Welsh Journals

BIOGRAPHICA ET BIBLIOGRAPHICA TWO COUSINS OF REV. EVAN LLOYD OF VRON. In his letters (N.L.W. Journal Vol. VIII p. 264ff.) Evan Lloyd mentions 'both cozns': 'Con Lloyd Sen': 'young coz Lloyd'. In a note on p. 268 it has been suggested that 'Con Lloyd Sen' was Cornelius Lloyd but it is here suggested that they were both John Lloyd, father and son. Miss Jane Lloyd of Vron in her will dated 9 July 1748 mentions her nephew John Lloyd of Vron, his sons Robert and Evan, also her nephew John Lloyd of London, distiller and his son John, these being the only male Lloyds mentioned amongst her relatives. The latter would in fact be Evan Lloyd's cousins, the senior might also be intended when he mentions 'Uncle Lloyd'. The younger cousin may possibly be the same person as John Lloyd of Holbom, who had a Welsh father and appears in the list of members of the Society of Cymmrodorion in 1778. R. E. Lloyd-Roberts Canterbury. SAMUEL BALDWYN ROGERS Much of the little written about Samuel Baldwyn Rogers, a metallurgical chemist at Nant-y-glo, implies that he was completely crazy. Though singularly odd, he was variously gifted and original, gentle-hearted, and fearless in the many causes he championed: alone he battled, unassociated with any religious or political body. One who knew much about him1 described him as jovial, devoted to music and his violin above all other earthly things, and of unimpeachable character. Rogers went to Pontypool (probably from near Tintern) in 1808 and was employed at the 'Hydrogen Laboratory'.2 There he made improvements in the manufacture of coke and of sulphuric acid3, and in 1810 invented hydro-pneumatic pumps for taking gas from coke-ovens, and also, at Risca in 1817, for supplying blast to smelting furnaces, refineries and smitheries. They were used at Nantyglo, in 1838, for taking 5000 cu. ft. of gas per day from 8 small coke-ovens, the gas, partly purified, being stored in a gas-holder and used for lighting engine-houses and a level 500 yards long.4 Later the lighting was extended to every department of the ironworks.5 Recently there has been a little timid and hesitant recognition of the indebtedness of ironmasters to Rogers for his numerous inventions. Chief of these was the iron bottom for the puddling furnace, for which he never received a single farthing, but had the 'grotesque honour' of being known as Mr. Iron Bottom.6 The idea of an iron bottom was not new. The device had been unsuccessfully tested at Cyfarthfa in 17897, and an air-cooled one patented in 17938 was also a failure. Rogers's water-cooled invention is described in his Treatise, pp. 525-528, and in illustration No. XX. Henry Cort's puddling furnace, which had a bed of sand, doubled the output of iron per furnace. Rogers doubled Cort's by increasing that from one fire, from about 10 tons per week to more than 20 tons, and also reduced the time occupied in puddling a heat from about three hours to less than two hours. Between 1816 and 1818 Rogers spent considerable sums of money in perfecting his invention and in seeking ironmasters to test it. In 1819 he invited William Crawshay I, in the presence of Matthew Wayne and William Williams, furnace manager and engineer, respectively, at Cyfarthfa, 1 Percy, J., Iron Metallurgy, 1866, p. 654. 2 His Genuine Westphalian Essence, [1815]. A broadside announcing a food preservative. 3 His Treatise Iron Metallurgy, 1857, p. 35. 4 Id., p. 444; Letter to Thomas Brown, dated 20 October, 1838, at Newport Library. Mining Journal, September, 1863. Treatise cit., p. 226; Mining Journal, 15 November, 1851. All Rogers's inventions were offered freely to anyone wishing to use them; some were pirated from him and patented. 7 Mon. Record Office, Richard Crawshay's Letter Book, 16 January, 1789. 8 No. 1996.