COCKERILL, WILLIAM English inventor and machinist, was born in England in 1759. He went to Belgium as a simple mechanic, and in 1799 constructed at Verviers the first wool-carding and wool-spinning machines on the continent. In 1807 he established a large machine workshop at Liege. Orders soon poured in on him from all over Europe, and he amassed a large fortune. In 1810 he was granted the rights of naturalization by Napoleon I., and in 1812 handed over the management of his business to his youngest son, John Cockerill (179o-184o), who largely extended his father's business. King William I. of the Netherlands secured him a site at Seraing, where he built large works, including an iron-foundry and blast furnace. The con struction of the Belgian railways in 1834 gave a great impetus to these works, branches of which had already been opened in France, Germany and Poland. John Cockerill had practically concluded negotiations to construct the Russian government railways, when his constitution, undermined by overwork, broke down. He died at Warsaw on June 19, 184o. The iron works, among the largest in Europe, are still carried on under the name of La Societe Cockerill at Seraing.