Charcoal Iron Refiners

[MichaelH]

Hi
Anyone help with information about charcoal iron refining in the C16th - C18th in Worcestershire, Shropshire, Monmouthshire?

I've traced my main line back to charcoal iron forges in these places in the late 1770s and this seem to have been the family artisan occupation through several generations so it seems reasonable to think it goes even further back than this. I know there were probably only about a a thousand such refiners in the country up to the mid-C18th but have run out of ideas on how to find names, wages, living conditions and so on.

[Jan1954]

Although based upon the history of a charcoal iron forge in Wortley, South Yorkshire, there is a lot of detail about the occupation - including wages from 1640 onwards - in The Top Forge (http://www.topforge.co.uk/Books/First%20Works.htm).

It does also quote examples in other parts of Britain such as the Forest of Dean, Tredegar and Derbyshire.

[MichaelH]

Although based upon the history of a charcoal iron forge in Wortley, South Yorkshire, there is a lot of detail about the occupation - including wages from 1640 onwards - in The Top Forge (http://www.topforge.co.uk/Books/First%20Works.htm).

It does also quote examples in other parts of Britain such as the Forest of Dean, Tredegar and Derbyshire.

Thank you. My fault for not explaining very well - I have some stuff on Yorkshire particularly Kirkstall where several family members moved to in the mid-C19th, plus some good articles from EH Review about Shropshire forges and forges in general.
What I am looking for now is some way into the names of employees at particular forges. The furthest back I have is John Harrison b 1772 in Hartlebury Worcestershire so I am looking for the same surname at forges in that area and Monmouthshire. I figured this could be more accurate than searching christenings for such a common name.