Born: Henry William Ferdinand Bolckow was born on 8th December 1806 at Sulten, Mecklenburg in Germany. He was the son of Henry Bolckow and Caroline Dussher and had five sisters and a brother.
Educated: As the son of a wealthy family, Henry was privately educated.
Married: In about 1840 Henry Bolckow married Miriam Hay, nee Poole, a widow. She was the sister of John Vaughan’s first wife. Miriam died in 1842 and in 1851 he married Harriet Farrer, daughter of James Farrer of Halifax.
Family: Henry Bolckow had no children. His heir was his nephew Carl Bolckow.
Home: From 1827 to 1841 he lived in Newcastle. From 1841 he lived in Cleveland Street, Middlesbrough. In 1853 he built Marton Hall where he spent the rest of his life.
Known for: In 1841, with John Vaughan, Henry Bolckow opened a foundry near the banks of the River Tees in Middlesbrough. In 1851 Bolckow and Vaughan began using Cleveland ironstone to make iron at their Middlesbrough works. This triggered the birth of Middlesbrough as an ironmaking town. For more than half a century, Bolckow and Vaughan’s was the largest ironworks in Middlesbrough. When Middlesbrough became a borough in 1853, Henry Bolckow became the town’s first mayor. When Middlesbrough became a parliamentary borough in 1868, he became the town’s first M.P. He remained an M.P. until his death.
Died: On 18th June 1878 Henry Bolckow died at Ramsgate, Kent. He was buried in Marton churchyard.
Further Information: “Henry Bolckow, Founder of Teesside” R.Gott (1968): “Middlesbrough and Its Jubilee” Hugh G.Reid (ed) (1881)