Engineering Timelines - Edward Pritchard Martin

Edward Pritchard Martin

born 20th January 1844, Dowlais, Glamorgan, Wales, UK
baptised 20th February 1844, Dowlais, Glamorgan, Wales, UK
died 25th September 1910, Hotel Majestic, Harrogate, Yorkshire, England, UK
buried Old Hereford Road Cemetery, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, Wales, UK
era Victorian and Modern

A biographical summary

Edward Pritchard Martin was instrumental in the progress of British steelmaking. He championed the Thomas-Gilchrist process for using phosphoric iron ores in steel, which revolutionised the industry. Martin ran several large established ironworks in south Wales, improving their facilities with new technology and machinery. He was president of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Iron & Steel Institute, and the South Wales Institute of Engineers. He was also decorated by the King of Sweden.

Martin was born in Wales but educated privately in England, followed by studies in Paris. In 1860, at the age of 16, he began his engineering career at Dowlais Ironworks in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, where his father George Martin (1813-87) was a mining engineer for more than 58 years. Young Martin worked under forge and mill manager Edward Williams (1826-86) and was apprenticed to Dowlais general manager William Menelaus (1818-82). Menelaus had collaborated with Henry Bessemer (1813-98) on early experiments in steel making, and he passed on his knowledge to his pupil.

In 1869, Martin became Dowlais deputy manager. A year later he moved to Torfaen in Monmouthshire to run Cwmavon Ironworks. In 1874 he transferred to neighbouring Blaenavon Ironworks, where Sidney Gilchrist Thomas (1850-85) and his cousin Percy Carlyle Gilchrist (1851-1935) were working on removing phosphorus from iron ore.

Most available ores had phosphous in them, producing brittle steel of little use to industry. Martin financed experimental commercial trials and the resultant patents (1877 and 1878). He was rewarded for his part in the development of the Thomas-Gilchrist process with the Iron & Steel Institute's 1884 Bessemer Gold Medal, shared with Edward Windsor Richards (1831-1921) who had used the technique at the Cleveland Iron & Steel Works.

After Menelaus' death in 1882, Martin returned to Dowlais Ironworks, this time as general manager. Dowlais was by then in the trusteeship of George Thomas Clark (1809-98). Over the next 20 years, Martin remodelled the works and implemented growth, reinforcing its position as the world's largest ironworks. Many of his ideas were sparked by visits to iron and steel factories in America and Europe. He installed labour-saving machinery and new facilities, including a steel plant (built 1888-95). A sister ironworks to supply Dowlais was constructed in 1888-91 at East Moors near Cardiff Docks to smelt imported ores.

In his distinguished career, Martin held various presidencies: Institution of Civil Engeers, Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Iron & Steel Institute and South Wales Institute of Engineers. He was a chairman of the Monmouthshire & South Wales Coal Owners Association and the Steel Workers' Sliding-Scale Board. In retirement from 1902 onwards, he remained a director at Dowlais, and held directorships of Rhymney Railway Company, South Wales Electrical Power Distribution Company and Orconera Iron Ore Company, as well as public office as High Sheriff of Monmouthshire. He died suddenly at Harrogate on 25th September 1910, aged 66.

1844	Born (20th January) in Dowlais to George Martin (1813-87, mineral agent) and Harriett Pritchard (1815-95), second of seven siblings: Harriett (b.1842), Henry William (b.1845), Charles Thomas (1848-9), Arthur Herbert (1850-90), Frances Mary (1853-53) and Jessie Anne (b.1854)
1850s	Educated privately in Gloucestershire, then studies in Paris, possibly at Collège Rollin, learns French
1860-70	Apprenticed to William Menelaus (1818-82) at Dowlais Ironworks, assisting Edward Williams (1826-86)
1864	Working at the company’s London office
1869	Appointed (1st October) deputy general manager of the ironworks, original member of the Iron & Steel Institute established that year by Menelaus, living at 170 High Street, Dowlais
1866-67	Martin's father George Martin is President of the South Wales Institute of Engineers (founded 1857)
1870	Marries (6th January) Margaret James (1847-1911), daughter of solicitor and Member of Parliament Charles Herbert James (1817-90), at Twynyrodyn Chapel in Merthyr Tydfil, seven children: son (1873) stillborn, Clara Isabelle (1874-1958), Sarah Bertha Enid (1875-1912), Mary Harriette Mabel (1876-1957), Annie Beatrice (1880-1958), Charles Herbert George (1881-1915, died near Ypres) and Jessie Margaret (1886-1962)
1870-74	General manager of Cwmavon Ironworks, living at Bryn Cottage, Cwm Avon
1874-85	Appointed (30th September 1874) general manager of Blaenavon Ironworks, designs and erects a large Bessemer steel plant, champions the Thomas-Gilchrist process of dephosphorisation for steel.
1881	Elected member (5th April) of Institution of Civil Engineers, and of Institution of Mechanical Engineers
1882-1902	Appointed general manager of Dowlais Ironworks, designs and supervises rebuilding including new works at East Moors in Cardiff from 1891, and steel plant at Dowlais from 1895
1884	Awarded the Iron & Steel Institute's Bessemer Gold Medal with Edward Windsor Richards (1831-1921)
1897	Awarded Queen Victoria's (1819-1901) Diamond Jubilee Medal
1897-98	President of the Iron & Steel Institute
1899	Created Commander Second Class of the Royal Order of Vasa by King Oscar II of Sweden (1829-1907), following an 1898 Iron & Steel Institute visit to Sweden and Norway
1899-1902	Council member, Institution of Civil Engineers
1900	Dowlais Iron Company becomes Guest Keen & Co, later Guest, Keen & Nettlefolds (1902), later GKN
1902	Retires (June), remains a director of Guest, Keen & Nettlefolds, living at Gwernllwyn House, Dowlais
1903	Becomes High Sheriff of Monmouthshire (earlier High Constable for Caerphilly-Higher and Merthyr, 1884), also Justice of the Peace for Monmouthshire and Glamorganshire, living at The Hill, Abergavenny
1905-07	President, Institution of Mechanical Engineers, presidential address reviewed historical improvements in the iron and steel industries in Britain and USA
1910	Dies (25th September) unexpectedly after a brief illness (thought to be heart failure), at Hotel Majestic, Harrogate, where he had been taking the spa waters, probate (8th December) records an estate of £236,249

Selected works

Port Talbot Harbour alterations, Wales, UK .... 1860s
Dowlais Ironworks, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, UK .... 1860-70, 1882-1902
Cwmavon Ironworks Torfaen, Wales, UK .... 1870-74
Blaenavon Ironworks, Torfaen, Wales, UK .... 1874-85

All items by Edward Pritchard Martin
Everything built ... 1844 - 1910

Sources

Death of Mr. E.P. Martin Vice-Chairman of Guest, Keen & Nettlefolds, Ltd, Merthyr Express (West Mon Ebbw Vale Sirhowy Ed), 1st October 1910

Obituary, Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, 1910

Sudden Death of Mr. E.P. Martin, of Abergavenny, Abergavenny Chronicle, 30th September 1910