Grace's Guide
British Industrial History
Grace's Guide is the leading source of historical information on industry and manufacturing in Britain. This web publication contains 146,709 pages of information and 232,164 images on early companies, their products and the people who designed and built them.
Electrical Power Storage Co
From Graces Guide
of 4 Great Winchester Street, London and 84 West Ferry Road, Millwall[1]. Maker of EPS Storage cells.
NB The name of the company varies between Electric Power Storage and Electrical Power Storage Company.
Factory at Millwall
1882 Company established - the first battery company in the country and possibly in the world [2].
1882 Patent lawsuit anticipated between Electrical Power Storage Co and Faure Accumulator Co[3].
1883 Mr B. M. Drake was managing engineer of Electrical Power Storage Co and Mr J. M. Gorham was the first works manager[4]. The two of them went on to set up Drake and Gorham in 1886, which became a major firm of electrical contractors.
1883 The Electrical Power Storage Co had acquired the Faure accumulator patent which would be worked in conjunction with the Sellon-Volckmar patents which they already possessed[5].
Early 1880s, Hugo Hirst, later to become well known as the Father of GEC, worked at the Millwall works of the Electrical Power Storage Co[6].
1884 Substantial reduction in capital of the company as a result of major loss[7]. Demonstration of 2 electric boats on the Thames, powered by use of Electrical Power Storage Co accumulators[8].
1884 Bernard Drake appointed MD. He died in 1931[9]
1885 Large brass switch on display in the London Science Museum (see photo).
1885 Successful demonstration of a battery-driven tramcar by South London Tramway Co using Electrical Power Storage Co's accumulators[10].
1886 On or before this date, Bernard Drake and J. Gorham had left the company to set up Drake and Gorham.
1886 William Henry Patchell was appointed manager of the Millwall Works of the Electrical Power Storage Co, and was involved with the development of public and private electric supply plant.
1888 New Pullman vestibule car introduced on London-Brighton line used Electrical Power Storage Co's accumulators in conjunction with a dynamo to supply electric lighting[11].
1889 Demonstration of electric disc brakes powered from accumulators[12].
1889 Became part of the Electric Construction Corporation[13]. At this time Sir Daniel Cooper was Chairman and John Irving Courtenay was MD.
1891 Foreign and Colonial Electrical Power Storage Co at the same address in Great Winchester Street[14]
1892 3rd ordinary general meeting of the Electrical Power Storage Co Ltd; Mr J Irving Courtenay presided. 12 months had elapsed since the company had taken over the secondary battery manufacturing plant at Millwall from the Electric Construction Corporation; business was growing; high hopes for the E.P.S. battery for traction[15].
1897 Demonstration of electric taxicabs in London powered by Electrical Power Storage Co accumulators[16].
1898 Edward Clark, who had worked at Electrical Power Storage Co at Millwall, founded the Hart Accumulator Co[17].
1915 Electrical Power Storage Co Ltd amalgamated with Pritchetts and Gold Ltd.
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ Post Office London Directory, 1895
- ↑ The Times, Monday, May 30, 1932
- ↑ The Graphic 27 May 1882
- ↑ The Times, 19 January 1929
- ↑ The Times, Mar 22, 1883
- ↑ GEC [[1]]
- ↑ The Pall Mall Gazette 24 April 1884
- ↑ Reynolds's Newspaper 21 September 1884
- ↑ The Times, Thursday, Oct 29, 1931
- ↑ Newcastle Weekly Courant 10 April 1885
- ↑ Daily News 11 December 1888
- ↑ Birmingham Daily Post 9 December 1889
- ↑ The Times, 4 June 1889
- ↑ Post Office London Trades Directory, 1891
- ↑ The Times, 21 July 1892
- ↑ The Standard 20 August 1897
- ↑ The Times, 11 January 1928