Portrait of John Wilkinson, seated full-length, in a brown coat, a stick and hat in his hands, in a landscape

John Wilkinson (1728- 1808) was a pioneering English industrialist often referred to as John 'iron mad' Wilkinson. He was a fore runner in the manufacture and use of cast iron which became an essential material during the Industrial Revolution. In the 1760s Wilkinson inherited his father's ironworks in Bersham, near Wrexham as well as being a partner in another concern at Willey in Shropshire. After Wilkinson took over, the business prospered and became a site for experiments on using raw coal as a substitute for coke. Wilkinson was also linked to James Watt the steam engine inventor as his engines were produced at the Bersham works.