The Father of Middlesbrough
John Vaughan
In 1850 John Vaughan discovered iron ore in the Cleveland Hills near Eston and changed the face and fortunes of Middlesbrough forever.
John Vaughan was born in Worcester in 1799, but it was in Middlesbrough that he would make his mark. He met his business partner Henry Bolckow on Tyneside in the late 1830??s whilst courting sisters. Vaughan convinced Bolckow to invest his fortune in the burgeoning iron trade and, on advice from Joseph Pease they set up their first ironworks at Vulcan Street, Middlesbrough in 1841. At the time Middlesbrough was a small shipping town with a population of 5000.
Initially they reprocessed pig iron imported from Scotland, but realised that more money would be made if they extracted the iron from ore themselves. It took several years to find a good source, but on 8 June 1850, whilst taking a walk in the Eston Hills, John Vaughan made the discovery that would change Teesside forever. The Skinningrove or Cleveland Main Ironstone Seam gave Bolckow and Vaughan an abundant source of good quality ore in a convenient location and they rapidly increased their business. The Industrial Revolution fuelled demand and iron, rather than coal, became the main export from Teesside and by 1871 the population had swelled to 40,000. At the turn of the century a third of all iron produced in the UK came from Teesside.
Vaughan became a highly respected figure in Middlesbrough ?? he was a Justice of the Peace and served on the first ever town council. He died in London in 1868 but his body was returned to Middlesbrough to be buried in St Cuthbert??s churchyard in Marton. His statue still stands in Middlesbrough near the Town Hall.
Submitted by: Sarah McLusky, 06 November 2003
