William Kelly

Iron manufacturer and inventor, born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. In Kentucky in the 1840s and early 1850s, he built and operated iron furnaces and was making wrought-iron articles. By 1850 he had discovered that a blast of air blown through molten iron removed many of the impurities found in cast iron of the day, leaving a stronger and more ductile metal. Using what he called this ‘air-boiling’ process, he built seven ‘converters’ during 1851–6 and was effectively making steel. But in 1856 the Englishman, Henry Bessemer, who had independently discovered much the same process, was given a US patent, so Kelly was forced to convince the US Patent Office of the priority of his claim, which was recognized in a patent of 1857. Although later refinements of Kelly's process would contribute greatly to the new ‘age of steel’, he went bankrupt in the panic of 1857 and it was the Bessemer converter that achieved commercial success.

William Kelly (inventor), an American inventor of a steel smelting process William Kelly (senator), an American Senator from Alabama William Kelly (fundraiser), a Canadian business person who was an integral part of the Big Blue Machine William Kelly, Sr. (politician), a mayor of Flint, Michigan Bill Kelly (politician) politician in Flint, Michigan William Kelly (artist), an American artist William Kelly (muralist), one of the Bogside Artists William Kelly, a 20th century Australian politician William Kelly (1821 - 1906), classicist and biblical expositor William Kelly (1840 - 1907), New Zealand politician William Kelly, Mister International 2003, representing Sharjah, U.A.E. Bill Kelly (football), American football player

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