A process of converting scrap iron into wrought iron and credited to Henry Cort who was seen as one of the great innovators of the Industrial Revolution, was actually developed in Jamaica, a new study has found
Iron making that helped Britain rise to world dominance during the Industrial Revolution was actually first carried out in Jamaica, a new study has found.
The process where scrap iron was converted into wrought iron on a mass scale for the first time is called the Cort process after Henry Cort who was thought to have come up with the idea.
It was patented in the 1780s by Cort who was lauded as one of the “revolutionary makers of the modern world” for making the supposed discovery, said Dr Jenny Bulstrode, who carried out the research.
The new method of producing iron enhanced the UK’s economic strength and it was used in buildings like Crystal Palace, Kew Gardens’ Temperate House and the arches at St Pancras train station.