banker and West Country agent. His involvement continued until his death in 1731 aged 68, and the Goldney family remained the main shareholders in the company until the 1780s.

Richard Ford (1689-1745)

After the death of Abraham Darby I in 1717, the management of the works passed to his son in law, Richard Ford. During his time the Company began supplying products to Britain's growing mining industry. These included the first iron wheels for use on primitive wooden railways and cast iron cylinders for steam engines used to pump water from deep mines.

Like most other industries however, the ironworks still depended on a water power to drive its machinery and in long dry summers could this could bring iron making to a halt. After first installing horse powered pumps, Richard Ford had a Newcomen 'Fire Engine' installed in 1742 to lift water back up hill in Coalbrookdale making iron making a reliable year round operation for the first time.

Abraham Darby II (1711-63)

Described as 'small, slight of build, yet strong and active, with very bright blue eyes', Abraham Darby II was born in 1711 and was only 6 when his father died. He started work at the age of 17, becoming a full partner in 1738 and following the death of Richard Ford, manager in 1745.

Under his leadership the Coalbrookdale Company was transformed. The smelting of iron with coke was perfected to the point when it was suitable for converting into wrought iron, a form of iron which could be shaped by hammering and rolling and which dominated the iron trade. New ironworks were built at nearby Horsehay and Ketley and the Company took control of mining its own raw materials and transporting them on a growing network of horse-drawn railways.

Abraham Darby II first wife Margaret Smith died and in 1740. He married again, to Abiah Sinclair, in 1746. They moved from Dale House into a new home called Sunniside on the hill above Dale House in 1751 and Hannah, his daughter by his first marriage wrote:

" …Methinks how delightful it would be to walk with thee into fields and woods, then go into the Dale to view the works: the stupendous Bellows whose alternate roars, like the foaming billows, is awful to hear…It's really pleasant about our house, and so many comes and goes that we forget it's the Country till we look at the window and see the woodland prospect."

Abiah Darby (1716-94)

Abiah Darby came to live in Coalbrookdale in 1746 following her marriage to Abraham Darby II. She became a Quaker minister in 1748, preaching in public, visiting Quaker groups around the country and even visiting prisoners in Shrewsbury Jail. Abiah also wrote pamphlets and religious tracts, including 'Useful Instruction for Children' and 'An Epistle to the Inhabitants of Hereford'. Her detailed diary gives many fascinating insights in to her religious life and the domestic and business concerns of an Eighteenth century Quaker ironmaster's family.

Richard Reynolds (1735-1816)

Born in Bristol and a member of its Quaker community, Richard Reynolds came to Coalbrookdale in 1756 to represent the interests of Thomas Goldney. He was appointed manager of the Horsehay Ironworks, and in 1757 he married Hannah Darby, daughter of Abraham Darby II.

When Abraham Darby II died in 1763, Richard took over the management of the company and moved into Dale House. During his time as manager he encouraged successful experiments with a method of making wrought iron using coal as fuel rather instead of charcoal. In 1768 he handed over the management of the works to Abraham Darby III.

William Reynolds (1758-1803)

William Reynolds was the most versatile and talented of all the Shropshire ironmasters. He was the son of Richard Reynolds and was a partner in the Coalbrookdale Company until 1796 when the Darby-Reynolds partnership was dissolved. As well as iron making, Reynolds' business interests included a china works at Coalport, an alkali works at Wombridge, the Wrockwardine Wood glassworks, and the development of Coalport New Town.

He surveyed the route and oversaw the construction of the Shropshire Canal. The most important innovation in its construction was the use of inclined planes to transport boats from one level of water to another. He also oversaw the manufacture of the world's first cast iron canal aqueduct at Longdon-on-Tern.

His personal interest included; chemistry, botany, geology and mineralogy and he was associated with such men as Erasmus Darwin and Thomas Telford.

Abraham Darby III (1750-89)

Abraham Darby III was born in Dale House in 1750 and is best remembered for his involvement with building the Iron Bridge. In 1785 the Society of Arts' awarded him its Gold medal, 'sensible of the magnitude and importance of this bridge'.

Abraham entered the works at the age of 18 and under his management the company underwent further expansion. He took over the Bedlam Furnaces, built a new ironworks at Donnington Wood, enlarged the Coalbrookdale furnace, built new forges at Horsehay and Ketley, and worked farms at Madeley, Sunnyside and the Hay.

Abraham III married Rebecca Smith in 1776 and they moved into Dale House which had been substantially altered and renovated before their marriage. They lived there until 1780 when they moved to the Hay Farm. Abraham III died of scarlet fever in 1789 aged 39.

Deborah Darby (1752-1810)

Deborah was the wife of Samuel Darby, the brother of Abraham Darby III. Like her Mother-in -law Abiah, Deborah became a Quaker Minister, and devoted much of her energies to promoting the Quaker faith. This included a visit to America between 1793 and 1796. After her husband's death, Deborah, along with Sarah (Sister of Abraham Darby III) and Rebecca Darby (Widow of Abraham Darby III) took an active roll in overseeing the running of the works.

Sarah Darby (1752-1821)

Sarah Darby was the sister of Abraham Darby III. Following his death she was one of the controlling shareholders in the Company along with his widow Rebecca, his sisters Sarah Darby and Mary Rathbone, and Samuel Darby's widow Deborah.

'Sarah Darby was the head of the Coalbrookdale Company, which she ruled with a firm, prudent hand. The names of Sarah and Rebecca Darby stood first on the notes of the bank called the Petticoat Bank. She was of sedentary habits. She sat in her drawing room in great state surrounded by tables and papers, like a lawyer's office.'

In 1796 the partnership between the Darby and Reynolds families was dissolved. The Darbys retained the Coalbrookdale Company name and continued to control the works at Coalbrookdale and Horsehay. It was during this period that the company carried out work for Richard Trevithick, building the world's first steam locomotive for him during the winter of 1802.

Edmund Darby (1782-1810)

Edmund Darby was the son of Samuel Darby and was the nephew of Abraham Darby III. He was educated at Thomas Huntley's Quaker School in Oxfordshire and then joined the family firm. He took over the management of the works in 1803, continuing a programme of expansion, including the building of new furnaces at Dawley Castle. Steam engines and domestic ironwork continued to be important products, and it was during this time that Coalbrookdale provided the iron roof for the picture gallery at nearby Attingham Park. Edmund's promising career came to a sudden end in 1810 when at the age of 28 he died of food poisoning. Edmund Darby married Lucy Burlingham in 1803 and they lived in Dale House from 1804 until 1810. Lucy returned to Dale House in 1838 and lived there until 1870.

Barnard Dickinson (1781-1852)

Following the death of Edmund Darby in 1810, Barnard Dickinson was appointed manager. The nephew of Deborah Darby, he was born in Yorkshire in 1781, came to Shropshire to farm and married Ann Darby, the daughter of Abraham III. As the Napoleonic wars came to an end there were difficult times in the iron industry and Coalbrookdale went into a period of decline. By 1818 the Coalbrookdale blast furnaces were finally blown out, and from that date Coalbrookdale concentrated on foundry work. In 1830 Dickinson gave up the management of the Company and devoted himself to the Quaker ministry.

Barnard Dickinson lived in Dale House between 1810 and 1838.

Francis Darby (1783-1850)

Francis Darby was the eldest son of Abraham Darby III and was only 6 when his father died. He became a partner in the firm, but the role he played was obscure. He was an art lover and it is generally believed that he was responsible for involving the Company in the manufacture of art castings.

He married Hannah Grant in 1808 and was remembered as a Quaker who,

'did not adhere to the Quaker style of dress, either in the cut of his coat or the shape of his hat and who did not live by the strict Quaker rule......He had great taste and loved high art. He filled his rooms with costly paintings which he felt pride in showing to his friends.'

Richard Darby (1788-1852)

Richard Darby was the youngest son of Abraham Darby III. He moved into Rosehill House with his wife Maria Sorton soon after their marriage in 1811. Richard Darby was described as:

'a popular public man; one whose services were sought and whose sympathies were readily enlisted in public movements of the day, such as the emancipation of slaves'.

He supported the 1832 Reform Bill in contrast to his brother Francis who was against political change. His niece Adelaide found her uncle's interest in politics and plain Quaker lifestyle dull. Although he followed a plain lifestyle he liked to dress fashionably rather than following the strict dress code of the plain Quakers.

Richard and Maria lived in Rosehill House between 1811 and 1860.Their daughter Rebecca continued to live there until her death in 1908.

Abraham Darby IV (1804-78)

Abraham Darby IV was the son of Edmund Darby and was born in Dale House. In 1830 he and his brother Alfred took over the management of the Horsehay works and together went on to re-established the Company's reputation.

They invested in new equipment and technology, especially in the manufacture of wrought iron at the Horsehay works. It seems very likely that it was Horsehay that in 1839 produced the 800 tons of wrought iron plate for the hull of Brunel's great steam ship the S.S.Great Britain.

Abraham IV married his cousin Matilda (the daughter of Francis Darby) in 1839.
Although he was brought up a Quaker he joined the Church of England and was the driving force behind the construction of Coalbrookdale Church.

In 1844 he became a major shareholder in the Ebbw vale ironworks in South Wales.
In 1849 after a series of family disagreements, he withdrew from active management of the Coalbrookdale Company and in 1851 moved to Stoke Park in Buckinghamshire.

Alfred Darby I (1807-52)

Alfred Darby worked with his brother Abraham IV to improve the fortunes of the Coalbrookdale Company and re-establish its reputation for quality. The Coalbrookdale Works concentrated on the growing trade for architectural cast-iron and by the 1850s was one of the largest foundries in the world. It produced a huge range cast-iron goods including rain water goods, ranges and grates, street lights, railings, fountains, and of course iron pots. Steam engines and pumps were also produced in a new engineering works built on the site of the Lower Furnace Pool.

Alfred Darby was born at Dale House in 1807. He lived there until 1810 and again between 1838 and 1848 when he married Rebecca Miller-Christy.

Alfred Darby II (1850-1925)

Alfred Darby II was the last of the Darby's to be connected with the Coalbrookdale Company. He was born in 1850. It is indicative of how far the family had grown away from their Quaker roots that he was educated at Eton and Oxford and was commissioned in the Shropshire Imperial Yeomanry. Alfred Darby II was chairman of the Company from 1886 to 1925 and with his death the link between the Darby family and the ironworks finally came to an end.