Shorter Notices
Dynasty of Ironfounders. By Arthur Rais- trick. (Longmans. 30s.) Tint story of the rise and amalgamation of the Coalbrookdale ironworks is a singular example of the growth of something from nothing. The foundation of the company may be said to date from the late seventeenth century, when Abraham Darby began hiS foundry career in brass-casting, later turning to the study of iron-founding and the manufacture of kettles, pots and other household necessities, although the fragments of his accounts which survive show that in 1707 he was still doing a small, trade in such articles with customers whom he met in per- son at fairs and in country towns. Since then many generations of Darbys and Reynolds have managed the business (a Reynolds married early into the family), and, although the 1851 Exhibition marked the end of an epoch, both for the industry generally and for the Coalbrookdale Company in parti- cular, the links with the past have not yet been completely broken.
The story of the development of the company is particularly interesting for its association with events and personalities that are still talked about today. Inventors and scientists who played a part in its growth included such men as Sadler and Stephenson, while the coming of the steam-engine, railways and canals brought about changes for which the company seemed invariably to be prepared and of which they usually took the best advantage. The Iron Bridge over the Severn near Benthall,' erected over 170 years ago, still stands as an implacable monument to the energy and foresight of its builders, while the ornate gates in Hyde Park, cast over a hundred years ago, though open to more excusable criticism than the Iron Bridge, serve a useful purpose. But, interesting though the technical growth of the company is, the human element provides the most fascinating material. The Darbys and the Reynolds were Quakers, and save for a period (1739- 1749) when for no very clear reason the company entered the gun-trade, their con- duct of the business was in strict conformity with the principles of the Friends. This strictness was tempered with a practical consideration. In 1795, when there was wide economic distress, it was decided that stocks of rice and corn should be purchased, to be sold to the work-people at three- quarters of the cost-price. Consequently the food-riots which affected most parts of the country were avoided. Such measures consolidated the standing and fortunes of the company. This excellently constructed work of considered journalism is recom- mended to the scientist, industrialist, economic historian and any layman con- cerned either with social progress or the elements of commercial success. J. W.-T.
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