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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Gosport administration


Cort came to Gosport when it was a boom town, rapidly growing - second only in size to Portsmouth among the Hampshire towns, bigger even than both Southampton and the county town of Winchester.

From George Watts's contribution to West Street Trail (ed Eric Alexander, 2000)

Because its status has failed to keep up with its growth, eighteenth-century Gosport lacks a town charter. No mayor or burgesses: it has to make do with Paving Trustees (or Commissioners) set up by special Act of Parliament.


An Act for the better paving of the Streets and for preventing Nuisances and other Annoyances in the town of Gosport in the County of Southampton.

Statute of 1763 quoted by the Gosport Trustees to uphold their status in a dispute in 1800.

White's The Story of Gosport gives an account of this Act, and lists the trustees initially named - nearly 50 in all. William Attwick is one. Other Gosport worthies who feature in the Cort story are amongst those listed.

How they deal with paving, nuisances and annoyances is recorded in minute books now held at Hampshire Record Office.

Their earliest recorded meeting: 9 May 1763 at the India Arms, Middle Street - "the largest and most dignified of the beer houses, with capacious stabling at the rear", according to The Story of Gosport - just over the road from Attwick's shop. Meetings continue there until December 1769, when one is held at the Crown Inn. Later there are meetings at the White Lyon and the Dolphin.

On 7 October 1768, we read, the trustees resolve that "Mary Biddlecomb be admonished to throw no cabbage leaves or any Garden filth into the footway, gutters or Horseway of the Streets of Gosport."

On 1 November 1779 "Mr Henry Cort be summoned to appear at the next meeting" to say why he should not be "fined for depositing coal and cinders on the Green".

On 24 April 1780 "Mr Cort at liberty to fence in the wharf which he rents of Mr Child".

In December 1800 a dispute is recorded with the military about their right to block off rights of way in the town.


The Roads within the town of Gosport are vested in the Trustees and that they alone can exercise jurisdiction over them and that His Majesty's Justices of the Peace for the Courts have no power to act herein under the Highway Acts or any other Act of Parliament..

From statement by Gosport Trustees in a dispute in 1800.

Related files

Gosport in Cort's day

Gosport worthies

The Amherst-Porter network

Rev James Hackman, murderer

Samuel Marshall

Samuel Jellicoe's legacy

Cort's links with Titchfield

Cort's links with Fareham

Life of Henry Cort

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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