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Frederick Ransome (1818–1893) was a British inventor and industrialist, creator of Ransome's
artificial stone Artificial stone is a name for various synthetic stone products produced from the 18th century onward. Uses include statuary, architectural details, fencing and rails, building construction, civil engineering work, and industrial applications su ...
. Frederick was the son of James Ransome, 1782–1849, a member of the Ransomes steel and agricultural equipment-making family of
Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...
. In 1844 Frederick invented an artificial
sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicat ...
, using sand and powdered flint in an alkaline solution. By heating it in an enclosed high temperature steam boiler the siliceous particles were bound together and could be moulded or worked. With properties equivalent to natural stone, it found applications as filtering slabs, vases,
tombstones A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a stele or marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. It is traditional for burials in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions, among others. In most cases, it has the deceased's name, da ...
, decorative architectural work, emery wheels and grindstones. Ransome founded the Patent Siliceous Stone Company in 1852 in order to produce and sell the stone, with an illustrious group of backers that included
Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...
, and the Patent Concrete Stone Company in 1865. However, the stone fell out of use, in favour of
Portland cement Portland cement is the most common type of cement in general use around the world as a basic ingredient of concrete, mortar, stucco, and non-specialty grout. It was developed from other types of hydraulic lime in England in the early 19t ...
-based
concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wid ...
, which could be more simply cast on-site. Ransome moved the manufacture of the artificial stone from Ipswich to Blackwall Lane,
Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...
, in 1866. The Blackwall Lane works covered about four acres, connected to a jetty on the Thames by a tramway. The company's decorative "stonework" was used at the Brighton Aquarium, London Docks, the Indian Court, Whitehall, St. Thomas's Hospital, and at the University of Calcutta and other buildings in India. They also made paving tiles, which were used on the Albert Bridge and inscribed memorial headstones. By far his most economically important invention (Patents 5442/1885, 10530/1887 and 15065/1887) was the rotary
cement kiln Cement kilns are used for the pyroprocessing stage of manufacture of portland and other types of hydraulic cement, in which calcium carbonate reacts with silica-bearing minerals to form a mixture of calcium silicates. Over a billion tonnes of ...
. Although his experiments with the idea were not a commercial success, his designs provided the basis for successful kilns in the US from 1891, subsequently emulated worldwide. Ransome became an associate of the
Institution of Civil Engineers The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters are located in the UK, whi ...
in 1848. He died at
East Dulwich East Dulwich is an area of South East London, England in the London Borough of Southwark. It forms the eastern part of Dulwich, with Peckham to the east and Camberwell to the north. This South London suburb was first developed in the nineteent ...
on 19 April 1893 and was buried at
West Norwood Cemetery West Norwood Cemetery is a rural cemetery in West Norwood in London, England. It was also known as the South Metropolitan Cemetery. One of the first private landscaped cemeteries in London, it is one of the " Magnificent Seven" cemeteries of ...
. His son, Ernest L. Ransome, born in 1844, moved to the United States and became a significant innovator in his own right, in the development of
reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low ultimate tensile strength, tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion ...
.


References

* The Mechanics' Magazine, p126 Ransome's Patent Artificial Stone a
Internet Archive


#4780 6 Mar 1865 Ransome requests a postponement of payment on a note for £100. 1818 births 1893 deaths English civil engineers Burials at West Norwood Cemetery Concrete pioneers {{England-engineer-stub