R. D. Nicol and Co
of Dronfield and Prudential Buildings, Sheffield. Telephone: 24620 and 26162. Telegraphic Address: "Oils, Sheffield"
Early 20th century: Robert Dale Nicol recognised the importance of mineral oil.
He set up business at 87 Pinstone Street in Sheffield; he developed a range of automotive and industrial lubricants at Callywhite Lane, Dronfield, supplying metalworking fluids particularly for the steel industries of the Sheffield area. Production had started there by about 1916.
It is likely that the firm was an oil supplier to Ward’s Damstead Works a few hundred yards away and may have used local supplies of crude oil.
One of Nicol’s trade names was a lubricant named Kastrol – a striking similarity to the name adopted by an acquaintance, Charles Cheers Wakefield, who also started an oil company around this time.
1937 Listed Exhibitor - British Industries Fair. Turbine Oils, High Pressure Lubricants, cutting Oils, and Compounds, Heat Treatment Oils, Dragonfly Superaero Motor Oils, Diesel Engine Oils, Transformer oils, Rust Preventatives, Lubricating Greases, Roll Neck Lubricants, Core Bonds. (Stand No. D.746)[1]
1939 See Aircraft Industry Suppliers
By 1950 was a subsidiary of Staveley Coal and Iron Co[2]
mid-1970s Acquired by Witco Chemical
late 1970s: Invested in the manufacture of metallic stearates, a core business of the US parent.
1981 Acquired by its Derbyshire competitor Silkolene; new refining plant was installed to recycle and reprocess used hydraulic and metalworking oils.
1986 The Dronfield site closed with all production shifting to Silkolene’s Belper refinery.
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ 1937 British Industries Fair p396
- ↑ The Times, Oct 26, 1950