Stainless steel inventor Harry lived in Torquay for 20 years

Christened Harry Brearley and born in the city of Sheffield in 1871, Harry would eventually retire to Torquay and lived here for 20 years before his death in 1948. Yet few locals even knew of this man on their doorstep, being the inventor of one of the world's most important metals of its time, Stainless Steel.
Harry was born in Sheffield, the so-called city of metal and was one of eight siblings in a family living in poverty. By the of 12 he was working as a ‘cellar boy’ in the crucible works of Thomas Firth factory where his father also worked. Harry would later describe his father 'as an expert steel smelter and an expert ale suppa'. His cellar boys job was given as an employee had described his face as 'cleaner than another’s' which saw the company's chemist James Taylor give him the job of bottle washer.
James was soon very impressed by his new employee so employed him as ‘general assistant" in his works laboratory.
James, like Harry, was also born into poor circumstances yet by undertaking night school had eventually brought him a Whitworth scholarship after which he had joined Firth's. In liking, Harry from the outset James encouraged him to also attend night school and by working hard at home and studying at length James also achieved a Whitworth Scholarship. Now he was apprenticed to James Taylor as a ‘Laboratory Assistant’ and in continuing his studies and learning he eventually turned to investigating iron and steel and its actual chemical analysis. He was on a mission to prove that 'rustless steel' would eventually replace cast iron.
Having married Helen Crank when aged 24 for some time the couple remained in the poor end of Sheffield until moving out to Mickley Lane Totley where their son Leonard was born. Harry confirms in his biography it was at Mickley Lane he 'dreamed of being in a cottage on the edge of the Derbyshire Moors – where the air quality was of a degree of purity, something he would never experience in Brightside'.
By age 30 Harry had left Firth & Sons to join Kayser Ellison & Co a rival steel works in the city. Later Firth's in offering him promotion and continual access to experimentation ultimately led to him being appointed Works Manager at Firths's steel plant at Riga in Russia. Harry, still in his thirties, was now recognised as an expert on steel metallurgy and on his return to Sheffield became made manager of the Firth & Brown Research Laboratories before the company merged with John Brown's and formed the Firth Brown Steel Company (FBSC).
In 1912 FBSC laboratories were being awarded a commission to find out why rifle barrel erosion occurred and that led Harry and his team to discover erosion would always increase with excessive use of guns.
His mission - find an erosion resistant metal and by August, 1913, Harry announced to the world he and his team had indeed created a new chromium alloy which today we still call 'stainless steel'. Sadly, the FBSC Directors were very sceptical seeing little use for Harry's new material for the armament industry or indeed for use with domestic cutlery. They were wrong on both counts.
Meanwhile, fortunately for humanity Harry was obstinate and in personally investing in his chromium steel he sent samples to the Works Manager of R F Mosley & Co Portland - Mr Ernest Stuart. It would be Ernest that suggested stainless - replace rustless and the rest, as we say, is history. Harry was awarded the Iron and Steel Institute’s Bessemer Gold Medal for his outstanding work at which time he was a Director of Brown Bayley Co.
Retiring in his fifties,the family now travelled the world until Harry and Helen settled in Torquay in 1930. Our amazing scientist died aged 77 on July 14,1948,in Torquay.
IAN'S COMMENT - Brearley's new alloy was as important as canals and railways of their day and yet Brearley is virtually unknown. The Civic Society were honoured to unveil a Blue Plaque to honour him at his home in Livermead.