This portrait of the ironmaster John Wilkinson (1728-1808) was painted in oils by Lemuel Francis Abbott (1760-1803).

John Wilkinson was a native of Cumberland but became instrumental in developing the iron and associated industries in the Wrexham area in the late eighteenth century. In 1763, John and his brother William founded the New Bersham Company, having inherited the ironworks from their father, Isaac Wilkinson. Bersham soon led the world in the field of iron technology and later John joined up with James Watt in the manufacture of steam engines. Wilkinson also developed associated sites such as the Minera Lead Mines where he built a smelting pit. In 1792 he bought the Brymbo Estate where he set up a new ironworks.