John Roebuck FRS (1718 – 17 July 1794) was an English inventor and
industrialist who played an important role in the Industrial
Revolution and who is known for developing the industrial-scale
manufacture of sulphuric acid.
1 Life and work
2 Honours and affiliations
3 See also
5 Further reading
Life and work
John Roebuck was born at Sheffield, where his father had a prosperous
manufacturing business. After attending
Sheffield Grammar School and
Dr. Philip Doddridge's academy at Northampton, Roebuck studied
medicine at Edinburgh, where he developed a taste for chemistry from
the lectures of
William Cullen and Joseph Black. He finally graduated
M.D. at the
University of Leiden
University of Leiden in 1742. Roebuck started medical
practice at Birmingham, but devoted much of his time to chemistry,
especially its practical applications. Among the most important of his
early achievements in this field was the introduction, in 1746, of
leaden condensing chambers for the manufacture of sulphuric
acid. Together with Samuel Garbett, in 1749 he built a factory
at Prestonpans, in Scotland, for the production of the acid, and for
some years they enjoyed a monopoly. Having omitted to take out
patents, Roebuck's was unable to prevent others from making use of his
methods as they eventually became known.
Roebuck next became involved in the manufacture of iron, and in 1759
Carron Company ironworks at Carron,
Garbett and other partners (Ebenezer Roebuck, Thomas Roebuck, William
Cadell, William Cadell and Benjamin Roebuck). There he introduced
various improvements in methods of production, including the
conversion (patented in 1762) of cast iron into malleable iron "by the
action of a hollow pit-coal fire" urged by a powerful artificial
blast. Ebenezer was killed in 1771 in a "melancholy accident: While
viewing the works, a huge piece of iron fell on this gentleman, which
killed him on the ſpot" .
Roebuck's next enterprise was less successful. He leased a colliery at
Bo'ness to supply coal to the Carron works, but in sinking for new
seams he encountered such quantities of water that the Newcomen engine
used was unable to keep the pit clear. Hearing of James Watt's engine,
Roebuck contacted its inventor. This engine, then at an early stage of
its development, also proved inadequate, but Roebuck became a strong
believer in its future. In return for a two-thirds share in the
invention he assisted Watt in perfecting its details by paying Watt's
debts and by providing him with a place to work. The workplace
became known as James Watt's Cottage and was built in a secluded area
Kinneil House as Roebuck was worried about industrial espionage.
Roebuck's troubles at the colliery, aggravated by the failure of an
attempt to manufacture alkali, brought him into financial
difficulties, and he gave his share in Watt's engine to Matthew
Boulton in return for the cancellation of a debt of £1200.
Subsequently, though Roebuck had to give up his interest in the
Bo'ness works, he continued to manage them and to reside at the
neighbouring Kinneil House, where he occupied himself with farming on
a considerable scale.
In 1784, Roebuck obtained a pottery from the Cadell family where he
pursued his interest in new technologies.
Roebuck died in 1794 and was buried at Carriden Churchyard in
Honours and affiliations
Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellow of the Royal Society of London
Lead chamber process
^ Derry, Thomas Kingston; Williams, Trevor I. (1993). A Short History
of Technology: From the Earliest Times to A.D. 1900. New York:
^ Kiefer, David M. (2001). "Sulfuric Acid: Pumping Up the Volume".
American Chemical Society. Retrieved 2008-04-21.
^ Famous Men and Carron Works: VII John Roebuck, M.D. Falkirk: Carron
Company. 1931. p. 5.
^ The Scots Magazine, vol. xxxiii, p. 558.
^ Smiles, Samuel (1878). Lives of the engineers : the
steam-engine : Boulton and Watt. London: John Murray, Albemarle
Street. pp. 90–94.
^ Carnegie, Andrew.
James Watt (Famous Scots Series). Edinburgh:
Oliphant Anderson and Ferrier. pp. 48–51.
^ Gregory, Sydney (1992). Calatria: The Journal of the Falkirk Local
History Society. John Roebuck: 18th Century Entrepreneur. 2. Falkirk.
^ Salmon, Thomas James. "
Bo'ness - Who's Who Historically". Retrieved
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Roebuck, John". Encyclopædia
Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
"Roebuck, John (1718-1794)". Dictionary of National Biography.
London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in
the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Roebuck, John".
Encyclopædia Britannica. 23 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.