Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 12.djvu/263

 an interesting account by Richard James, in verse, of his visit to Lancashire in 1636, illustrated by the editor's research and diligence. The second is an alphabetical account, with extracts from each author, and elaborate biographical and bibliographical notices of the editor's magnificent collection of early English poetry which he had begun to form at an early age. The first part was issued in 1860. The rector's advanced age and infirmities interfered with the progress of the undertaking on the original scale beyond the letter C, which was concluded at the fourth part (1869). But six parts (1873–1880) were subsequently issued on a briefer plan. Corser died after the fifth part was published in 1873, and James Crossley edited the remainder. The work is a very valuable contribution to English bibliography. The collection of books which formed the basis of this work was sold in London in portions at different dates, from July 1868 to 1874, and realised upwards of 20,000l. Mr. Henry Huth purchased some of the most valuable volumes. Corser was also a member of the Spenser, Camden, Surtees, Percy, and Shakespeare societies, and was elected a F.S.A. in 1850. His name appears in the list of those who signed the remonstrance on the Purchas judgment in 1872. In 1867 he suffered from an attack of paralysis; his eyesight failed, and he could only write with his left hand. He died at Stand rectory on 24 Aug. 1876.

He married, on 24 Nov. 1828, Ellen, eldest daughter of the Rev. James Lyon, rector of Prestwich. She died on 25 April 1859.

[Smith's Manchester School Register, 1874, iii. 32–6; Manchester Courier, 28 Aug. 1876.  CORT, HENRY (1740–1800), ironmaster, was born at Lancaster in 1740, where his father carried on the trade of a mason and brickmaker. He has been sometimes, not very correctly, called the ‘Father of the Iron Trade.’ Dud Dudley, whose ‘Metallum Martis’ was printed in 1665, has a much stronger claim to that title. Cort appears to have raised himself by his own unaided efforts to a position of considerable respectability. He was first established as a navy agent in Surrey Street, Strand, in 1765, and he is said to have realised considerable profits.

About this time there was a prevailing belief that British iron was very inferior to Russian, the former being prohibited for government supplies. The Russian government raised the price from 70 to 80 copecs to 200 to 220 copecs a ton. Cort probably made experiments on iron which convinced him that British iron might be considerably improved. What they were is unknown. In 1775 he gave up his business as a navy agent, and leased certain premises at Fontley, near Fareham, where he had a forge and a mill.

In 1784 Cort patented an invention, which consisted essentially in subjecting pig-iron, as obtained from the blast furnace, in a reverberating furnace heated by flame until it was decarbonised by the action of the oxygen in the atmospheric air circulating through it, and converted into malleable iron. This process is known as ‘puddling,’ and certainly to it is due the rapid increase in the manufacture of merchant iron in this country.

In the previous year, 1783, Cort patented the so-called ‘grooved rolls,’ now known as ‘puddle rolls,’ as they are used for drawing out the puddled ball into bars, &c. These inventions are intimately associated in the development of the iron trade. The claims of Cort have been disputed. In 1812 Mr. Samuel Homfray stated before a committee of the House of Commons that a process called ‘buzzing’ or ‘bustling’ had been in use before the date of Cort's patent, and that it was an analogous process to puddling, and he also implied that grooved rolls had been previously employed by John Payne in 1728. Payne certainly in his patent specification describes something like grooved rolls, but there is no evidence that he ever used them.

Cort's discovery made way but slowly. He is said to have expended the whole of his private fortune, exceeding 20,000l., in bringing his process to a successful issue. Entering into extensive contracts to supply the navy with rolled iron, for which he put up works at Gosport, he was compelled to seek for more capital, and he entered into an agreement with Mr. Adam Jellicoe, deputy-paymaster of the navy, that on the security of an assignment of his patent rights he should advance 27,000l., receiving therefor one-half of the profits of the iron manufactory. Jellicoe died suddenly in 1789, a defaulter to the extent of 39,676l. It was then found that the capital he had advanced to Cort had been withdrawn from the cash balances lying in his hands. The navy board at once issued processes against the firm of Cort & Jellicoe, and against the private estate of the late Mr. Jellicoe. This led to the complete ruin of Cort; an enormous amount of property being absolutely sacrificed. In 1790 he offered his services to the navy board, but they were not accepted. In 1791 he made a similar application to the commissioners of the navy, which only resulted in an acknowledgment of the utility of Cort's inventions. In 1794 the lords of the treasury, on the representation of Mr. Pitt, granted Cort an annual