1. Homepage
2. Life of Henry Cort
3. Cort's processes in iron manufacture
4. Cort's patents
5. Refutation of allegations of conspiracies against Cort
6. Adam Jellicoe's death
7. Henry Cort's birth
8. A navy agent's business
9. Early life of John Becher
10. Attwick & Burges families
11. "Cortship" of second wife
12. Thomas Morgan
13. Henry Cort's hoops contract
14. 1856 Accolade
15. Generosity of friends 1789-94
16. James Watson
17. Illness of Cort's son
18. Main sources of information
19. Contemporary sources
20. Navy sources
21. Chancery files
22. Publications about Cort
23. Assessment of Cort's character
24. Images of Henry Cort

25. Impeach-tranferred to 05

26. Parliamentary inquiry 1811-2
27. The furore of the 1850s
28. Society of Arts
29. Cort's first marriage
30. Henry Cort's children
31. Cort family pensions
32. Henry Cort's Hertfordshire property
33. 1791 signatories
34. Guiana and the Cort-Gladstone connection
35. Cort's twilight years
36. Memorials to Henry Cort


37. Smelting of iron
38. Fining before Cort
39. Shropshire & Staffordshire ironmasters
40. Cumbrians: Wilkinson etc
41. Early works at Merthyr Tydfil
42. The Crowley business
43. London ironmongers
44. Scottish iron
45. Cort's promotion efforts 1783-6
46. Later Merthyr connections
47. Puddling after Henry Cort


48. Gosport in Cort's day
49. Gosport administration
50. Gosport worthies
51. The Amherst-Porter network
52. James Hackman, murderer
53. Samuel Marshall
54. Samuel Jellicoe's legacy
55. Links with Titchfield
56. Links with Fareham


57. Fact, error and conjecture
58. 18th century politics
59. Law in the 18th century
60. 18th century finance
61. Religion and sexual mores
62. Calendar change of 1752
63. Shelburne, Parry and associates
64. John Becher's family
65. The Becher-Thackeray lineage
66. Thomas Lyttelton: a fantastic narrative
67. Eighteenth-century London
68. Abolition and the Corts
69. The Burges will tangle


70. Navy connections
71. Navy agent's business
72. Cort's clients
73. Ships' pursers
74. History of Adam Jellicoe
75. Dundas & Trotter
76. Cort's navy office associates
77. Toulmin & other agents
78. Sandwich & Middleton
79. The Arethusa
80. John Becher's war
81. Thomas Morgan's war
82. The 1782 Jamaica convoy
83. Sinking of the Royal George

84. Rickman & Scott: two contrasting naval careers-Missing



85. Visitors 2006-2009
86. Developement of the site 2006-2009

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87. Daniel Guion and family
88. Extremely bad academic work and extremely bad journalism

Cort's Navy Office associates

The admiralty's books of "promiscuous bills" at the PRO gives regular lists of Navy Office staff and their remuneration. We can assume that many of them in the 1760s are known to navy agent Henry Cort, although it is not obvious from these lists whether they are working in London. Adam Jellicoe is of course the most important in the Cort story.

Another name worthy of note is George Jackson (later Sir George Jackson Duckett). His long and distinguished career is detailed in the DNB (old and new versions). Secretary to the Navy Board in 1758, he later becomes Second Secretary to the Admiralty and Judge Advocate of the Fleet. His signature on the 1791 petition suggests that he is familiar with Cort from earlier times.

Edward Bentham, head clerk from 1757 to 1772 at the Navy's ticket office, may be of interest because of the family relationship to naval architect Samuel Bentham (brother of philosopher Jeremy), whose later designs involve frequent use of the wrought iron available thanks to Cort's processes.

Edward is first cousin to Samuel's father Jeremiah. Furthermore, Samuel is baptised at St Olave's Hart Street: 9th February 1757, possibly before Cort's arrival on the scene.

Among other names worth noting are:

Timothy Brett, Comptroller of the Navy Treasure's Accounts from some time in the 1760s. His name appears on the cover of many ships' paybooks of the time.

Alexander Chorley, navy clerk, later Commissioner of Victualling. Frequently acts as navy agent. Occasionally awarded prize agency.

Andrew Douglas, paymaster 1770-85. Succeeded by Alexander Trotter. Probably father of Archibald Douglas, who gives evidence at Melville trial.

George Fennell: more than one generation. One becomes Accountant to the Treasurer of the Navy in 1780.

John Fennell: quoted as nephew to a George Fennell in October-November 1789, when an extent is issued to recover £1000 that he owes the Navy. Barely two months after Jellicoe!

George Marsh, also a navy agent. He keeps a diary, which can be viewed on the web.

Robert Osborne, Comptroller of Victualling 1764-71.

Swaffield: numerous family members. George, Chief Cashier of Victualling in 1804, tells the Commission of Naval Enquiry he has worked at the Pay Office for 60 years.

The pages on this site are copied from the original site of Eric Alexander (henrycort.net) with his allowance.
Eric passed away abt 2012
If you use/copy information from this site, please include a link to the page where you found the information.