Isaac Wilkinson

Isaac Wilkinson (baptised 6 May 1695 - 31 January 1784) was an English industrialist, one of the founders of the iron industry and pioneer of the Industrial Revolution. However, his business ethics were precarious and his commercial affairs frequently chaotic. He became much addicted to litigation.

Early life Wilkinson was born in Washington, then in County Durham. He was the fifth child of John Wilkinson and his wife, Margaret Thompson. His mother died soon after his birth and his father in 1704, leaving him to be brought up by his elder brother John, a wool merchant. He seems to have received some basic education before being apprenticed a foundryman, probably at the nearby Swalwell works. There, he established himself as a highly skilled iron-worker, able to demand high wages.

Cumberland and Lancashire Some time between 1721 and 1723, Wilkinson moved to Workington where he worked at the Little Clifton furnace which probably produced cast iron by smelting with coke. Here Wilkinson operated as a specialist subcontractor to the furnace. In 1735 he moved to Backbarrow furnace, which smelted with charcoal, buying iron from the firm and selling his own produce. He was an influence on John Wilkinson his son.

In 1738 he patented a cast box smoothing-iron though it is suspected that he already knew that it was invalid owing to prior art. He went into production in partnership with his brother John but indulged in "creative accounting" to cheat his brother of the profits and the partnership folded. By now, Isaac was living in Cartmel, enjoying several business interests, including the Lowwood iron company. However, the Lowwood project ended in litigation when the weakness of his patent emerged and he accused the enterprise of poaching workers from his other enterprises.

Private life Wilkinson was Presbyterian in religion. In 1727 he married Mary Johnson (died 1786) and they had seven children including: John Wilkinson (1728–1808); Mary Wilkinson (1743–1796) who married Joseph Priestley; and William Wilkinson (1744–1808).