John Bedford (c. 1720–1791) was an English iron worker and industrialist.

Life

He was born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

to John and Sarah Bedford, and followed his father into the iron trade to become a

japanner Japanning is a type of finish that originated as a European imitation of East Asian lacquerwork. It was first used on furniture, but was later much used on small items in metal. The word originated in the 17th century. American work, with the ...

in 1748. Bedford was perhaps best known for his work in the Mid Glamorgan area of South Wales, but he did not move there directly from his native Birmingham. His career progressed and by 1765 he had moved from Birmingham to Trostrey, in

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with ...

, and was the manager of a

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 ...

. His property and business interests in Birmingham were now managed by his father and it was the sale of one of his properties that financed the purchase of a forge at

Rogerstone Rogerstone ( cy, Tŷ du, meaning "Black house") is a large village and community (parish) in Newport, Wales. The area is governed by Newport City Council. The village falls within the ancient parish of Bassaleg and historic county of Monmout ...

, South Wales. He remained there until 1770 when he bought a estate in

Cefn Cribwr Cefn Cribwr is a village and community in Bridgend County Borough in south Wales. The village is located about 5 miles (8 km) from the centre of Bridgend town, and inbetween Bridgend and Pyle. Description The village is situated on a ridge ...

, 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 Old Bridge, Bridgend, medieval bridge ...

, where he planned to establish not only an iron works, complete with

blast furnace A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being "forced" or supplied above atmospheric ...

and forge, but also the

collieries Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

brickworks A brickworks, also known as a brick factory, is a factory for the manufacturing of bricks, from clay or shale. Usually a brickworks is located on a clay bedrock (the most common material from which bricks are made), often with a quarry for cl ...

, mines and stone quarries to support it. Bedford, it seems, brought a sum of £36,000 to fund this venture and was possibly attracted to the area by the availability of local raw materials and its proximity to the sea via the harbor town of Porthcawl.Granville, 1980 The venture failed to reach its full potential due to a number of factors, which included John Bedford’s own eccentricity, the geographic position of the iron works, his reliance on borrowing and his lack of business acumen. His correspondence indicates that he was more interested in experimentation and development of the iron making techniques than running a viable business. Also apparent through his manuscripts of 1786 was his romantic thoughts about architecture, where he believed aesthetic beauty as important as functionality. Although not renowned for his success on business side of iron making he was recognised for his contributions to the iron industry through the vast amount of correspondence he left, now held at the

National Library of Wales The National Library of Wales ( cy, Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru), Aberystwyth, is the national legal deposit library of Wales and is one of the Welsh Government sponsored bodies. It is the biggest library in Wales, holding over 6.5 million boo ...

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth () is a university and seaside town as well as a community in Ceredigion, Wales. Located in the historic county of Cardiganshire, means "the mouth of the Ystwyth". Aberystwyth University has been a major educational location in ...

. John Bedford died on 30 September 1791, at

Digbeth Digbeth is an area of Central Birmingham, England. Following the destruction of the Inner Ring Road, Digbeth is now considered a district within Birmingham City Centre. As part of the Big City Plan, Digbeth is undergoing a large redevelopment ...

, Birmingham, and was buried at Marston Chapel,

Hall Green Hall Green is an area in southeast Birmingham, England, synonymous with the B28 postcode. It is also a council constituency, managed by its own district committee. Historically it lay within the county of Worcestershire. Politics Hall Green is ...

, Birmingham. His estate was divided between his wife and children and an area of his Cefn Cribwr estate was name
Bedford Park
as a dedication to him. After his death the iron works and mine were sold off but the iron working continued until 1836. The brick making and coal mining, however, continued. His great-grandson was famed

aeronautics engineer Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: Aeronautics, aeronautical engineering and Astronautics, astronautical engineering. A ...

, Sir

Morien Morgan Sir Morien Bedford Morgan Order of the Bath, CB Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (20 December 1912 – 4 April 1978), was a noted Welsh aeronautical engineer, sometimes known as "the Father of Concorde". He spent most of his career at the Royal ...

References

* Granville, Neville "Cefn Cribwr - Chronicle of a Village", Stuart Williams Publishers, 1980 John Bedford and the Ironworks at Cefn Cribwr

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bedford, John 1720 births 1791 deaths People from Birmingham, West Midlands