Isaac Cookson (1679–1743) was the founder of

Cookson Group Vesuvius plc is a British engineered ceramics company headquartered in London whose products are used by steelmakers and foundries as well as in the glass and solar energy industries. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a c ...

, a

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

-based materials technology businesses.

Career

Baptised and brought up in Penrith, Isaac Cookson moved to

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

in 1704 to further his career.Isaac Cookson at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
/ref> In partnership with his brother William, he acquired land at Little Clifton near

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. The town was historically in Cumberland. At the 2011 census it had a population of 25,207. Loca ...

in 1721 and built a foundry on it: by 1750 this foundry was making "a very great profit". Also in 1721, in partnership with Joseph Button, he established a facility for casting

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

and

brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

. Then in 1728, using land he had leased in 1722, together with Joseph Airey, he took over and expanded the ''Dagnia Flint Glasshouse'' in

: by the 1730s he was operating a separate glasshouse in

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

. It was this collection of businesses which Isaac Cookson's descendants built into one of the largest materials technology businesses in the

. He died in

in 1743. He should not be confused with his namesake, some 26 years younger (born 1705, died 1754), who was also born in Penrith and lived in Newcastle, who was one of the most notable silversmiths of the time.The Finial Page 36 Lot 118
The Silver Spoon Club of Great Britain, July / August 2007

Family

In 1709 he married Hannah Buston and together they had five children.

References

1679 births 1743 deaths English industrialists People from Penrith, Cumbria {{UK-business-bio-1670s-stub