William Weston Young
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William Weston Young (1776–1847) was a British Quaker entrepreneur, artist, botanist, wreck-raiser, surveyor, potter, and inventor of the
firebrick A fire brick, firebrick, or refractory is a block of ceramic material used in lining furnaces, kilns, fireboxes, and fireplaces. A refractory brick is built primarily to withstand high temperature, but will also usually have a low thermal con ...
.


Biography

William Weston Young was born on 20 April 1776 at Lewin's Mead,
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
, England, into a devout Quaker family, the third son of Edward Young, a Bristolian merchant and Sarah (Sally) Young (née Weston). He was educated at Gildersome Quaker boarding school in Yorkshire, which among other things gave him a rudimentary knowledge of science which he was later to apply in his invention of the
silica Silicon dioxide, also known as silica, is an oxide of silicon with the chemical formula , most commonly found in nature as quartz and in various living organisms. In many parts of the world, silica is the major constituent of sand. Silica is ...
firebrick A fire brick, firebrick, or refractory is a block of ceramic material used in lining furnaces, kilns, fireboxes, and fireplaces. A refractory brick is built primarily to withstand high temperature, but will also usually have a low thermal con ...
. After a flustered attempt to emigrate to America in 1794, involving his ship being captured by a fleet of French men-of-war, his ultimate escape from captivity and arduous journey home, Young settled back in Bristol, found employment and married fellow Quaker, Elizabeth Davis, in April 1795. In 1798, Young had acquired the financial backing (with notable help from his uncle Thomas Young, father of the physicist, physician and egyptologist Dr Thomas Young) to lease a farm and water mill from John Llewellyn of Ynysygerwn, at
Aberdulais Aberdulais is a village and electoral ward in Neath Port Talbot, Wales, lying on the River Neath, in the community of Blaenhonddan. The village grew around the Aberdulais Falls, the site of successive industries and now a hydro-electric statio ...
, in the Neath Valley,
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, Wales. After a lucrative start to his new venture as a miller, corn-factor and farmer, a large purchase of corn, beans and grist coinciding with the
Treaty of Amiens The Treaty of Amiens (french: la paix d'Amiens, ) temporarily ended hostilities between France and the United Kingdom at the end of the War of the Second Coalition. It marked the end of the French Revolutionary Wars; after a short peace it s ...
, which crashed the value of his goods, as well as some unfortunate dealings with men of false credit brought Young into trouble with his own creditors, and was made bankrupt in May 1802.


The Cambrian Pottery and friendship with Lewis Weston Dillwyn

Young's early bankruptcy had lasting impact upon his career. No longer independent, he sought employment and put his artistic skills to use. On 23 January 1803, Young and his wife moved to new lodgings in Swansea,
Glamorganshire , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...
, where he had gained employment under fellow Quaker,
Lewis Weston Dillwyn Lewis Weston Dillwyn, FRS (21 August 1778 – 31 August 1855) was a British porcelain manufacturer, naturalist and Whig Member of Parliament (MP). Biography He was born in Walthamstow, Essex, the eldest son of William Dillwyn (1743–1824) and ...
, as a "draftsman" at Dillwyn's
Cambrian Pottery The Cambrian Pottery was founded in 1764 by William Coles in Swansea, Glamorganshire, Wales. In 1790, John Coles, son of the founder, went into partnership with George Haynes, who introduced new business strategies based on the ideas of Josia ...
, where he remained until August 1806. Dillwyn and Young, both in their mid-twenties, struck up a close friendship due to their common interest in natural history. Many of Young's painted wares feature accurately depicted
flora and fauna In biology, an organism () is any living system that functions as an individual entity. All organisms are composed of cells (cell theory). Organisms are classified by taxonomy into groups such as multicellular animals, plants, and fungi ...
as well as the taxonomic names of the illustrated species. Collections of this pottery can be seen at the
V&A Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
, South Kensington, The
National Museum of Wales National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...
,
Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
and at the
Glynn Vivian Art Gallery The Glynn Vivian Art Gallery is the public art gallery of the City and County of Swansea, in Wales, United Kingdom. The gallery is situated in Alexandra Road, near Swansea railway station, opposite the old Swansea Central Library. History The ...
, Swansea. During this period, Young shared his time between decorating the Cambrian Pottery's best porcelain and assisting with Dillwyn's botanical fieldwork. Between 1802 and 1814, Dillwyn worked on a groundbreaking study of British algae species, ''The British Confervae''. Young's illustrative plates are to be found from Part III onwards in Dillwyn's publications. In Part IV, Dillwyn credits Young with the discovery of: * ''Conferva dissiliens,'' (Plate 63), in Crymlyn Bog, Swansea, * ''Conferva youngana,'' (Plate 102), in the limestone rock pools near Dunraven Castle, Glamorganshire. Young's discoveries and collaboration on the work with Dillwyn earned him Associate Membership of the
Linnaean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...
.


Wreck-raising, surveying and Thomas Mansel Talbot's tomb

In 1806 Young conceived of an improved "grab" or "forceps" mechanism to be used in wreck-raising and set about a wreck-raising business, retrieving sunken vessels in the Bristol Channel. His first commission to raise the freight ship ''Anne and Teresa'', salvaged a cargo of copper, made him enough money to establish himself comfortably in the village of Newton Nottage,
Glamorganshire , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...
as a wreck-raiser, merchant and farmer. In 1811, the death of established local surveyor John Williams of Newland, near
Margam Margam is a suburb and community of Port Talbot in the Welsh county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, close to junction 39 of the M4 motorway. The community had a population of 3,017 in 2011; the built up area being larger and extending into ...
, Glamorgan, enabled Young to add surveyor to his list of occupations, filling the niche that Newland left in the region for the next decade. It was during his work as a surveyor that Young, an amateur geologist too, discovered the potential of a limestone found at
Mumbles Mumbles ( cy, Mwmbwls) is a headland sited on the western edge of Swansea Bay on the southern coast of Wales. Toponym Mumbles has been noted for its unusual place name. The headland is thought by some to have been named by French sailors, ...
, Swansea being fashioned as marble. In 1814, Thomas Mansel Talbot (1747–1814) (father of
Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot FRS (10 May 1803 – 17 January 1890) was a Welsh landowner, industrialist and Liberal politician. He developed his estate at Margam near Swansea as an extensive ironworks, served by railways and a port, which was ...
(1803–1890)) died at Penrice,
Gower Gower ( cy, Gŵyr) or the Gower Peninsula () in southwest Wales, projects towards the Bristol Channel. It is the most westerly part of the historic county of Glamorgan. In 1956, the majority of Gower became the first area in the United Kingdom ...
, Glamorganshire and Young was commissioned to design Talbot's tomb using locally sourced minerals. The tomb is a large and elaborate edifice, deploying Penrice alabaster and Mumbles marble, and took six years of design and modelling before its completion in February 1820 in the nave of
Margam Abbey Margam Abbey ( cy, Abaty Margam) was a Cistercian monastery, located in the village of Margam, a suburb of modern Port Talbot in Wales. History The abbey was founded in 1147 as a daughter house of Clairvaux by Robert, Earl of Gloucester ...
Church,
Margam Margam is a suburb and community of Port Talbot in the Welsh county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, close to junction 39 of the M4 motorway. The community had a population of 3,017 in 2011; the built up area being larger and extending into ...
, Glamorganshire.


The Nantgarw Pottery

In early 1814, Young became the major investor in William Billingsley and Samuel Walker's venture; the
Nantgarw Pottery The Nantgarw China Works was a porcelain factory, later making other types of pottery, located in Nantgarw on the eastern bank of the Glamorganshire Canal, north of Cardiff in the River Taff valley, Glamorganshire, Wales. The factory made porcel ...
,
Nantgarw Nantgarw is a village in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, near Cardiff. From an electoral and administrative perspective Nantgarw falls within the ward of Taffs Well, a village some south, but historically fell within the boundari ...
,
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. Billingsley and Walker, through their prior ties with ''Flight, Barr & Barr'' at
Royal Worcester Royal Worcester is a porcelain brand based in Worcester, England. It was established in 1751 and is believed to be the oldest or second oldest remaining English porcelain brand still in existence today, although this is disputed by Royal Crown De ...
had signed an agreement not to disclose their new
porcelain Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises main ...
recipe to a third party, but there was no clause preventing them from using that recipe themselves. The pottery was set up, but something of Billingsley & Walker's understanding of the recipe or manufacturing process was amiss, as 90% of the porcelain was ruined in the firing. The resources of the three associates soon ran out, and the group approached the British Government's ''Committee of Trade and Plantations'' asking for a grant of £500, referring to the subsidy the French Government had given the famous
Sèvres Sèvres (, ) is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the Hauts-de-Seine department, Île-de-France region. The commune, which had a population of 23,251 as of 2018, is known for ...
Porcelain Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises main ...
Factory. They were not successful, but one member of the committee, porcelain enthusiast Sir Joseph Banks, suggested to his friend and ceramicist
Lewis Weston Dillwyn Lewis Weston Dillwyn, FRS (21 August 1778 – 31 August 1855) was a British porcelain manufacturer, naturalist and Whig Member of Parliament (MP). Biography He was born in Walthamstow, Essex, the eldest son of William Dillwyn (1743–1824) and ...
of the
Cambrian Pottery The Cambrian Pottery was founded in 1764 by William Coles in Swansea, Glamorganshire, Wales. In 1790, John Coles, son of the founder, went into partnership with George Haynes, who introduced new business strategies based on the ideas of Josia ...
of Swansea, Glamorganshire, should make an inspection and report on the matter. Dillwyn made the inspection, and saw the extent of the firm's losses, but was so impressed with the quality of the surviving pieces that he offered Billingsley and Walker use of the Cambrian Pottery to improve their recipe and process. An annexe was built for porcelain production at the Cambrian Pottery, where Walker and Billingsley were based from late 1814. During this time, Young was preoccupied with the construction of the Tomb of Thomas Mansel Talbot, at
Margam Abbey Margam Abbey ( cy, Abaty Margam) was a Cistercian monastery, located in the village of Margam, a suburb of modern Port Talbot in Wales. History The abbey was founded in 1147 as a daughter house of Clairvaux by Robert, Earl of Gloucester ...
. Billingsley's porcelain recipe was modified and improved, but was still wasteful enough for Dillwyn to abandon the project in Swansea and in 1817, the pair returned to Nantgarw. Young reinvested in the pottery at Nantgarw, additionally becoming an art teacher at
Cowbridge Cowbridge ( cy, Y Bont-faen) is a market town in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, approximately west of the centre of Cardiff. The Cowbridge with Llanblethian community and civil parish elect a town council. A Cowbridge electoral ward exists for ...
Free School to help raise the funds. Billingsley and Walker continued to fire their porcelain at a loss, until one day in April 1820, while Young was away in
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
, the pair absconded to
Coalport Coalport is a village in Shropshire, England. It is located on the River Severn in the Ironbridge Gorge, a mile downstream of Ironbridge. It lies predominantly on the north bank of the river; on the other side is Jackfield. The settlement wa ...
leaving behind them the lease to the pottery and several thousand pieces of undecorated porcelain in various stages of production. Young put the Nantgarw Pottery and its contents up for sale via public auction in October 1820, enabling him to buy-out his minor partners and become sole proprietor. He invited his friend and former co-working artist from the Cambrian Pottery,
Thomas Pardoe Thomas Pardoe (3 July 1770 – 1823) was a British enameler noted for flower painting. Pardoe was born in Derby on 3 July 1770 and was apprenticed at the Derby (Nottingham Road) porcelain factory in the 1780s, later moving to Worcester. He pa ...
, to aid him with the completion and decoration of the salvaged porcelain. Young and Pardoe experimented to perfect a glaze for the biscuitware, but were unable to add to Billingsley's stockpile of porcelain, having no access to his recipe. The final sales of the finished porcelain (sold between 1821 and 1822), paid Pardoe and his staff's salaries in arrears, but failed to recoup Young's total losses, leaving Young narrowly avoiding a further bankruptcy. The rare surviving pieces of Nantgarw porcelain are considered today to be among the most valuable artefacts ever produced in Wales. Collections of this pottery can be seen at The
V&A Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
,
South Kensington South Kensington, nicknamed Little Paris, is a district just west of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with ...
, London and The
National Museum of Wales National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...
,
Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
. In 1833 the Nantgarw estate was sold to William Henry Pardoe, son of Thomas Pardoe.


The Dinas firebrick

Young's experience of firing
ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...
s, together with his familiarity with the region as a local surveyor and his amateur interests in geology, enabled him to conceive of a heat-proof, blast-furnace brick, using
silica Silicon dioxide, also known as silica, is an oxide of silicon with the chemical formula , most commonly found in nature as quartz and in various living organisms. In many parts of the world, silica is the major constituent of sand. Silica is ...
found in large deposits at the head of the Neath Valley. The process of "vitrifying" the walls of a ceramic brick-built furnace had been patented by William Harry of the
Swansea Valley The Swansea Valley ( cy, Cwm Tawe) is one of the South Wales Valleys. It is the valley from the Brecon Beacons National Park to the sea at Swansea of the River Tawe in Wales. Administration of the area is divided between the City and County of Sw ...
in 1817, but Young's solution was to build the whole furnace from a "silica
firebrick A fire brick, firebrick, or refractory is a block of ceramic material used in lining furnaces, kilns, fireboxes, and fireplaces. A refractory brick is built primarily to withstand high temperature, but will also usually have a low thermal con ...
," made with a 1% addition of
lime Lime commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a color between yellow and green Lime may also refer to: Botany ...
, to bind the blue-grey "clay" of the Dinas rock. The idea being that the interior of the blast furnace would
vitrify The glass–liquid transition, or glass transition, is the gradual and reversible transition in amorphous materials (or in amorphous regions within semicrystalline materials) from a hard and relatively brittle "glassy" state into a viscous or rub ...
and be vastly more durable and ultimately economical, than a mere veneer of silica within a comparatively fragile ceramic shell. Young made early experiments with the recipe and fired his trial bricks at the
Nantgarw Pottery The Nantgarw China Works was a porcelain factory, later making other types of pottery, located in Nantgarw on the eastern bank of the Glamorganshire Canal, north of Cardiff in the River Taff valley, Glamorganshire, Wales. The factory made porcel ...
kilns, while he and Pardoe finished the Billingsley porcelain for sale between 1820 and 1821, when he finalised his recipe. In 1822, Young applied to the Marquis of Bute to lease the lands near Craig-y-Dinas, Pontneddfechan, in the upper Neath Valley for a period of twenty-one years. Young had the lease, and the patent (No. 5047) but had no funds left to set up the required brickworks. He sought financial backing from a number of sources, including his extended family once more and on 19 October 1822, the Dinas Fire Brick Co. was established in a partnership involving David Morgan, a Neath ironmonger; John Player; and Joseph Young (William Weston Young's older brother). (W.W. Young was a party but could not be a partner in the final enterprise, owing to his previous bankruptcy in 1802 at Aberdulais watermill.) A brickworks was built at Pontwalby, about a mile down river from Craig-y-Dinas. The lucrative company, which sold bricks to industry across the world, transferred through many hands, but the Young family held their shares throughout, finally passing via Joseph Young to his son William Weston Young Junior (1798–1866). (William Weston Young had no children). From ''The Dinas Firebrick Co.'' to ''John Player & Co.'' in 1825, to ''Riddles, Young & Co.'' in 1829 and finally, becoming world famous as ''Young & Allen'' in 1852, the company brochure later mentions that it had supplied firebricks to Swansea's White Rock Copper Works for forty years.


Later years

The Dinas Firebrick Works experienced some financial and technical troubles during 1829, and Young laid out further monies to support his nephew William Weston Young Jr.'s stake in the company, but the company traded at limited profits for some time, requiring Young to start painting commercially yet again, this time in watercolours of the Neath Valley, where he had moved once more, to Fairyland House, near the Ivy Tower on the Mackworth Estate, Tonna, Neath,
Glamorganshire , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...
. In 1835, Young published an 85-page illustrated book ''Guide to the Scenery and Beauties of Glyn Neath'', published by John Wright & Co. Bristol and sold by Longman, Rees, Orme, Browne & Co. of London. The naive but charming book comprises a prose guide to the Neath Valley and is illustrated with landscapes, scenery and decorative topographical and geological maps. Young's wife Elizabeth died following an awkward fall in March 1842, prompting Young to publish in 1843 ''The Christian Experience of Elizabeth Young'', as a tribute to her, again published by Young's friend, John Wright & Co., Bristol. William Weston Young's profit share from the Dinas Firebrick Works was ultimately a modest pension, and he died in relative poverty in Lower Mitton,
Kidderminster Kidderminster is a large market and historic minster town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Birmingham and north of Worcester. Located north of the River Stour and east of the River Severn, in the 2011 census, it ha ...
on 5 March 1847.


Secondary resources

Bibliography Jenkins, Elis. "William Weston Young." ''The Glamorgan Historian, Volume 5.'' Stewart Williams Publishers; p. 61–101 Jenkins, Rhys. "The Silica Brick and its Inventor, William Weston Young." ''Transactions of the Newcomen Society.'' 1942. Jones, Penelope. ''Quaker entrepreneur: William Weston Young and the Welsh porcelain from Swansea and Nantgarw.'' Antique Collector 62/7 1991. p. 78–81 Morton-Nance, E. ''The Pottery and Porcelain of Swansea and Nantgarw.'' London: Batsford. 1943 Yerburgh, David S. ''An attempt to depict the Vale of Neath in South Wales: a pictorial journey around the Vale of Neath as undertaken by William Weston Young in 1835.'' Salisbury: D Yersburgh, 2001. p. 100 Young, William Weston. ''Guide to the Scenery and Beauties of Glyn Neath'' Bristol: John Wright & Co. (sold by Longman, Rees, Orme, Browne & Co. London) 1835. Young, Elizabeth ''The Christian Experience of Elizabeth Young,'' Bristol: John Wright & Co. 1843.


Primary resources

At West Glamorgan Archives Swansea: Sally Young (1740–1811) of Bristol: Journals 1798–1811 (D/D Z 24) William Weston Young (1776–1847) of Bristol, Aberdulais and Neath: Journals, 1801–1843 (D/D Xch); Fact Books & Plans, 1787–1840; Fact Book, 1807 (D/D Xls) At the Library of the Society of Friends, Friends House, London: Quaker Digest Registers, Births, Marriages and Deaths by regional microfiche. {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, William Weston British Quakers English Quakers English inventors 1776 births 1847 deaths