Bolckow Vaughan

Bolckow, Vaughan

Bolckow, Vaughan blastfurnacemen and blast furnace, Middlesbrough
Industry	Iron and Steel
Fate	Acquired by Dorman Long, liquidated
Founded	1840 (partnership) 1864 (company)
Founder	Henry Bolckow, John Vaughan
Defunct	1929
Headquarters	Middlesbrough, UK

Bolckow, Vaughan & Co., Ltd was an English ironmaking and mining company founded in 1864, based on the partnership since 1840 of its two founders, Henry Bolckow and John Vaughan. The firm drove the dramatic growth of Middlesbrough and the production of coal and iron in the north-east of England in the 19th century. The two founding partners had an exceptionally close working relationship which lasted until Vaughan's death.

By 1907 Bolckow, Vaughan was possibly the largest producer of pig iron in the world. The firm failed to modernise at the start of the 20th century, and was closed in 1929.

In 1840, Henry Bolckow (1806–1878) and John Vaughan (1799–1868) set up in business in Middlesbrough to make iron. They lived side by side in two town houses, the Cleveland Buildings, about 400 yards (370 m) away from their ironworks which were on Vulcan Street, and they married a pair of sisters, which may explain their close friendship.

In 1846, Bolckow and Vaughan built their first blast furnaces at Witton Park, founding the Witton Park Ironworks. The works used coal from Witton Park Colliery to make coke, and ironstone from Whitby on the coast. The pig iron produced at Witton was transported to Middlesbrough for further forging or casting.

In 1850, Vaughan and his mining geologist John Marley discovered iron ore, conveniently situated near Eston in the Cleveland Hills of Yorkshire. Unknown to anyone at the time, this vein was part of the Cleveland Ironstone Formation, which was already being mined in Grosmont by Losh, Wilson and Bell.