The founder of the great Shropshire iron industry, using local supplies of coal and iron. He was born in Worcestershire of a quaker family, apprenticed in Birmingham, and set up as a brass founder in Bristol. In 1709 he leased a furnace in Coalbrookdale. Two successive Abraham Darbys developed the business and in 1779 the Iron Bridge at Broseley advertised the company to the world.
Subjects: Decorative Arts, Furniture, and Industrial Design — British History.