John Vaughan (Middlesbrough)

For other people named John Vaughan, see John Vaughan (disambiguation).

John Vaughan was born in Worcester, he worked as a foreman at Dowlais Ironworks in South Wales. Later he moved to Walker-on-Tyne near Newcastle and became a manager for Losh, Wilson and Bell Ironworks.

In Newcastle he met Henry Bolckow and in 1839 they decided to form a business partnership and started an Ironworks in Middlesbrough. In 1846 they built blast furnaces at Witton Park, County Durham for smelting iron ore.

Later John Vaughan met John Marley, a geologist from Darlington, and on the 8th June 1850 they found ironstone in the Cleveland Hills which began the great Iron Rush. Combining Vaughan's technical skills, with Bolckow's financial skills, their partnership later built mines and ironworks at Eston.

In 1855 Vaughan became Mayor of Middlesbrough.

He died in London on 16 September 1868.

Sources

• "Pioneers of the Cleveland iron trade" by J. S. Jeans 1875