Tilley Lamp Co
From Graces Guide
of Colindale Avenue, London
of 15 Sackville Street, London, W1 (1951)
- The Tilley Lamp derives from John Tilley’s invention of the hydro-pneumatic blowpipe in 1813.
- W. H. Tilley were manufacturing pressure lamps at their works in Stoke Newington in 1818, and Shoreditch in the 1830s.
- Private company.
- The company moved to Brent Street in Hendon in 1915 during World War I, and started work with paraffin (kerosene) as a fuel for the lamps.
- During World War I the Tilley Lamp was widely used in the British armed forces, and became so popular that Tilley became used as a generic name for Kerosene lamp in many parts of the world, in much the same way as Hoover is for vacuum cleaners.
- During the 1920s the company had diversified into domestic lamps, and had expanded rapidly after orders from a number of railway companies.
- Name changed.
- 1937 Portable lamps, floodlights and searchlight projectors. "Tilley" Lamps. [1]
- After the World War II fears about the poisonous effect of paraffin fumes, and freely available electricity reduced demand for domestic use.
- 1947 Name changed.
- 1949 Company made public.
- The company moved from Hendon to Ireland in the early 1960s, finally settling Belfast.
- 1961 Manufacturers of "Tilley" paraffin vapour lamps, radiators and low pressure gas appliances. 360 employees. [2]
- In 2000 they relocated.
Sources of Information
- [1] Wikipedia