JOHN CORBETT, BORN 1817,
THE SALT KING
John Corbett followed his father into the canal transport business. But by 1850 canals were facing stiff competition from the new railways, and Corbett decided to sell his shares in the company and change direction. He used the proceeds to buy a disused salt workings in Stoke Prior from the British Alkali Company. He brought the innovations of the industrial revolution to mechanise and commercialise the business, soon making his salt workings the largest in Europe and built a great fortune. He applied this to various charitable purposes, including the gift of a porch to othe Aberdovey Literary Institute in Aberdyfi on the west coast of Wales.
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