John Baildon (11 December 1772 – 7 August 1846) was a Scottish pioneer in metallurgy in continental Europe. Baildon was born in

Larbert Larbert ( gd, Lèirbert/Leth-pheairt, sco, Lairbert) is a small town in the Falkirk council area of Scotland. The town lies in the Forth Valley above the River Carron which flows from the west. Larbert is from the shoreline of the Firth of F ...

Stirlingshire Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling, gd, Siorrachd Sruighlea) is a historic county and registration countyRegisters of Scotland. Publications, leaflets, Land Register Counties. of Scotland. Its county town is Stirling. It borders Perth ...

. In 1793, he came to

Prussian Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

(in modern-day

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( pl, Górny Śląsk; szl, Gůrny Ślůnsk, Gōrny Ślōnsk; cs, Horní Slezsko; german: Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ; la, Silesia Superior) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, locate ...

, Poland) on the invitation of Friedrich von Reden. During the remainder of his life in Silesia, Baildon was involved in numerous pioneering industrial undertakings, including construction of the first blast furnaces fired by coke in continental Europe (in Gliwice (Gleiwitz) and Chorzów (Königshütte), the first pig iron produced on 21 September 1796), the Kanał Kłodnicki (Klodnitz Canal), and the first iron bridge in continental Europe (over the Strzegomka river in Łażany (Laasan), Lower Silesia, erected in Spring 1796). John married Helene Antonie Galli, daughter of an Italian merchant, in Gleiwitz in 1804 and had 7 children (5 sons, 2 daughters). He died in Gleiwitz and is buried there at the Metallurgical Cemetery, known as the ''Cmentarz Hutniczy'' in Polish. A major steel works (

Baildon Steelworks Baildon Steelworks ( pl, Huta Baildon) was a major steelworks in Katowice, Poland. It was located in Katowice districts of Załęże and Dąb, Katowice, Dąb. Founded in 1823 (then in Province of Silesia, Prussian Silesia), it was a major local ...

, Katowice, established in 1823, liquidated in 2001) was named after him.

External links

Szymonowicz, Jarosław "A Scotsman in Silesia" Warsaw Voice, 28 March 2007
Retrieved 18 October 2007. * About Family Baildon-Briestwell on the websit

(English). Scottish engineers People from Gliwice People from Katowice 1772 births 1846 deaths People from Larbert British metallurgists {{Poland-bio-stub