W. G. Armstrong and Co
Sir W. G. Armstrong of Elswick Ordnance Works, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
1847 William Armstrong established W. G. Armstrong and Co at Elswick Engine Works with a capital of £19,500 plus Armstrong's patents valued at £3,000, to manufacture new hydraulic devices, cranes and bridges, soon to be followed by artillery, notably the Armstrong breech-loading gun, which re-equipped the British Army after the Crimean War. The founding partners were Armstrong, A. Donkin, the solicitor that he was articled to and George Cruddas, his life-long business partner. [1]
The company's first buildings were erected on a narrow strip of land, between the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway and the Tyne, at Elswick, just over a mile to the west of the town. Production commenced in the autumn and some twenty or thirty men being employed.
1847 Built their first railway locomotive, a condensing experimental 2-2-2 type, that was deemed impractical and later broken up at Armstrongs works. [2]
1851 Manufacturing Engineers employing 400 men [3]
1851 Award at the 1851 Great Exhibition. See details at 1851 Great Exhibition: Reports of the Juries: Class V.
1852 Armstrong's Hydraulic Crane. Drawing. Mentions G. W. Armstrong.
1862 Ten or twelve 'E' class 2-4-0 locomotives were built for the East Indian Railway. [4]
c.1863 Armstrong's Hydraulic Works were partnered with the nearby Elswick Ordnance factory, merging the two as Sir W. G. Armstrong and Co
1860-64 Around fifty railway locomotives built in this period, this number is somewhat speculative and includes those built for the East Indian Railway in 1862. [5]
1876 The 100-ton gun, the largest gun in the world [6]
1876 120-ton sheer legs at Elswick featured in The Engineer, 17th March 1876. See illustration. These featured a hydraulic ram for lifting the load, worked by water pressure at 900 psi from the works' hydraulic mains. The sheers were used in shipping 100-ton gun barrels to Italy.
1881 The Elswick Works were described in 'The Engineer', 22nd July 1881. Work in progress included a 45-ton crane for Valparaiso and a lighthouse for Brazil. Some special machine tools are mentioned, including a Whitworth lathe of 36" centre height and 44 ft 6" between centres, another by Fairbairn, Kennedy and Naylor, modified at Elswick, which could swing work 20 ft dia and 4 ft 6" long or 8 ft dia and 34 ft long
1882 W. G. Armstrong and Co merged with Charles Mitchell and Co to form Armstrong, Mitchell and Co. The company was launched with a capital of £1.575M.
1915 Collaborated with the works at A. and J. Main and Co.[7]
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ The Times, Tuesday, May 16, 1911
- ↑ Peter McKenzie; biography of W.G.Armstrong, Newcastle-on-Tyne 1983
- ↑ 1851 Census
- ↑ Hugh Hughes Indian Locomotives Part 1 - Broad Gauge CRC 1990
- ↑ [The Engineer 1864/01/08
- ↑ The Engineer of 11th August 1876 p102
- ↑ The Engineer 1915/04/09, p 368.