John Baildon
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John Baildon (11 December 1772 – 7 August 1846) was a Scottish pioneer in
metallurgy Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the ...
in continental Europe. Baildon was born in Larbert,
Stirlingshire Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling ( ) is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county of Scotland. Its county town is Stirling.Registers of Scotland. Publications, leaflets, Land Register Counties. It borders Perthshir ...
. In 1793, he came to Prussian
Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...
(in modern-day
Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( ; ; ; ; Silesian German: ; ) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located today mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic. The area is predominantly known for its heav ...
, Poland) on the invitation of Friedrich von Reden. During the remainder of his life in Silesia, Baildon was involved in numerous pioneering industrial undertakings, including construction of the first
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 ...
s fired by coke in continental Europe (in Gliwice (Gleiwitz) and Chorzów (Königshütte), the first
pig iron Pig iron, also known as crude iron, is an intermediate good used by the iron industry in the production of steel. It is developed by smelting iron ore in a blast furnace. Pig iron has a high carbon content, typically 3.8–4.7%, along with si ...
produced on 21 September 1796), the Kanał Kłodnicki (Klodnitz Canal), and the first iron bridge in continental Europe (over the Strzegomka river in Łażany (Laasan), Lower Silesia, erected in Spring 1796). John married Helene Antonie Galli, daughter of an Italian merchant, in Gleiwitz in 1804 and had 7 children (5 sons, 2 daughters). He died in Gleiwitz and is buried there at the Metallurgical Cemetery, known as the ''Cmentarz Hutniczy'' in Polish. A major steel works ( Baildon Steelworks,
Katowice Katowice (, ) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Katowice urban area. As of 2021, Katowice has an official population of 286,960, and a resident population estimate of around 315,000. K ...
, established in 1823, liquidated in 2001) was named after him.


External links


Szymonowicz, Jarosław "A Scotsman in Silesia" Warsaw Voice, 28 March 2007
Retrieved 18 October 2007. * About Family Baildon-Briestwell on the websit

(English). Scottish engineers People from Gliwice People from Katowice 1772 births 1846 deaths People from Larbert British metallurgists {{Poland-engineer-stub