Robert Abbott Hadfield, 1858 - 1940

Abstract

Robert Abbott Hadfield, head of the great steel firm bearing his name, died at his house on Kingston Hill on 30 September 1940, in his eighty-second year. He was born at Attercliffe, then still a village, on 28 November 1858, and came of a Derbyshire family which had long been connected with Sheffield. His father, Robert Hadfield, who had gained experience in several branches of the steel industry, at that time carried on on a small scale, in 1872 set up a works with the special object of making steel castings, then a novelty in this country, although practised on the Continent. The enterprise was considered rather rash, on account of a general belief that steel must be forged before it could acquire such mechanical properties as to make it a trustworthy material, but it proved very successful, and the castings, which included such large objects as hydraulic cylinders, showing a great saving of weight over cast iron, gained medals at several international exhibitions. The firm also produced steel projectiles, which until then had only been manufactured in France. Robert Hadfield declined to buy foreign patents for these, and developed their production independently, thus laying the foundation of what was to become one of the leading armament firms. His son attended the Collegiate School in Sheffield, and was taught chemistry by William Baker, whose lecture demonstrations seem to have attracted him. His interest in science was stimulated by reading Pepper’s Playbook of Science and Playbook of Metals , two excellent books which must have influenced the careers of many boys.