Watkin George (1759-1822) was an carpenter, engineer and ironmaster from

Trevethin Trevethin ( cy, Trefddyn) is a suburb of Pontypool and a community in Torfaen, Wales. It includes two electoral wards (Trevethin and St Cadocs and Penygarn) for Torfaen County Borough Council. It is in the historic county of Monmouthshire. ...

in Monmouthshire. He rose from humble beginnings as a carpenter to have a major influence on ironworks at Cyfartha and Pontypool and is responsible for the design of early

cast-iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...

bridges.

Early life

Little is known about George's early life except that he was born in Trevethin around 1759 and that his father, who was also called Watkin George, died in 1787.

Career

Again, little is known about George's early career but from about 1790 to 1794 he was possibly working on iron girder bridges over the Glamorganshire Canal. He was made a partner in Cyfartha ironworks in 1792 by the owner

Richard Crawshay Richard Crawshay (1739 – 27 June 1810) was a London iron merchant and then South Wales ironmaster; he was one of ten known British millionaires in 1799. Early life and marriage Richard Crawshay was born in Normanton in the West Riding of ...

. The works expanded over the next few years, developing

Henry Cort Henry Cort (c. 1740 – 23 May 1800) was an English ironware producer although formerly a Navy pay agent. During the Industrial Revolution in England, Cort began refining iron from pig iron to wrought iron (or bar iron) using innovative producti ...

's puddling process, to become the largest ironworks in the world by 1806. During this period Watkin George also constructed or designed

Pont-y-Cafnau The Pont-y-Cafnau (Welsh, meaning ''bridge of troughs''), sometimes written ''Pont y Cafnau'' or ''Pontycafnau'', is a long iron truss bridge over the River Taff in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. The bridge was designed by Watkin George and built i ...

(1792-93 - an iron tramway bridge and aqueduct), Gwynne water aqueduct (1793-96 - a timber trestle structure 185m long, part of which ran over Pont-y-Cafnau), Melingriffith water pump (1793-1795), Aeolus waterwheel (1793-97 - a 50 ft diameter cast iron waterwheel), the Merthyr Bridge (1799-1800 - a single shallow arch of cast iron), and Ynysfach Ironworks (1801 - the two blast furnaces bore his initials). Around 1805 Watkin George left Cyfartha to become a partner at Pontypool Ironworks where he undertook a number of changes including the demolition of a wire works at

Pontymoile Pontymoile (Welsh: ''Pont-y-moel'') is a suburb of Pontypool in Torfaen, South Wales. It is all but merged with the nearby suburbs of Cwmynyscoy and Upper Race. It is a community of Torfaen, and includes the electoral wards of Brynwern, ...

, a new tinplate works and waterwheel at Pontymoile and two tinplate works at Lower Mill, near Pontymoile. After George left Cyfartha he was described later (1807) as having ..."lately quitted the concern with from thirty to forty thousand pounds in his pocket. This is one among the most remarkable instances of wealth acquired by the untutored ingenuity of the natural faculties." The partnership with Capel Hanbury Leigh at Pontypool proved successful and after the first two years George received £8,300 in profits. In 1811 George submitted plans for a bridge at Chepstow. The

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

was eventually built to a design by John Rastrick in 1816.

Family life

On 20 September 1789 George married Anne Jenkins (1760-1845, also from Trevethin) at Llanhilleth. They had two or three children, Hannah (1793) Anne (1794) and Watkin (1795). Watkin George died on 10 August 1822 and is buried at

St Cadoc's Church, Trevethin ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

Legacy

and Melingriffith Water Pump both survive and are scheduled monuments (Pont-y-Cafnau is also a Grade II* listed building). The Iron Bridge at Merthyr was dismantled in 1963. The remaining parts are stored at

Cyfarthfa Castle Cyfarthfa Castle ( cy, Castell Cyfarthfa; ) is a castellated mansion that was the home of the Crawshay family, ironmasters of Cyfarthfa Ironworks in Park, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. The house commanded a view of the valley and the works, which � ...

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:George, Watkin British ironmasters Welsh engineers 18th-century British engineers 19th-century British engineers 1759 births 1822 deaths People from Pontypool