The Carron Company was an ironworks established in 1759 on the banks of the River Carron near Falkirk, in Stirlingshire, Scotland. After initial problems, the company was at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution in the United Kingdom. The company prospered through its development and production of a new short-range and short-barrelled naval cannon, the carronade. The company was one of the largest iron works in Europe through the 19th century. After 223 years, the company became insolvent in 1982. Ironworks at Coalbrookdale, Shropshire, England An ironworks or iron works is a building or site where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and/or steel products are made. ... Falkirk (An Eaglais Bhreac in Scottish Gaelic) is a town in central Scotland. ... Stirlingshire (Siorrachd Sruighlea in Gaelic) is a traditional county of Scotland, based around Stirling, the traditional county town. ... Motto: Nemo me impune lacessit (English: No one provokes me with impunity) Scotlands location within Europe Scotlands location within the United Kingdom Languages English, Gaelic, Scots Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow First Minister Jack McConnell Area - Total - % water Ranked 2nd UK 78,782 km² 1. ... A Watt steam engine in Madrid. ... A small American Civil War-era cannon on a carriage A caun is any large tubular firearm designed to fire a heavy projectile over a considerable distance. ... The carronade was a short smoothbore, cast iron cannon, similar to a mortar, developed for the Royal Navy by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland. ... Insolvency is a financial condition experienced by a person or business entity when their assets no longer exceed their liabilities (commonly referred to as balance-sheet insolvency) or when the person or entity can no longer meet its debt obligations when they come due (commonly referred to as cash-flow...

Early years

The company was founded as a partnership by three men, two Englishmen, Dr John Roebuck, a chemist, and Samuel Garbett, a merchant, and a wealthy Scottish shipowner, William Caddell. The factory of "Roebucks, Garbett and Cadells" was established on the north bank of Carron Water, two miles north of Falkirk. Taking iron ore from Bo'ness and water from the Carron, they decided to use the new method pioneered by Abraham Darby at Coalbrookdale, using coke from coal mines in the vicinity as fuel rather than the usual charcoal. The works helped to push other less technologically advanced ironworks, such as the Wealden iron industry based in the Weald, out of business. This article is about the English inventor. ... Chemist Julie Perkins of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory pours from a Florence flask. ... This heap of iron ore pellets will be used in steel production. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Abraham Darby is the name of three generations of an English Quaker family that was key to the development of the Industrial Revolution. ... Map sources for Coalbrookdale at grid reference SJ668047 Coalbrookdale, a settlement in Ironbridge Gorge in Shropshire, England, was one of the birthplaces of the Industrial Revolution. ... Look up coke in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Wyoming coal mine Coal mining is the mining of coal. ... Charcoal is the blackish residue consisting of impure carbon obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. ... The Wealden iron industry is the result of a combination of the natural materials being available for the making of iron. ... A weald once meant a dense forest, especially the famous great wood once stretching far beyond the ancient counties of Sussex and Kent, England, where this country of smaller woods is still called the Weald. ...

Caddell's young son, also William, was appointed manager, and the company's financial position was precarious in its first few years. It took time and a considerable investment to create the necessary infastructure and for the largely unskilled workforce to develop the techniques of iron working. The first blast furnace became operational on 26 December 1760, producing pig iron. However, when the factory started to produce cast iron goods, they were of a generally poor quality. Nevertheless, in 1764, the Board of Ordnance granted the company a lucrative contract to supply armaments to the British armed forces. The company also cast parts for James Watt's steam engine in 1765. It has been suggested that Old Furnace, Ironbridge be merged into this article or section. ... December 26 is the 360th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, 361st in leap years. ... 1760 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Pig iron is raw iron, the immediate product of smelting iron ore with coke and limestone in a blast furnace. ... Cast iron usually refers to grey cast iron, but can mean any of a group of iron-based alloys containing more than 2% carbon (alloys with less carbon are carbon steel by definition). ... The British Board of Ordnance was responsible for the design, testing and production of armaments and munitions. ... James Watt James Watt (19 January 1736 – 19 August 1819) was a Scottish inventor and engineer whose improvements to the steam engine were fundamental to the changes wrought by the Industrial Revolution. ... A steam engine is an external combustion heat engine that makes use of the thermal energy that exists in steam, converting it to mechanical work. ...

The company's fortunes had begun to improve as a result of Charles Gascoigne becoming a partner in 1765. Gascoigne was a grandson of Charles Elphinstone, 9th Lord Elphinstone and had married Samuel Garbett's daughter in 1759. Gascoigne introduced many improvements in the company's techniques of production, and devoted considerable effort to increasing the quality of its work, and he took over the management of the works from William Cadell, Jr, in 1769.

The company received a royal charter to incorporate as the Carron Company in 1773. However, despite Gascoigne's efforts, the quality of company's products had remained low, and the company's contracts to supply the Royal Navy were cancelled in 1773, with the company's cannon being removed from all naval vessels. A Royal Charter is a charter given by a monarch to legitimize an incorporated body, such as a city, company, university or such. ... Incorporation is: In business, incorporation is the creation of a corporation. ... The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the senior service of the British armed services, being the oldest of its three branches. ...

Carronades

Undeterred, Gascoigne also pushed forward the development of a new type of cannon, originally known as the "Gasconades" but better known by its later name, the "Carronade". Easily identified by its considerably shortened barrel, the carronade had the same calibre as a long gun, but contained much less metal and so was much lighter, enabling naval vessels to carry many more carronades than long guns. The resulting short range was not a problem as a result of the close-to broadside tactics employed at the time. The new weapon was a considerable success, and remained in production from 1778 through to the 1850s. The company established such a reputation for quality that the Duke of Wellington remarked in a letter to Admiral Berkley in 1812 that he would only wanted cannon manufactured by the Carron Company his army. The company also made ammunition, including some invented Henry Shrapnel. A small American Civil War-era cannon on a carriage A caun is any large tubular firearm designed to fire a heavy projectile over a considerable distance. ... The carronade was a short smoothbore, cast iron cannon, similar to a mortar, developed for the Royal Navy by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland. ... A long gun is a firearm with an extended barrel, usually designed to be fired braced against the shoulder. ... USS Iowa Broadside (1984) A broadside is the side of a ship; the battery of cannon on one side of a warship; or their simultaneous (or near simultaneous) fire in naval warfare. ... Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS (c. ... Henry Shrapnel (1761 - March 13, 1842) was a British Army officer and inventor Henry Shrapnel was born in Wiltshire, England. ...

The company also supplied armaments to governments outside the UK, including weapons supplied to the embryonic United States which were used against Britain in the War of 1812. The British government tried to prevent the company from supplying plans and equipment to the Russian Empire, intended to improve Catherine the Great's weapons foundry at Petrozavodsk; nonetheless, Gascoigne delivered the Russian's orders, and travelled to Russia in May 1786 to supervise the works. He remained in Russia for 20 years, dying in July 1806 in Kolpino near St. Petersburg as Actual State Councillor Karl Karlovich Gaskoin. Combatants United States United Kingdom Strength United States Regular army : 99,000 Volunteers: 10,000* Rangers: 3,000 Militia: 458,000** Naval and marine: 20,000 Indigenous peoples New York Iroquois: 600 Northwestern allies: ? Southern allies: ? United Kingdom Regular army: 10,000+ Naval and marine: ? Canadian militia: 86,000+** Indigenous... Official language Russian Official Religion Russian Orthodox Christianity Capital Saint Petersburg (Petrograd 1914-1925) Area Approx. ... Catherine II (Екатерина II Алексеевна: Yekaterína II Alekséyevna, April 21, 1729 - November 6, 1796), born Sophie Augusta Fredericka, known as Catherine the Great, reigned as empress of Russia from June 28, 1762, to her death on November 6, 1796. ... Petrozavodsk (Russian: ; Karelian/Finnish: Petroskoi) is the capital of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, with a population of 266,160 (2002 Census). ... Kolpino (Колпино in Russian) is a city in the Federal City of Saint Petersburg in Russia, located on the Izhora River (Nevas tributary) some 26 km southeast of St. ... Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг, English transliteration: Sankt-Peterburg), colloquially known as Питер (transliterated Piter), formerly known as Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991) and Petrograd (Петрогра́д, 1914–1924), is a city located in Northwestern Russia on the delta of the river Neva at the east end of the Gulf of Finland...

Prosperity and fall

By 1814, the Carron Company was the largest iron works in Europe, employing over 2,000 workers, and it attracted may innovators. William Symington was an engineer for the Carron Company in the early 1800s, and the company made engines for his steamboats, the Experiment and the Charlotte Dundas . John Smeaton was a consultant for the company. Henry Cort experimented on methods to produce malleable iron, anticipating the puddling process. Benjamin Franklin visited the factory, leaving works and is said to have left a design for a stove- 'Dr Franklin's stove or the Philadelphia stove' The first practieal steamboat was built by the engineer William Symington,1764 - 1831, born in the lead mining village of Leadhills, Lanarkshire, Scotland. ... Paddle steamers - Lucerne-Switzerland Left: original paddlewheel from a paddle steamer on the lake of Lucerne. ... The Charlotte Dundas is regarded as the worlds first practical steamboat, the first towing steamboat and the boat that demonstrated the practicality of steam power for ships. ... Portrait of John Smeaton, with the Eddystone Lighthouse in the background. ... During the Industrial Revolution in England, Henry Cort began refining iron from pig iron to wrought iron using innovative production systems. ... Benjamin Franklin by Jean-Baptiste Greuze 1777 Benjamin Franklin (January 17 [O.S. January 6] 1706 – April 17, 1790) was one of the most prominent Founding Fathers of the United States. ...

The company continued to produce pig iron through the 19th century, together with cast iron products such as ballustades, fire grates, and the Carron bath. It ran its own shipping line, and produced munitions in both World Wars, and telephone kiosks in the later 20th century. In the 1960s, it produced cast iron rings to line the Tyne Tunnel under the River Tyne from Jarrow to Howdon and the Clyde Tunnel under the River Clyde from Whiteinch to Govan near Glasgow. Pig iron is raw iron, the immediate product of smelting iron ore with coke and limestone in a blast furnace. ... Cast iron usually refers to grey cast iron, but can mean any of a group of iron-based alloys containing more than 2% carbon (alloys with less carbon are carbon steel by definition). ... A world war is a military conflict affecting the majority of the worlds major nations. ... The Tyne Tunnel is a two-lane toll vehicular tunnel under the River Tyne, England, completed in 1967, and connecting Jarrow on the south side of the river with Howdon on the north. ... The River Tyne can refer to two rivers in the United Kingdom: River Tyne, England River Tyne, Scotland This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Map sources for Jarrow at grid reference NZ3465 Jarrow is a town on the River Tyne, England with a population around 27,000 (2001 Census). ... Categories: Tyne and Wear Metro Yellow line stations ... The south entrance of the Clyde Tunnel The Clyde Tunnel is a crossing beneath the River Clyde in Glasgow, Scotland. ... The River Clyde, looking eastwards upstream, as it passes beneath the Kingston Bridge in Central Glasgow. ... Whiteinch is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow. ... Govan is a district and former burgh in the southwestern part of the Scottish city of Glasgow. ... For other uses, see Glasgow (disambiguation). ...

The company diversified into plastics and stainless steel, but the works went into receivership in 1982. Plastic covers a range of synthetic or semisynthetic polymerization products. ... In metallurgy, stainless steel (inox) is defined[1] as a ferrous alloy with a minimum of 10. ... Bankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability of an individual or organization to pay their creditors. ...

Further reading

• Where Iron Runs Like Water! A new history of Carron Iron Works 1759-1982, Brian Watters, John Donald, 1998.

External links

• Charles Gascoigne - The Darling of Carron Works
• Carron Collieries
• Falkirk Local History Society
• Flags of the shipping line
• Chronology