Arthur Dorman

Dorman was born on 8 August 1848, at Ashford, Kent, eldest son of Charles Dorman (1809–1885), of Ashford and Maidstone, a currier in the leather trade, and Emma (died 1914), daughter of Richard Wilson Page.^[1][2] He was educated at Christ's Hospital, then situated in Newgate, London.^[3]

He was sent, at the age of 22, by his family to work at a Stockton-on-Tees ironworks, where a relative was a partner. Dorman started as a puddler and rapidly progressed in his career. In 1875, he went into partnership with Albert de Lande Long to acquire the West Marsh Ironworks in Middlesbrough.^[4] During the 1880s, they exploited the new steelmaking technologies being introduced at that time, including the use of Open hearth furnaces.^[4] Together they built a large industrial concern, Dorman Long, which, by 1914, employed 20,000 people and during the World War I was a major supplier of shells.^[4]

He stood for Parliament, only once, as the Conservative candidate for Cleveland, in 1892. He lost the election gaining 4.2% less than his rival, Henry Fell Pease.^[5]

Dorman was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in 1918^[6][4] and created a baronet of Nunthorpe in the County of York on 21 July 1923.^[7][8]

In 1873, he married Clara Share (died 1933), daughter of George Lockwood, JP, of Stockton-on-Tees.^[1][2] They had four sons and three daughters.^[4] His youngest son, George Lockwood Dorman, was killed in the Second Boer War, and is commemorated in the Dorman Museum.^[9]

Sir Arthur Dorman died on 12 February 1931, aged 82, at Grey Towers, his home in Nunthorpe, near Middlesbrough.^[4]