William Rea (1662–1750?) was a British

ironmaster An ironmaster is the manager, and usually owner, of a forge or blast furnace for the processing of iron. It is a term mainly associated with the period of the Industrial Revolution, especially in Great Britain. The ironmaster was usually a large ...

, owner or partner in many ironworks.

Background

He was born on 24 February 1662 and he may have been the son of Richard Rea, manager of the Foley family's steelworks in and about the Forest of Bob (the Forest Partnership).

Ironmaster

In the early 18th century he was the managing partner of the Foley steelworks from 1690 to 1725, and an important figure in coal iron production. In this role, he succeeded John Wheeler. He appears as a manager of Wilden Forge about 1692, and was managing some forges near the

Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and northwest, Herefordshire to the n ...

for John Wheeler and Obadiah Lane from about 1701. It is thought that he was John Wheeler's chief clerk. After Wheeler's death, Rea married one of his daughters. Rea seems to have managed the business of the Forest Partnership successfully, with some oversight from Richard Avenant and then Richard Knight of

Bringewood Ironworks Bringewood Ironworks was a charcoal ironworks in north Herefordshire. It was powered by the river Teme, with a blast furnace, a finery forge and latterly a rolling mill for blackplate (to be tinned into tinplate). It was probably built for Robe ...

(near

Ludlow Ludlow () is a market town in Shropshire, England. The town is significant in the history of the Welsh Marches and in relation to Wales. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road which bypasses the town. The t ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

). After the death of

Philip Foley Philip Foley (12 May 1648 – December 1716) was the youngest of the three surviving sons of the British ironmaster Thomas Foley (1616–1677), Thomas Foley. His father transferred all his ironworks in the West Midlands (region), Midlands to him ...

in 1716, his children sold out, as did Richard Knight who had become a partner in about 1709. That left as partners just John Wheeler II and Thomas Foley, the eldest son of Paul Foley and Auditor of the Imposts (an

Exchequer In the civil service of the United Kingdom, His Majesty’s Exchequer, or just the Exchequer, is the accounting process of central government and the government's ''current account'' (i.e., money held from taxation and other government reven ...

sinecure A sinecure ( or ; from the Latin , 'without', and , 'care') is an office, carrying a salary or otherwise generating income, that requires or involves little or no responsibility, labour, or active service. The term originated in the medieval chu ...

Financial losses

In 1717, an embargo was placed on British trade with

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. As a substantial part of the iron used in Britain was imported from Sweden, there was a shortage of it and the price rose. This meant large potential profits for English ironmasters, such as Rea. But to make more iron, they needed more charcoal. The price of cordwood from which charcoal was made is also likely to have risen. Rea bought a large quantity of wood - both cordwood and timber (i.e. large stuff suitable for house and shipbuilding) - at

Holme Lacy Holme Lacy is a village in the English county of Herefordshire. The population of the civil parish was 466 at the 2011 Census. Category It is a primarily rural village. Etymology Holme Lacy is not from Old Norse ''holmr'' "island" like other pla ...

near

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...

. He realised that the deal was too big for him and asked Thomas Foley to become his partner. The best timber was sold to the Navy for

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...

. The charcoal made from the cordwood no doubt went to their ironworks. However, iron imports had only been temporarily interrupted, as Swedish iron was re-exported to England from

Prussia 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 em ...

and the

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, and the embargo was lifted in 1719. The price of iron came back down, leaving Rea bound to a contract for wood at high prices. This was financially disastrous for him.

Sacked

It is likely that his failure left him depressed; certainly in 1725, he was severely in arrears with providing accounts to his partners. Accordingly, the Forest Partners met at

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...

and sacked him. Warine Falkner was the next manager, but his wife wanted to move back to

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

to be near her family, and he left. In the time of his successor Thomas Pendrill, the business (now owned entirely by the Foley family) gradually contracted, and ended in obscurity as an unimportant concern, some time after 1751.

Financial ruin

Rea's sacking was followed by litigation, mainly (but not entirely) in the Court of Exchequer. This was ultimately partly resolved by an arbitration by Warine Falkner and Edward Kendall with William Knight as umpire. The result left Rea financially ruined, with his property mortgaged to the Duke of Beaufort, to whom he ultimately surrendered it.

Later career

Little is known of Rea's career after he was sacked by the Forest Partnership. He had had shares in ironworks in Cheshire and Staffordshire, at Cunsey in

Furness Furness ( ) is a peninsula and region of Cumbria in northwestern England. Together with the Cartmel Peninsula it forms North Lonsdale, historically an exclave of Lancashire. The Furness Peninsula, also known as Low Furness, is an area of vill ...

, and in

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

, and was evidently an important figure in the iron industry, but withdrew from (or lost) these shares during the 1720s. He is last heard of in 1748, when he forced the sale of an estate at

Wolverley Wolverley is a village; with nearby Cookley (1 mi northeast), it forms a civil parish in the Wyre Forest District of Worcestershire, England. It is 2 miles north of Kidderminster and lies on the River Stour and the Staffordshire and ...

. Samuel Jewkes had apparently given him a partnership in Wolverley Old

Forge A forge is a type of hearth used for heating metals, or the workplace (smithy) where such a hearth is located. The forge is used by the smith to heat a piece of metal to a temperature at which it becomes easier to shape by forging, or to th ...

during the embargo and had died without paying. William Rea brought proceedings in Chancery for payment, but had to await the majority of the grandson before the estate could be sold and he could be paid. The estate was bought by William Knight's son Edward, by then an important and wealthy ironmaster in the area. William Rea died before 2 April 1757 when William Marks of Brockham in the parish of Astley (Worcestershire), grand-nephew and heir of William Rea of Monmouth is cited in a legal case.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rea, William English ironmasters 1662 births 1750 deaths