Watson House
1903 J. G. Clark, Chemist at the St Pancras works' laboratory started to look into problems with gas water heaters. This was the beginning of gas utilisation research.
By 1923 Clark was ensconced in a shed at the Horseferry Road works of the Gas Light and Coke Co with the title of Chemist, Gas Sales Dept. The chemistry staff had grown, including F. C. Smith and Harold Hartley, who brought 'Oxford Chemists' to the company's growing research arm.
1926 After the merger with the Brentford Gas Co, larger premises were needed as well as releasing space at Horseferry Road. The stores and the research labs. were moved to an old Crosse and Blackwell factory on Imperial Wharf adjacent to the Nine Elms site. The first three floors were taken up by the Stores Department directly while the third floor contained the testing laboratories. This first 'Watson House' was officially opened on 17 Nov 1926. Situated next to the labs. were the training facilities so that the labs. inevitably became part of the company's apprenticeship training scheme.
Work centred on quality control, lighting, leakage, testing of domestic appliances and other areas surrounding gas utilisation. The results of the work and tests performed were initially published as individual reports.
1931 the Watson House Bulletin started publication on a monthly basis; initially there were 2,500 recipients; it was issued by the Training Department who also maintained an information service on behalf of the whole of Watson House.
Relationships were forged with other industry-related bodies such as the Institution of Gas Engineers, the BCGA, Westminster Technical College, appliance manufacturers and the British Engineering Standards Association (later the BSI).
1933 David Milne-Watson proposed offering Watson House as a Development Centre for London; member undertakings subscribed 1 shilling per million cu.ft. of gas produced. The work of the Development Centre was initially focused on industrial applications thus widening the type of investigations performed in the labs.
By 1936 the growing functions and activities of Watson House gave rise to the need for larger premises.
1936 The new Watson House was opened at Imperial House on Townmead Road next to the Fulham Gas Works. Technical enquiries had reached 4000 per year, staff numbered 882 and the Watson House Bulletin reached 10,500 subscribers.
The new Watson House became home to a permanent exhibition and a test kitchen led to closer ties with the Home Service staff and a resident Home Economist by 1939.
WWII The work of Watson House focussed on production of equipment for Air Raid Precautions and the Distribution Department in emergencies, the industrial section focused on factories converted to war work and the test kitchen produced recipes and domestic hints for dealing with war time conditions. Several laboratory staff were sent to work at the Chemical Defence Experimental Station at Porton. Those remaining in the General lab. at Watson House worked on testing and analysing metals for the Admiralty, the Stores Testing Section performed mechanical tests on materials and components for the services and the Training Section switched to training fitters for the Fleet Air Arm.
Towards the end of the war and during the post-war years Watson House was involved in design and testing of heating and ventilation equipment for Post-War building, particularly temporary or prefabricated housing with appliance development again taking precedence.
Post-WWII: The research facilities at Watson House and those at the Fulham Laboratory were brought under a single controller, Harold Hollings. This included the physical transfer of the Coke Laboratory, which concentrated on coke appliance research, which was brought under the Manager, Watson House, William Dieterichs. The Manager, Gas Light Centre, George Holliday, liaised with the subscribing members of the old 'Development Centre' as well as taking responsibility for publishing the Bulletin and operating the technical information service previously operated by the Training and Education Section which now reported to the MD in the Secretary's Department. Dr R. H. Griffiths was appointed senior research chemist; Dr S. Pexton was senior chemical engineer[1]
1949 As a result of nationalisation, Research and Development became a responsibility of the Gas Council; Watson House continued to operate as it had done, reporting via Harold Hollings, now of the North Thames Gas Board to the Gas Council; the Watson House Centre (previously the Gas Light Centre) provided a service to the 12 Area Gas Boards in place of the old subscribers.
1969 Establishment of a new research and development division with 140 staff[2]
See Also
Sources of Information
- [1] National Archives