William Aspdin (23 September 1815 – 11 April 1864) was an English cement manufacturer, and a pioneer of the
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 19th c ...
industry.
He is considered the inventor of "modern" Portland cement.
[ He has also been termed "an incorrigible liar and swindler".][
]Joseph Aspdin
Joseph Aspdin (25 December 1778 – 20 March 1855) was an English cement manufacturer who obtained the patent for Portland cement on 21 October 1824.
Life
Aspdin (or Aspden) was the eldest of the six children of Thomas Aspdin, a bricklaye ...
, his father, is proven to have patented the method of cement manufacture in 1824 which is how cement continues to be made to this day, albeit with technological advances.
Biography
Aspdin was born in Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
, the second son of Joseph Aspdin
Joseph Aspdin (25 December 1778 – 20 March 1855) was an English cement manufacturer who obtained the patent for Portland cement on 21 October 1824.
Life
Aspdin (or Aspden) was the eldest of the six children of Thomas Aspdin, a bricklaye ...
, an English cement manufacturer. Joseph Aspdin obtained a patent for "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 19th c ...
" in 1824. His product was a fast-setting material usable only in mortars
Mortar may refer to:
* Mortar (weapon), an indirect-fire infantry weapon
* Mortar (masonry), a material used to fill the gaps between blocks and bind them together
* Mortar and pestle, a tool pair used to crush or grind
* Mortar, Bihar, a villag ...
and stucco
Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...
s.
He joined his father's cement manufacturing firm in 1829, at the age of fourteen. In July 1841, Aspdin left the firm after a major disagreement with his father. Joseph then went into partnership with his elder son, James, posting a notice that Aspdin had left, and that the company would not be responsible for his debts, stating "I think it right to give notice that my late agent, William Aspdin, is not now in my employment, and that he is not authorised to receive any money, nor contract any debts on my behalf or on behalf of the new firm."[
A marriage record from Royston Saint John the Baptist church in ]Barnsley
Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...
of 28 December 1841 reports the marriage of William Aspdin and Jane Leadman of Barnsley. None of his family was present at the wedding.
In 1843, Aspdin set up a manufacturing plant at Rotherhithe
Rotherhithe () is a district of south-east London, England, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is on a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames, facing Wapping, Shadwell and Limehouse on the north bank, as well as the Isle of Dogs ...
, southeast London, where he was soon making a cement that caused a sensation among users in London. William had discovered that a significantly different product, with much wider applications, could be made by modifying his father's cement formulation. By increasing the limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
content in the mixture, and burning it much harder, a slow-setting, high-strength product suitable for use in concrete could be obtained. This product was substantially more expensive to make, in terms of cost of extra limestone, cost of extra fuel, and difficult grinding of the hard clinker.[
Although this product, referred to today as "modern" ]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 19th c ...
, was entirely different mineralogically from that of his father, Aspdin did not take out a patent, or give it a new name. Instead he attempted to keep the details of his methods secret, sometimes claiming that the product was covered by his father's patent. Famously, he would emerge from his office when each newly loaded kiln was ready for firing, and scatter in handfuls of brightly coloured crystals over the raw mix, to give the impression that the special properties of his product were the result of an unidentified "magic ingredient".[ However, in 1845, his rival ]Isaac Charles Johnson
Isaac Charles Johnson (28 January 1811 – 29 November 1911) was a British cement manufacturer, and a pioneer of the Portland cement industry.
Born in London, his father was a charge-hand at Francis & White's "Roman Cement" plant in Nine Elms. ...
succeeded in creating a similar product for J. B. White & Co.'s nearby Swanscombe
Swanscombe Help:IPA/English, /ˈswɒnzkəm/ is a village in the Borough of Dartford in Kent, England, and the civil parish of Swanscombe and Greenhithe. It is 4.4 miles west of Gravesend and 4.8 miles east of Dartford.
History
Prehistory
B ...
plant.
Aspdin contracted several partnerships to finance his operations. As "Maude, Jones & Aspdin", he acquired the Parker Parker may refer to:
Persons
* Parker (given name)
* Parker (surname)
Places Place names in the United States
*Parker, Arizona
*Parker, Colorado
* Parker, Florida
* Parker, Idaho
* Parker, Kansas
* Parker, Missouri
* Parker, North Carolina
*Park ...
and Wyatt plant at Northfleet creek, 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 ...
, and transferred his manufacturing operations there in 1846. He sold out his share of the Northfleet plant in 1852, and set up in 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 ...
, County Durham, as "Aspdin, Ord & Co". In 1857, he sold out again, and moved to Germany. From 1860, he set up cement plants at Altona and Lagerdorf, these being the first plants to make modern Portland cement outside the UK.[G Hägermann, ''Dokumente zur Entstehungsgeschichte des Portland Zement'' in ''Zement-Kalk-Gips'', January 1970] He died at Itzehoe
Itzehoe (; nds, Itzhoe) is a town in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein.
As the capital of the district Steinburg, Itzehoe is located on the Stör, a navigable tributary of the Elbe, 51 km (31.7 mi) northwest of Hamburg and 24  ...
near Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
on 11 April 1864.[
The Northfleet plant continued making Portland cement on a small scale as Robins & Co. Ltd. until it was taken over by APCM (Blue Circle) in 1900. It shut down shortly afterwards. The Gateshead plant was bought by I. C. Johnson, and continued in operation until 1911, when it too was bought by Blue Circle and shut down.
Aspdin's finances were chaotic, to say the least, and he went bankrupt at least twice. At each relocation, he was pursued by angry creditors. His history of "financial missteps" and questionable business arrangements suggests that William may have been both inept and dishonest.][ Courland documents evidence of both forgery and embezzlement and does not hesitate to identify him as a ]con man
A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have def ...
.[ Aspdin made a number of claims which have since been shown to be false, including trading on his father's name, reputation, and patent. One of the most preposterous was William's claim that his father's cement was used by ]Marc Isambard Brunel
Sir Marc Isambard Brunel (, ; 25 April 1769 – 12 December 1849) was a French-British engineer who is most famous for the work he did in Britain. He constructed the Thames Tunnel and was the father of Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
Born in Franc ...
in the creation of the Thames Tunnel
The Thames Tunnel is a tunnel beneath the River Thames in London, connecting Rotherhithe and Wapping. It measures 35 feet (11 m) wide by 20 feet (6 m) high and is 1,300 feet (396 m) long, running at a depth of 7 ...
in London.[
Like his father, Aspdin had little chemical training, and his innovations were likely the result of luck.][ His contribution (although he was unaware of its chemical significance) was to make the first cement containing ]alite
Alite is an impure form of tricalcium silicate, , sometimes formulated as ( in cement chemist notation), typically with 3-4% of substituent oxides. It is the major, and characteristic, phase in Portland cement. The name was given by Törnebohm i ...
as an active ingredient. He is credited with launching the "modern" Portland cement industry.[
]
References
1815 births
1864 deaths
Businesspeople from Leeds
Concrete pioneers
Businesspeople in cement
19th-century English businesspeople
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