Abraham Darby 111

With the death of Abraham Darby 11 control of the works passed to his son-in-law Richard Reynolds as his own son, Abraham Darby 111, was only eleven years old.

Reynolds had moved to Coalbrookdale from Bristol in 1756 and had married Abraham Darby 11's daughter, Hannah, who died in 1762, a year before her father. Their son, William Reynolds, was to become the most able of all 18th century Ironmasters. It was during Reynolds' control of the company that iron rails were used for the first time in 1767.

Abraham Darby 111 entered the works in 1768 at the age of eighteen, his younger brother Samuel following a few years later.

The 1770's was an era of expansion for the Coalbrookdale works and for the forming of partnerships with various ironmasters across the country.

It was a time of great prosperity for the Shropshire iron industry and in 1776 Abraham Darby 111 purchased the Bedlam furnaces at Madeley Wood, a site that contained several tar ovens, some of the earliest in the area. These were unsuccessful, however, and Darby ceased to use them by 1779, although new coke and tar ovens were built on the principles of Lord Dundonald later.

He worked the farms of Madeley, Sunniside and Hay, rearing horses and growing oats, bran and clover to ensure that food was available in the district at times of shortages.

His greatest claim to fame was without doubt his involvement with the building of the world's first iron bridge, a structure that amazed his contemporaries and still evokes the same response from today's onlookers.

Only Abraham Darby 111 and his brother Samuel were involved in the project from the outset, being joined later by the colourful John Wilkinson and others.

That Darby was able to work with the likes of Wilkinson brings a smile to the face; though a great Ironmaster in his own right, Wilkinson was everything that the Quaker Darby was not. When Wilkinson died his many mistresses and illegitimate children fought for a share of his estate, the legal wrangling taking up every penny in litigation - no doubt he had a smile on his face, wherever he went to after his demise?

The bridge was built after many delays and difficulties and opened to traffic in 1781. Darby soon realised that the bridge's functionality was not its only asset, for it soon attracted visitors from all the over the country and from overseas. Paintings of it were available from 1780, even before it opened to the public.

It was without doubt his greatest achievement and put the Coalbrookdale works at the forefront of iron-making in Britain.

Abraham Darby 111 died in 1789 at the age of just 39, yet two-hundred years later people still stand in awe as they gaze at the Iron Bridge, the lasting legacy of a great Ironmaster.