Sir Arthur John Dorman, 1st Baronet, (8 August 1848 – 12 February 1931) was an important British .

Early life

He was born at Ashford in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

the son of Charles Dorman and Emma Page and educated at

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. The school was founded in 1552 and received its first royal charter in 1553 ...

, then situated in

Newgate Newgate was one of the historic seven gates of the London Wall around the City of London and one of the six which date back to Roman times. Newgate lay on the west side of the wall and the road issuing from it headed over the River Fleet to Mid ...

, London.

Career

He was sent, at the age of 22, by his family to work at a

Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees, often simply referred to as Stockton, is a market town in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham, England. It is on the northern banks of the River Tees, part of the Teesside built-up area. The town had an estimated ...

ironworks where a relative was a partner. Dorman started as a puddler and rapidly progressed in his career. In 1875, he went into partnership with

Albert de Lande Long Albert De Lande Long (13 September 1844 – 23 February 1917) was an English iron founder and manufacturer who co-founded the company Dorman Long. Before doing so he was a highly successful adult amateur rower. Biography Long was born at Ips ...

to acquire the ''West Marsh'' Ironworks in

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

.Arthur John Dorman at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
/ref> During the 1880s they exploited the new steelmaking technologies being introduced at that time including the use of

Open hearth furnace An open-hearth furnace or open hearth furnace is any of several kinds of industrial furnace in which excess carbon and other impurities are burnt out of pig iron to produce steel. Because steel is difficult to manufacture owing to its high melt ...

s. Together they built a large industrial concern,

Dorman Long Dorman Long & Co was a UK steel producer, later diversifying into bridge building. It was once listed on the London Stock Exchange. History The company was founded by Arthur Dorman and Albert de Lande Long when they acquired ''West Marsh ...

, which by 1914 employed 20,000 people and during the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

was a major supplier of shells. In 1892 he stood his only time for Parliament, as the Conservative candidate for

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, losing by 4.2% of the vote to Henry Fell Pease in a seat which leaned on all other occasions of that era very strongly to the latter's Liberal party – with strong support to members of the prominent, equally industrialist, Pease family. Arthur Dorman was appointed a Knight Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(KBE) in 1918 and created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

Nunthorpe Nunthorpe is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Middlesbrough in North Yorkshire, England. It is part of the historic county of Yorkshire, North Riding. It is near to the village of Great Ayton and formerly part of the Ayton ancient ...

in the

County of York Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

on 21 July 1923.

Family

He married Clara Lockwood in 1873 and together they had four sons and three daughters. His youngest son George Lockwood Dorman was killed in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

, and is commemorated in the

Dorman Museum Dorman Museum is a local and social history museum on the town centre side of Albert Park, Linthorpe in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. It is one of two museums operated by the local borough council, along with the Captain Cook bir ...

. Sir Arthur Dorman died in 1931 at Grey Towers, his home in

near Middlesbrough. His title was inherited by his eldest son Bedford Lockwood Dorman.

References

External links

Picture of Sir Arthur Dorman, 1st Baronet
1848 births 1931 deaths People educated at Christ's Hospital English industrialists Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Conservative Party (UK) parliamentary candidates People from Ashford, Kent {{UK-baronet-stub