George Salter and Co

File:1891 London i0811.png

London 1891

George Salter and Co of West Bromwich

• 1760 The brothers Richard and William Salter established businesses manufacturing springs and pocket steelyards (spring balances) in a cottage in Bilston.

• 1770 The company moved to West Bromwich, where it was one of the leading employers for more than 200 years.

• 1790s On Richard's death, the business taken over by William's sons, John and George Salter, who also made bayonets.

• 1824 John Salter died and the firm took the name of George Salter by which it is best known.

• 1838 George Salter took out the first of many weighing equipment patents, which related to various ways of indicating weight on a spring balance that are still used today.

• 1849 When George Salter died, ownership of the firm remained within the family. It now made a wide variety of spring balances, vertical roasting jacks, musket bayonets, domestic weighing apparatus, steam pressure gauges and sad irons.

• 1879 The Salter Cricket Club formed a football team called WB Strollers, which later became West Bromwich Albion FC. The team which won the English FA Cup in 1886 included seven Salter employees.

• 1880s The product portfolio now including the first coin-operated public weighing machines as well as various food processing equipment, clothes washers, letter-clips, hat hooks and dynamometers. A factory was also opened in Berlin, in association with German firm Ubrig, which led to the development of automatic rotating display and vending machines.

• 1884 The Salter trademark, showing a Staffordshire knot pierced by an arrow, was registered and used on all the balances. It was also adopted by West Bromwich Albion Football Club, becoming the first commercial advertising on football shirts.

• 1890s Salter spring balances officially approved for trade use.

• 1895 Salter produced the first English typewriter - the British Empire. Rights to this business were sold in 1936.

• 1900 July. The Paris Exhibition. Springs of all strengths. Description of the wide range shown.

• 1915 Salter became a Limited company.

• 1917 The last George Salter died and the company passed to relatives from the Bache family.

• 1920s Salter now employed more than 1,000 people. A repair company was opened in Australia.

• 1936 Salter opened a new five storey factory - the highest building in West Bromwich. A second block was completed in 1940.

• 1937 Advert for: Spring Balances; Weighing Machines; Automatic and Testing Machines; Ironmongery; Springs, etc. (Hardware, Ironmongery and Brassfoundry / Farm and Garden Equipment)

• WWII During the war, the company manufactured more than 750 million springs for war purposes. Also manufactured parts for the De Havilland Mosquito

• 1951 Advert for roller bearings.

• 1961 Own 27 retail shops throughout West Bromwich, Manufacturers of spring balances and weighing machines, springs, retainers and fasteners, roller bearings, castings and "Salterpail" pre-packing service. 1,600 employees.

• 1963 Motor Show exhibitor. Springs, roller bearings and castings.

• 1973 George Salter & Co limited was bought by Staveley Industries

Sources of Information

• The Engineer of 6th July 1900 p2
• 1963 Motor Show
• 1937 British Industries Fair Advert p. 516
• Mechanical World Year Book 1951. Published by Emmott and Co of Manchester. Advert p
• [1] Avery Weigh-Tronix Web Site
• Mosquito by C. Martin Sharp and Michael J. F. Bowyer. Published by Crecy Books in 1995. ISBN 0-947554-41-6
• Post Office London Trades Directory, 1891
• 1961 Dun and Bradstreet KBE