Thomas Botfield (14 February 1762 – 17 January 1843) was an English metallurgist, geologist, magistrate and deputy-lieutenant of

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

, and inventor of a method of smelting and making iron using the principle of "gas flame or heated air in the blast of furnaces". Botfield's 1828 patent seems to have anticipated most of the elements of the

blast furnace A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being supplied above atmospheric pressure. In a ...

as it was used in the 1830s and 1840s. His father was Thomas Botfield (1738–1801) who acquired a fortune from

collieries Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extrac ...

and iron manufacture, his mother Margaret, only daughter of William Baker of Bromley,

Worfield Worfield is a village and civil parish in Shropshire in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands, England. It is northwest of London and west of Wolverhampton. It is north of Bridgnorth and southeast of Telford. The parish, which includes th ...

, Shropshire. Thomas Botfield, the younger, born at

Dawley Dawley ( ) is a former mining town and civil parish in the borough of Telford and Wrekin, Shropshire, England. It was originally proposed be the main centre of the 'Dawley New Town' plan in 1963, however it was decided in 1968 to name the new ...

, Shropshire, in 1762, was educated at the endowed school of

Cleobury Mortimer Cleobury Mortimer (, ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in south-east Shropshire, England, which had a population of 3,036 at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census. It was granted a market charter by King Henry ...

. He worked as a colliery manager and married in 1800. Seated at Hopton Court in

Hopton Wafers Hopton Wafers is a small village and civil parish in south Shropshire, England. The population of the public parish at the 2011 census was 753. The village is at the north of the A4117 road, and to the west of the market town of Cleobury Morti ...

, whose manor he purchased in 1812, he funded the rebuilding of Hopton's parish church in 1825.Cleobury Benefice
Hopton Wafers He served as

High Sheriff of Shropshire This is a list of sheriffs and high sheriffs of Shropshire The high sheriff, sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the high sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of t ...

in 1818 He was elected F.R.S. on 18 April 1833. In 1842, the year before his death, he was appointed treasurer of the Salop Infirmary in

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...

. He died in January 1843 aged 80.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Botfield, Thomas 1762 births 1843 deaths People from Dawley English geologists English metallurgists Fellows of the Royal Society High sheriffs of Shropshire

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