Genealogy Australia

Scarcely an industrial site in Britain has a longer or more illustrious history than the Coalbrookdale ironworks in Shropshire. It was there, in 1709, that iron was first successfully smelted with coke, and the first iron rails, iron bridge and the first steam railway locomotive were produced. The name Abraham Darby is always linked with Coalbrookdale and the Darby family were associated with the works during its most important period. The author shows how the Darbys managed their ironworks, how they participated in the building of roads, canals and bridges.