Marshall, Sons and Co

Marshall, Sons and Co of Britannia Iron Works, Gainsborough

• The company was a British machinery and Traction Engine manufacturer. Marshall's produced large numbers of steam traction engines, steam rollers and agricultural machinery of all types. Later production included diesel tractors such as the Field Marshall and Track Marshall.

• 1842 William Marshall originally an agent for William Fairbairn and Sons branched out on his own and purchased the defunct engineering works of William Garland and son at Back Street Foundry in Gainsborough.

• 1849 Renamed as Britannia Ironworks and commenced production of road steam engines

• 1857 His son James Marshall become a partner in the company

• 1861 His other son Henry Marshall became a partner in the business

• 1861 William Marshall died

• 1876 First traction engine produced

• 1878 Built a railway locomotive and two more in 1898 and 1902

• 1888 Issued catalogue of tea-preparing machinery with steam engines and boilers. Second catalogue on engines - portable, semi-portable, traction, fixed, horizontal and vertical, condensing; boilers, locomotives and vertical, and saw benches. Another section on road locomotives, portable and fixed engines, thrashing machinery, elevators and mills.

• 1894 Catalogue of Tea preparing machinery

• 1911 Smithfield Club Show. Exhibited a new steam tractor, a portable engine, a thrashing machine, a patented fire-box and various accessories.

• 1920 February. Issued catalogue on Cornish, Lancashire and water-tube boilers

• 1920 Royal Agricultural Show at Darlington. 16 bhp portable oil engine (illustrated)

• 1929 It absorbed Clayton and Shuttleworth

• 1929 Became part of the Thomas W. Ward group

• 1947 Marshall, Sons and Co. Ltd. merged with John Fowler and Co Ltd to form Marshall-Fowler Ltd.

• 1970s The factory in Gainsborough was derelict in the 1970s. There is now a supermarket standing on (part of) the former Britannia Iron Works site.

• Marshall, Sons and Co. built the boiler for the Fairbairn steam crane which stands on the dockside in Bristol. The maker's plate reads "Marshall Sons & Co. Ltd., Engineers, Gainsboro, England, No.92766".

Tractors

• Marshall, Sons and Co. had taken a Lenz tractor and then produced their own version. It was called the Model E and had a single-cylinder two-stroke, diesel engine and featured three forward and one reverse gear,

• In the mid 1930s a more economical version was produced to compete with the Fordson tractor.

• The Model E was modified shortly before World War II and became the Model M.

• In 1945 the Model M was modified and renamed Marshall Series I. Two years later Series II was produced and finally a series III.

• The tractor could not keep up with the competition and Marshall, Sons and Co. decided to develop a new tractor, however, instead of starting completely at the beginning they decided to purchase an engine off the shelf and build their own tractor around it.

• The result was the model MP6 which was first introduced in 1954. It had a six-cylinder, water cooled, Leyland diesel engine.

• The tractor would have been more suited to the United States market. It was too large and expensive for the British farmer and 197 were produced in total with all but ten being exported.

• Marshall, Sons & Co. then concentrated on their crawler production until the 1980s when they bought the Leyland Tractor business. The machines were re-badged and the colour changed. Production ceased in 1991.

Sources of Information

• The Complete Encyclopedia of Tractors by Mirco de Cet published in 2006 by Rebo International ISBN 978-90-366-1893-9
• British Steam Locomotive Builders by James W. Lowe. Published in 1975. ISBN 0-905100-816
• The Engineer of 27th April 1888 p338
• The Engineer of 27th April 1894 p360
• The Engineer of 27th Feb 1920 p208
• The Engineer of 25th June 1920 p650
• The Engineer of 8th December 1911 p593