§ A Petition of Coningsby Cort, eldest son of the late Mr. Henry Cort, of Gosport, Iron Manufacturer, on behalf of the Petitioner and family of the said Henry Cort, con- 330 sisting of a widow and nine other children, was presented to the House; setting forth, "That in the years 1783 and 1784, two respective patients were granted by his present Majesty to the Petitioner's late father; the one, for a new and improved method of making iron in a reverberatory or air furnace, heated by common raw pit coal; and the other, for manufacturing the iron when malleable into bars, bolts, and a variety of other uses, by passing it in a welding heat through rollers, with grooves accurately formed, instead of working it under forge hammers; a process never before adopted or brought to perfection, and now in general use; and that the Petitioner's father expended the whole of his private fortune in bringing the said discoveries to perfection, and endeavouring to establish the means of availing himself of the benefit of his patents; and that various unforseen misfortunes, arising from the failure of the funds of the Petitioner's father, prevented him reaping the beneit of his discoveries, and in the mean tine the period of his patents expired, and the process had come into general use, and the Petitioner's father was wholly depend of the means of participating in the benefits of his discoveries so valuable to the public, and advantageous to all those engaged in the trade; and that the paent method is not only universally adopted throughout Great Britain, but, from its immense and progressive increase of late years, has been the means of rendering the nation in this most important branch of commerce independent of all foreign countries, whereby very large sums, formerly paid to Russia and Sweden it their ports of exportations, and which from the late vast augmentation of demand in this article of trade would be greatly increased, are saved, and iron is now made in this country, fit for the use of his Majesty's navy, equal in body strength and toughness to the first sort of Swedish Oregrounds iron, and at a much cheaper rate than it could be obtained by importation; and that it is now computed and admitted by the trade, that there is about 250,000 tons of wrought iron manufactured according to the principles of the patent method of the Petitioner's father; and that about 150,000 tons of iron, part of the above quantity, are rolled into bars, upon the exact and precise principle laid down in the specification of the patent granted the Petitioner's father, without any material or practical deviation whatever; and 331 praying, that, as the facts herein Stated can be fully established by various authentic documents and reports of the navy board, and which are ready to be produced before the House, and also on the authority of the most respectable characters, some of whom are now holding high official situations under government, and most decisive and unquestionable oral evidence, that the House will, on a due investigation of their case, condescend to deem the family of the Petitioner's father objects not undeserving of some parliamentary remuneration; and they most humbly implore the House, that they may be allowed to prove the above facts in support of the Petition, and that such relief may be given as to the House shall seem meet."—Ordered to lie upon the table.