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Sir Henry Bessemer

(1813-1898), Engineer and inventor

Sitter in 6 portraits
Sir Henry Bessemer developed the first process for inexpensively mass-producing steel. The son of an engineer, Bessemer gained experience in his father's workshop where he demonstrated considerable mechanical skill and inventiveness early in life. In 1855, Bessemer took out a patent for his process of rendering cast iron malleable by the introduction of air into the fluid metal. During the Crimean War he invented a new type of artillery shell after complaints from the army that the cast-iron cannon of the time were not strong enough to deal with the forces of the more powerful shell. He developed an improved iron smelting process that produced large quantities of ingots of superior quality.

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Sir Henry Bessemer, by Sir Leslie Ward - NPG 6048

Sir Henry Bessemer

by Sir Leslie Ward
watercolour, published in Vanity Fair 6 November 1880
NPG 6048

Sir Henry Bessemer, by London Stereoscopic & Photographic Company - NPG Ax18210

Sir Henry Bessemer

by London Stereoscopic & Photographic Company
albumen carte-de-visite, 1860s
NPG Ax18210

Sir Henry Bessemer, by London Stereoscopic & Photographic Company - NPG x45593

Sir Henry Bessemer

by London Stereoscopic & Photographic Company
albumen carte-de-visite, 1870s
NPG x45593

Sir Henry Bessemer, by Lock & Whitfield, published by Sampson Low, Marston, Searle and Rivington - NPG Ax17649

Sir Henry Bessemer

by Lock & Whitfield, published by Sampson Low, Marston, Searle and Rivington
woodburytype, published 1881
NPG Ax17649

Sir Henry Bessemer ('Men of the Day. No. 231.'), by Sir Leslie Ward - NPG D43984

Sir Henry Bessemer ('Men of the Day. No. 231.')

by Sir Leslie Ward
chromolithograph, published in Vanity Fair 6 November 1880
NPG D43984

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Sir Henry Bessemer

by Lock & Whitfield, published by Sampson Low, Marston, Searle and Rivington
woodburytype, published 1881
NPG x134532

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