Henry Cort
Inventor - Creator of puddled iron - Father of iron trade
This page is part of a website based on the life and achievements of eighteenth-century inventor Henry Cort.
The creator and owner of the site was Eric Alexander who passed away. The site is now hosted by Hans Weebers
Please contact me with any comments or queries.
Pages
  1. Homepage
  2. Life of Henry Cort
  3. Cort's processes in iron manufacture
  4. Cort's patents
  5. Refutation of allegations of conspiracies against Cort
  6. Adam Jellicoe's death
  7. Henry Cort's birth
  8. A navy agent's business
  9. Early life of John Becher
  10. Attwick & Burges families
  11. "Cortship" of second wife
  12. Thomas Morgan
  13. Henry Cort's hoops contract
  14. 1856 Accolade
  15. Generosity of friends 1789-94
  16. James Watson
  17. Illness of Cort's son
  18. Main sources of information
  19. Contemporary sources
  20. Navy sources
  21. Chancery files
  22. Publications about Cort
  23. Assessment of Cort's character
  24. Images of Henry Cort

  25. Impeach-tranferred to 05

  26. Parliamentary inquiry 1811-2
  27. The furore of the 1850s
  28. Society of Arts
  29. Cort's first marriage
  30. Henry Cort's children
  31. Cort family pensions
  32. Henry Cort's Hertfordshire property
  33. 1791 signatories
  34. Guiana and the Cort-Gladstone connection
  35. Cort's twilight years
  36. Memorials to Henry Cort

  37. Smelting of iron
  38. Fining before Cort
  39. Shropshire & Staffordshire ironmasters
  40. Cumbrians: Wilkinson etc
  41. Early works at Merthyr Tydfil
  42. The Crowley business
  43. London ironmongers
  44. Scottish iron
  45. Cort's promotion efforts 1783-6
  46. Later Merthyr connections
  47. Puddling after Henry Cort

  48. Gosport in Cort's day
  49. Gosport administration
  50. Gosport worthies
  51. The Amherst-Porter network
  52. James Hackman, murderer
  53. Samuel Marshall
  54. Samuel Jellicoe's legacy
  55. Links with Titchfield
  56. Links with Fareham

  57. Fact, error and conjecture
  58. 18th century politics
  59. Law in the 18th century
  60. 18th century finance
  61. Religion and sexual mores
  62. Calendar change of 1752
  63. Shelburne, Parry and associates
  64. John Becher's family
  65. The Becher-Thackeray lineage
  66. Thomas Lyttelton: a fantastic narrative
  67. Eighteenth-century London
  68. Abolition and the Corts
  69. The Burges will tangle

  70. Navy connections
  71. Navy agent's business
  72. Cort's clients
  73. Ships' pursers
  74. History of Adam Jellicoe
  75. Dundas & Trotter
  76. Cort's navy office associates
  77. Toulmin & other agents
  78. Sandwich & Middleton
  79. The Arethusa
  80. John Becher's war
  81. Thomas Morgan's war
  82. The 1782 Jamaica convoy
  83. Sinking of the Royal George

  84. Rickman & Scott: two contrasting naval careers-Missing


  85. Visitors 2006-2009
  86. Developement of the site 2006-2009

    87. ****************
  87. Daniel Guion and family

    88. ****************
  88. Other publications

 

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MAIN SOURCES OF INFORMATION


Much of the information about Henry Cort given in history books is based on nineteenth-century accounts, which are sparse and unreliable.

Since then new information has been unearthed, mainly by Mott and Eric Alexander. A limited amount has been obtained from the International Genealogy Index (IGI), a compilation by the Mormon church that has attempted, with limited success, to copy all parish records of marriages and baptisms.

The online version of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography contains a limited amount of the most recently discovered material.

Among a host of useful contemporary documents, three stand out.

The earliest is the 1790 Watson-Dundas memorandum in the National Archives of Scotland (GD51/2/10/2). It covers the period 1772-89, focusing on financial detail.

Second is Cort's 1796 affidavit, among chancery files at the UK's National Archives (PRO, C12/218/5), which refers to his business affairs over the period 1761-90.

Third is the Weale collection in the Science Museum Library (MS371/1-4). Most comprehensive, but unreliable: an appraisal is given in Transactions of the Newcomen Society 75, pp 341-358.


Mr Cort's compliments to Mr Weale He'd be happy to see him on Wednesday at a quarter before 5 o'clock to meet Mr Routh a Partner in Mr Crawshay's House - Mr R has promised to get the Returns for Mr Weale from 1795 but does not think he shall be able to procure them from the year 1780. Mr C will thank Mr Weale to put in his Pocket the Paper respecting Mr Cort's Father's Affairs when he favours him with his Company - & if he has done with it

Monday

21 Mount Road

Lambeth

near the Marsh Gate Turnpike

Letter of Coningsby Cort, circa January 1808, in Weale collection.

RELATED TOPICS


18th century politics

John Becher and the American War

Thomas Morgan and the American War

Shelburne, Parry and associates

Dundas and Trotter

Sandwich and Middleton

Thomas Lyttelton: a fantastic narrative

The Arethusa, Sandwich and Keppel

Law in the 18th century

18th century finance

Religion and sexual mores

18th century London

Calendar change of 1752

The 1782 Jamaica convoy

Sinking of the Royal George

Abolition and the Corts

Refutation of allegations of conspiracies against Cort

Fact, error and conjecture

image004

The National Archives, Kew

formerly called
the Public Record Office (PRO)
an expression I got into

the habit of using

image006

Pedestrian entrance gate

National Archives, Kew

Wrought steel by Alan Evans, 1996
The notches are a historical reference to tally sticks,
Once used to notify taxpayers of their liabilities.
When there was no further use for them, Parliament had them
Burnt. Unfortunately the fire got out of control, and most
Of the Palace of Westminster was burned down.

The pages on this site are copied from the original site of Eric Alexander (henrycort.net) with his allowance.
Eric passed away abt 2012
If you use/copy information from this site, please include a link to the page where you found the information.

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