Clement Clerke
Encyclopedia
Sir Clement Clerke, 1st Baronet (died 1693) was an important (but financially unsuccessful) English
entrepreneur
, whose greatest achievement was the application of the reverberatory furnace
(cupola) to smelting lead
and copper
, and to remelting pig iron
for foundry
purposes.
, Warwickshire
, and was created a baronet
shortly after the Restoration
. He was married to Sarah, daughter and heiress
of George Talbot of Rudge, Shropshire. In 1657, he bought the Launde Abbey
estate
in Leicestershire
in 1658 and this was settled on him and his wife. They had another estate at Notgrove in Gloucestershire
.
to smelt
iron using a mixed fuel made from wood and coal. This (uniquely) was to be powered by the strength of men and of horse
s. By 1674 Sir Clement and John Finch of Dudley were the only partners. Finch had other ironworks
, but competition between him and Philip Foley
was damaging to them both; this led them to enter into a restrictive agreement as to where they would respectively buy wood and generally limiting their activities. A few months later, John Finch sold all his works to Alderman
John Foorth (of London
) and Sir Clement Clerke. They also bought wood in the Forest of Dean
, bit found that the King's Ironworks there had been sold to Paul Foley
for demolition
and had to build their own furnace at Linton, Herefordshire
. They then brought in further partners including John's brother Dannett Foorth and George Skippe of Ledbury
. They also bought further ironworks from Philip Foley
. This proved to be a troubled business because Sir Clement borrowed money from moneylenders
on the security of his share (in breach of the terms of the partnership agreement). This led Dannett Foorth having him Sir Clement arrested for debt, and George Skippe bailing him out. These difficulties were resolved by the sale of the ironworks in 1676, and the dissolution
of the partnership.
persuaded John Foorth and Sir Clement Clerke to finance the completion of the navigation of the Worcestershire Stour
. This would have been a convenience for them, as it ran near some of their works, but nothing was done except pay off some debts, due to the problems with the ironworks business. On its dissolution, George Skippe took over Foorth’s share in the navigation; new contractors (including Andrew Yarranton
’s son Robert, and they were to be paid by instalments as the works progressed, but the money ran out when the river was only completed from Stourbridge
to Kidderminster
.
by the mortgagee. Lord Grandison had financed a certain Samuel Hutchinson, who had a patent
for smelting
lead with pitcoal
, but failed. Grandison then approached Sir Clement. Grandison and Robert Thorowgood (a King's Lynn
merchant) provided the capital in 1678 for Sir Clement and Francis Nicholson (Grandison's dependent) to set up lead works. Sir Clement went to Bristol
and built cupola
s - reverberatory furnace
s, but when Sir Clement went back for the rest of the capital, he found that Nicholson had taken it to Derbyshire
and lost it.
In 1683, there was a complicated agreement to the effect that business should be carried on by Sir Clement's son Talbot, but he was not quite 21 years old so that the business had to be in the name of a trustee
. The business was in fact profitable. Talbot sought to declare a dividend
, but Lord Grandison and his fellow financier
, Hon. Henry Howard
demanded that they be repaid money that they said Sir Clement owed them. This led to litigation
, during the course of which one Gravely Claypoole was appointed by the court
to run the works for Grandison. The litigation was ultimately resolved in Talbot's favour.
Another venture related to the production of white lead
. This was in the names of Talbot's trustee an Grandison's son Edward Fitzgerald Villiers, but was evidently not successful, with the result that money had to be obtained by mortgaging Launde Abbey
to repay Villiers.
and smelted copper
there. A patent
was obtained for this in 1688. This led to the establishment of a copper smelting works close to the banks of the River Wye
at Redbrook
and the chartering of the English Copper Company.
With the conclusion of the litigation, the cupola near Bristol reverted to Talbot Clerke. The Company for Smelting down Lead with Pitcoal (later in different ownership known as the London Lead Company
) was chartered to run this, but this was evidently not successful and returned to Talbot (by then Sir Talbot) in 1695.
'A work for remelting and casting old iron with sea coal' was built at 'Fox Hall' (probably Vauxhall
under the direction of Sir Clement. This was the first reverberatory furnace
(in this case known as an 'air furnace') to be built for iron foundry
purposes. This seems to have formed the basis for the Company for Making Iron with Pitcoal, though it may also have been intended to exploit
a patent granted to Thomas Addison in 1692. The company ran its foundry for a few years, with Thomas Fox (the brother of Shadrach Fox of Coalbrookdale
) as founder.
(or cupola) to several metallurgical processes. Until the introduction in the late 18th century of the foundry cupola (which is a sort of small blast furnace
), his air furnace was the normal way of remelting pig for foundry
purposes. The cupola (reverberatory furnace) long remained in use for smelted copper and lead, and was applied by Robert Lyddall to tin.
It is not clear where he obtained his knowledge of metallurgy
, but it is possible that Dud Dudley was his teacher; certainly, his lead smelting efforts seem to be foreshadowed by an enterprise
involving Dud Dudley at Okham Slade (location unknown) in Clifton, Bristol
. Sir Clement died in debt in 1693. His baronetcy passed to Talbot, as did Launde Abbey, which was not swallowed by his debts because of his marriage settlement.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
, whose greatest achievement was the application of the reverberatory furnace
Reverberatory furnace
A reverberatory furnace is a metallurgical or process furnace that isolates the material being processed from contact with the fuel, but not from contact with combustion gases...
(cupola) to smelting lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
and copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
, and to remelting pig iron
Pig iron
Pig iron is the intermediate product of smelting iron ore with a high-carbon fuel such as coke, usually with limestone as a flux. Charcoal and anthracite have also been used as fuel...
for foundry
Foundry
A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal in a mold, and removing the mold material or casting after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals processed are aluminum and cast iron...
purposes.
Background
Clement Clerke was the third son of George Clerke of WilloughbyWilloughby, Warwickshire
Willoughby is a village and civil parish about south of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. The village is only about northwest of Daventry in neighbouring Northamptonshire and the eastern boundary of the parish forms part of the county boundary....
, Warwickshire
Warwickshire
Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
, and was created a baronet
Baronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
shortly after the Restoration
English Restoration
The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...
. He was married to Sarah, daughter and heiress
Inheritance
Inheritance is the practice of passing on property, titles, debts, rights and obligations upon the death of an individual. It has long played an important role in human societies...
of George Talbot of Rudge, Shropshire. In 1657, he bought the Launde Abbey
Launde Abbey
Launde Abbey is located in Leicestershire, 14 miles east of the city of Leicester and six miles south west of Oakham. The building is presently used as a conference and retreat centre, by the Church of England Dioceses of Leicester and Peterborough....
estate
Estate (house)
An estate comprises the houses and outbuildings and supporting farmland and woods that surround the gardens and grounds of a very large property, such as a country house or mansion. It is the modern term for a manor, but lacks the latter's now abolished jurisdictional authority...
in Leicestershire
Leicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
in 1658 and this was settled on him and his wife. They had another estate at Notgrove in Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
.
Iron Smelting
In the early 1670s, Sir Clement joined various other people in sponsoring Dud Dudley to build a furnace at DudleyDudley
Dudley is a large town in the West Midlands county of England. At the 2001 census , the Dudley Urban Sub Area had a population of 194,919, making it the 26th largest settlement in England, the second largest town in the United Kingdom behind Reading, and the largest settlement in the UK without...
to smelt
Smelting
Smelting is a form of extractive metallurgy; its main use is to produce a metal from its ore. This includes iron extraction from iron ore, and copper extraction and other base metals from their ores...
iron using a mixed fuel made from wood and coal. This (uniquely) was to be powered by the strength of men and of horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
s. By 1674 Sir Clement and John Finch of Dudley were the only partners. Finch had other ironworks
Ironworks
An ironworks or iron works is a building or site where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and/or steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e...
, but competition between him and Philip Foley
Philip Foley
Philip Foley was the youngest of the three surviving sons of the British ironmaster Thomas Foley . His father transferred to him in 1668 and 1669 all his ironworks in the Midlands for £60,000...
was damaging to them both; this led them to enter into a restrictive agreement as to where they would respectively buy wood and generally limiting their activities. A few months later, John Finch sold all his works to Alderman
Alderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...
John Foorth (of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
) and Sir Clement Clerke. They also bought wood in the Forest of Dean
Forest of Dean
The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. The forest is a roughly triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and north, the River Severn to the south, and the City of Gloucester to the east.The...
, bit found that the King's Ironworks there had been sold to Paul Foley
Paul Foley (ironmaster)
Paul Foley , also known as Speaker Foley, was the second son of Thomas Foley of Witley Court, the prominent Midlands ironmaster.-Ironmaster:...
for demolition
Demolition
Demolition is the tearing-down of buildings and other structures, the opposite of construction. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a building apart while carefully preserving valuable elements for re-use....
and had to build their own furnace at Linton, Herefordshire
Linton, Herefordshire
Linton is a small village in Herefordshire, England, around east of Ross-on-Wye.It has a church called St. Mary's, which dates from the 13th century. The spire can be seen when travelling eastwards on the M50 motorway when 2 miles east of junction 4...
. They then brought in further partners including John's brother Dannett Foorth and George Skippe of Ledbury
Ledbury
Ledbury is a town in Herefordshire, England, lying east of Hereford, and south of the Malvern Hills.Today, Ledbury is a thriving market town in rural England. The town has a large number of timber framed buildings, in particular along Church Lane and High Street. One of Ledbury's most outstanding...
. They also bought further ironworks from Philip Foley
Philip Foley
Philip Foley was the youngest of the three surviving sons of the British ironmaster Thomas Foley . His father transferred to him in 1668 and 1669 all his ironworks in the Midlands for £60,000...
. This proved to be a troubled business because Sir Clement borrowed money from moneylenders
Bank
A bank is a financial institution that serves as a financial intermediary. The term "bank" may refer to one of several related types of entities:...
on the security of his share (in breach of the terms of the partnership agreement). This led Dannett Foorth having him Sir Clement arrested for debt, and George Skippe bailing him out. These difficulties were resolved by the sale of the ironworks in 1676, and the dissolution
Dissolution (law)
In law, dissolution has multiple meanings.Dissolution is the last stage of liquidation, the process by which a company is brought to an end, and the assets and property of the company redistributed....
of the partnership.
The River Stour
During their partnership, Andrew YarrantonAndrew Yarranton
Andrew Yarranton was an important English engineer in the 17th century who was responsible for making several rivers into navigable waterways.-Biography:...
persuaded John Foorth and Sir Clement Clerke to finance the completion of the navigation of the Worcestershire Stour
River Stour, Worcestershire
The Stour is a river flowing through the counties of Worcestershire, the West Midlands and Staffordshire in the West Midlands region of England. The Stour is a major tributary of the River Severn, and it is about in length...
. This would have been a convenience for them, as it ran near some of their works, but nothing was done except pay off some debts, due to the problems with the ironworks business. On its dissolution, George Skippe took over Foorth’s share in the navigation; new contractors (including Andrew Yarranton
Andrew Yarranton
Andrew Yarranton was an important English engineer in the 17th century who was responsible for making several rivers into navigable waterways.-Biography:...
’s son Robert, and they were to be paid by instalments as the works progressed, but the money ran out when the river was only completed from Stourbridge
Stourbridge
Stourbridge is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands of England. Historically part of Worcestershire, Stourbridge was a centre of glass making, and today includes the suburbs of Amblecote, Lye, Norton, Oldswinford, Pedmore, Wollaston, Wollescote and Wordsley The...
to Kidderminster
Kidderminster
Kidderminster is a town, in the Wyre Forest district of Worcestershire, England. It is located approximately seventeen miles south-west of Birmingham city centre and approximately fifteen miles north of Worcester city centre. The 2001 census recorded a population of 55,182 in the town...
.
Lead smelting
By this stage, Sir Clement had exhausted his resources; the manor of Rudge was ultimately foreclosedForeclosure
Foreclosure is the legal process by which a mortgage lender , or other lien holder, obtains a termination of a mortgage borrower 's equitable right of redemption, either by court order or by operation of law...
by the mortgagee. Lord Grandison had financed a certain Samuel Hutchinson, who had a patent
Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
for smelting
Smelting
Smelting is a form of extractive metallurgy; its main use is to produce a metal from its ore. This includes iron extraction from iron ore, and copper extraction and other base metals from their ores...
lead with pitcoal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
, but failed. Grandison then approached Sir Clement. Grandison and Robert Thorowgood (a King's Lynn
King's Lynn
King's Lynn is a sea port and market town in the ceremonial county of Norfolk in the East of England. It is situated north of London and west of Norwich. The population of the town is 42,800....
merchant) provided the capital in 1678 for Sir Clement and Francis Nicholson (Grandison's dependent) to set up lead works. Sir Clement went to Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
and built cupola
Cupola
In architecture, a cupola is a small, most-often dome-like, structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome....
s - reverberatory furnace
Reverberatory furnace
A reverberatory furnace is a metallurgical or process furnace that isolates the material being processed from contact with the fuel, but not from contact with combustion gases...
s, but when Sir Clement went back for the rest of the capital, he found that Nicholson had taken it to Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
and lost it.
In 1683, there was a complicated agreement to the effect that business should be carried on by Sir Clement's son Talbot, but he was not quite 21 years old so that the business had to be in the name of a trustee
Trustee
Trustee is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, can refer to any person who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the benefit of another...
. The business was in fact profitable. Talbot sought to declare a dividend
Dividend
Dividends are payments made by a corporation to its shareholder members. It is the portion of corporate profits paid out to stockholders. When a corporation earns a profit or surplus, that money can be put to two uses: it can either be re-invested in the business , or it can be distributed to...
, but Lord Grandison and his fellow financier
Financier
Financier is a term for a person who handles typically large sums of money, usually involving money lending, financing projects, large-scale investing, or large-scale money management. The term is French, and derives from finance or payment...
, Hon. Henry Howard
Henry Howard, 5th Earl of Suffolk
Henry Howard, 5th Earl of Suffolk was the youngest son of Theophilus Howard, 2nd Earl of Suffolk, but inherited the title, because none of his brothers left surviving sons.He married three times:...
demanded that they be repaid money that they said Sir Clement owed them. This led to litigation
Lawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
, during the course of which one Gravely Claypoole was appointed by the court
Court
A court is a form of tribunal, often a governmental institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law...
to run the works for Grandison. The litigation was ultimately resolved in Talbot's favour.
Another venture related to the production of white lead
White lead
White lead is the chemical compound 2·Pb2. It was formerly used as an ingredient for lead paint and a cosmetic called Venetian Ceruse, because its opaque quality made it a good pigment. However, it tended to cause lead poisoning, and its use has been banned in most countries.White lead has been...
. This was in the names of Talbot's trustee an Grandison's son Edward Fitzgerald Villiers, but was evidently not successful, with the result that money had to be obtained by mortgaging Launde Abbey
Launde Abbey
Launde Abbey is located in Leicestershire, 14 miles east of the city of Leicester and six miles south west of Oakham. The building is presently used as a conference and retreat centre, by the Church of England Dioceses of Leicester and Peterborough....
to repay Villiers.
Copper and Company floatations
In 1687, while the lead cupola was out of their possession, Sir Clement and Talbot built a reverberatory furnace at PutneyPutney
Putney is a district in south-west London, England, located in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is situated south-west of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....
and smelted copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
there. A patent
Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
was obtained for this in 1688. This led to the establishment of a copper smelting works close to the banks of the River Wye
River Wye
The River Wye is the fifth-longest river in the UK and for parts of its length forms part of the border between England and Wales. It is important for nature conservation and recreation.-Description:...
at Redbrook
Redbrook
Redbrook is a village in Gloucestershire, England, adjoining the border with Monmouthshire, Wales. It is located on the River Wye and is within the Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.- History :...
and the chartering of the English Copper Company.
With the conclusion of the litigation, the cupola near Bristol reverted to Talbot Clerke. The Company for Smelting down Lead with Pitcoal (later in different ownership known as the London Lead Company
London Lead Company
The London Lead Company was an 18th and 19th century British lead mining company. It was incorporated by royal charter. Strictly, it was The Company for Smelting Down Lead with Pitcoal.-Origins:...
) was chartered to run this, but this was evidently not successful and returned to Talbot (by then Sir Talbot) in 1695.
'A work for remelting and casting old iron with sea coal' was built at 'Fox Hall' (probably Vauxhall
Vauxhall
-Demography:Many Vauxhall residents live in social housing. There are several gentrified areas, and areas of terraced townhouses on streets such as Fentiman Road and Heyford Avenue have higher property values in the private market, however by far the most common type of housing stock within...
under the direction of Sir Clement. This was the first reverberatory furnace
Reverberatory furnace
A reverberatory furnace is a metallurgical or process furnace that isolates the material being processed from contact with the fuel, but not from contact with combustion gases...
(in this case known as an 'air furnace') to be built for iron foundry
Foundry
A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal in a mold, and removing the mold material or casting after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals processed are aluminum and cast iron...
purposes. This seems to have formed the basis for the Company for Making Iron with Pitcoal, though it may also have been intended to exploit
Exploit
Exploit can mean:*Exploit *Exploit *Exploit *Exploit *Exploit, a 2009 Adobe Flash game by Gregory Weir*The Exploits River, the longest river on the island of Newfoundland-See also:...
a patent granted to Thomas Addison in 1692. The company ran its foundry for a few years, with Thomas Fox (the brother of Shadrach Fox of Coalbrookdale
Coalbrookdale
Coalbrookdale is a village in the Ironbridge Gorge in Shropshire, England, containing a settlement of great significance in the history of iron ore smelting. This is where iron ore was first smelted by Abraham Darby using easily mined "coking coal". The coal was drawn from drift mines in the sides...
) as founder.
Impact
Sir Clement apparently guided many of these developments; though he probably did not personally benefit from them financially, his sons probably did. Sir Clement is certainly to be credited with the practical application of the reverberatory furnaceReverberatory furnace
A reverberatory furnace is a metallurgical or process furnace that isolates the material being processed from contact with the fuel, but not from contact with combustion gases...
(or cupola) to several metallurgical processes. Until the introduction in the late 18th century of the foundry cupola (which is a sort of small blast furnace
Blast furnace
A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally iron.In a blast furnace, fuel and ore and flux are continuously supplied through the top of the furnace, while air is blown into the bottom of the chamber, so that the chemical reactions...
), his air furnace was the normal way of remelting pig for foundry
Foundry
A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal in a mold, and removing the mold material or casting after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals processed are aluminum and cast iron...
purposes. The cupola (reverberatory furnace) long remained in use for smelted copper and lead, and was applied by Robert Lyddall to tin.
It is not clear where he obtained his knowledge of metallurgy
Metallurgy
Metallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. It is also the technology of metals: the way in which science is applied to their practical use...
, but it is possible that Dud Dudley was his teacher; certainly, his lead smelting efforts seem to be foreshadowed by an enterprise
Company
A company is a form of business organization. It is an association or collection of individual real persons and/or other companies, who each provide some form of capital. This group has a common purpose or focus and an aim of gaining profits. This collection, group or association of persons can be...
involving Dud Dudley at Okham Slade (location unknown) in Clifton, Bristol
Clifton, Bristol
Clifton is a suburb of the City of Bristol in England, and the name of both one of the city's thirty-five council wards. The Clifton ward also includes the areas of Cliftonwood and Hotwells...
. Sir Clement died in debt in 1693. His baronetcy passed to Talbot, as did Launde Abbey, which was not swallowed by his debts because of his marriage settlement.