George Insole

George Insole (baptised 5 December 1790 – 1 January 1851) was an English entrepreneur who built an extensive coal mining and shipping business in South Wales. A younger son of an English tenant farmer in Worcestershire, Insole made judicious use of significant financial assistance from his wider family to move to Cardiff, Wales, in 1828, to enter into partnership there as a brick, timber and coal merchant (1829–1830), and to become an independent coal producer and shipper in 1832. He pioneered the introduction and early success of South Wales steam coal in the London and international markets and his coal contracts underpinned Lucy Thomas's reputation as "the mother of the Welsh steam coal trade". Insole is claimed to have been the first to supply the London market (1830), the international market (Malta, 1831), and the Royal Navy (1831) with South Wales steam coal. Insole was for many years the largest shipper of steam coal at Cardiff. Early life George Insole was baptised in Worcester on 5 December 1790, the fifth of six children of William Insole and Phoebe Insole (née Stinton). During Insole's childhood his father was a tenant farmer in Wichenford, near Worcester. In 1819 he married Mary Finch in Worcester and by 1820 was working there as a carpenter and cabinet maker. They had six children, two sons and four daughters. The two older children were baptised at St Helen's Church, Worcester, but from 1823 to 1827 Insole was associated with the Angel Street Independent (Congregational) Meeting House in Worcester.