Francis Homfray (7 September 1725 – 1798) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

industrialist and one of the founders of the iron industry in South Wales. He was the third son of Francis Homfray (1674–1736), of

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, a village in

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

located in the county then known as the

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, and Mary Jeston (d.1758) of The Heath,

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. His father had been successful in the iron trade in

Coalbrookdale Coalbrookdale is a village in the Ironbridge Gorge in Shropshire, England, containing a settlement of great significance in the history of iron ore smelting. It lies within the civil parish called the Gorge. This is where iron ore was first s ...

, Staffordshire, and he made his home at Wollaston Hall,

, and at Stourton Mill. He married Hannah Popkin of Coytrahen, near

Bridgend Bridgend (; cy, Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the medieval bridge over the River Og ...

, Glamorgan. In order to ensure a livelihood for his sons,

Jeremiah Jeremiah, Modern: , Tiberian: ; el, Ἰερεμίας, Ieremíās; meaning " Yah shall raise" (c. 650 – c. 570 BC), also called Jeremias or the "weeping prophet", was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewi ...

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and

Samuel Homfray Samuel Homfray (1762 – 22 May 1822) was an English industrialist during the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain, associated with the early iron industry in South Wales. Samuel was the son of a successful ironmaster, Francis Homfray, and the ...

, he approached Anthony Bacon (with whom he subsequently quarrelled) in September 1782 and leased an ironworks from him, to be used mainly for manufacturing weapons and ammunitions. The eventual result was the establishment of the

Penydarren : ''For Trevithick's Pen-y-darren locomotive, see Richard Trevithick.'' Penydarren is a community and electoral ward in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough in Wales. Description The area is most notable for being the site of a 1st-century Roman fort, ...

works at Merthyr Tydfil. Welsh iron production went from 4000 tons per year in 1750 to 80000 in 1815.

Sources

Welsh Biography Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Homfray, Francis English industrialists 1725 births 1798 deaths