Elliott Brothers
of Century Works, Lewisham, London, SE
Elliott Brothers (London) Ltd was a long established electrical instruments company which played an early role in the development of computers in the United Kingdom,
1804 William Elliott completed his apprenticeship and became free in Coach and Coach Harness Makers Co
1804 Took his first apprentice and married in the same year.
1817 William Elliott: Drawing instrument maker, 26 Wilderness Row, Goswell Street, London.
1817–27 at 21 Great Newport Street, London.
1824 Mention as 'Mr. Elliott's, Optician, 21, Great Newport-street, St. Martin's-lane.'[1]
1827-33 at 227 High Holborn, London
1833-49 at 268 High Holborn, London
1835 Mention as 'Mr. Elliott's, No. 268, High Holborn'[2]
1850 Moved to 56, Strand, London
c1850 William took his sons, Frederick Henry Elliott, and Charles Alfred Elliott into partnership. The company began to manufacture instruments for surveying, for railways, and other instruments
1853 Advertisement. Stringfellow's Patent Electro-Galvanic Pocket Battery. For personal medical use. Sole agents. W. Elliott and Sons, 56 Strand.[3]
1853 William Elliott died; his sons continued the business as Elliott Brothers. [4]
1854 Advertisement. Stringfellow's Patent Electro-Galvanic Pocket Battery. Elliott Brothers, 56 Strand.[5]
1857 Took over the business of Watkins and Hill, Instrument Makers. The company began advertising electrical apparatus.
1858 May. 'Messrs. Mansell and Elliott are instructed by Messrs. Elliott Brothers successors to Messrs. Watkins and Hill, who are removing to their new premises in the Strand, to Sell.....The Lease of the Excellent and Commanding Shop and Business Premises, No. 5, Charing-cross, consisting of a handsome double fronted shop with counting-house and workshops in the rear...'[6]
1859 Patent. '2787. To Frederick Henry Elliott and Charles Alfred Elliott, of the Strand, in the city of Westminster, Mathematical Instrument Makers, for the invention of "an improved method of preventing drawing boards and other flat wooden surfaces from warping or twisting, and of adding to the strength thereof."'[7]
1860 Patent. '2631. To Frederick Henry Elliott, of the Strand, in the county of Middlesex, Mathematical Instrument Maker, for the invention of "an improved case for aneroid barometers for marine purposes."'[8]
1867 Exhibited at the 1867 Paris Exhibition. 'Elliott, Brothers, 449, Strand, London.— Mathematical, optical, and philosophical instruments.'[9]
1868 Patent. '889. To Frederick Henry Elliott and Charles Alfred Elliott, of the Strand, in the county of Middlesex, Opticians, for the invention of "improvements in telescopes."— A communication to them from abroad by Pierre Gabriel Bardou and Denis Albert Bardou, both of Paris, France.'[10]
1870 Partnership dissolved. '...the Partnership heretofore subsisting between us the undersigned, Frederick Henry Elliott, and Charles Alfred Elliott, as Opticians, at No 449, Strand, in the county of Middlesex, under the style or firm of Elliott Brothers, has been this day dissolved by mutual consent...'[11] Charles Alfred Elliott leaves the partnership.
1871 Employing 150 men under Frederick Henry Elliott.[12] Note: From other sources this figure for the number employed looks rather high.
1873 Mention of 'a workshop, manufactory, or building in the occupation of Messrs. Elliott Brothers, Opticians.[13]
1876 Established a works in St. Martin's Lane to produce telegraphic equipment
1877 Frederick Henry Elliott dies and his wife Susan continues the business bringing in Willoughby Smith, the leading telegraph engineer, as a partner
1880 Susan Elliott died and control passed to Willoughby Smith. This was the end of the Elliott family connection with the business. Smith placed his son William Oliver Smith to run the business and another son Willoughby Statham Smith as a manager in the company
1881 Won a gold medal at the 1881 Paris Electrical Exhibition
1889 Produced 'an improved indication piston'. Company described as 'the well-known opticians'. [14]
1892 Shown as trading at 101 and 102 St. Martin's Lane in the estate documents of Willoughby Smith.[15]
1893 Elliott Brothers amalgamated with Meinrad Theiler and Sons then owned by G. K. B. Elphinstone. W. O. Smith became managing director and Elphinstone as chairman and proprietor
1894 Electric Signals for Warships. Article in 'The Engineer'
1900 The company moved to new premises: Century Works, Connington Road, Lewisham. Company was producing telegraphy, electrical, engineering, surveying, drawing, meteorological, marine, and other instruments. Employing around 200-300 persons at this time.
1902 Warrant to use the Royal Arms. Elliott Brothers of London - Opticians.[16]
1903 Issued a catalogue of alternating-current instruments.[17]
1909 H. E. Wimperis introduces an accelerometer to the company
1912 Company began supplying supplied flight instrument panels and aircraft instrument to the War Office and others.
1914 Electrical and mechanical engineers. Specialities: ships' logs, gyro-compasses for use on battleships, Wimperis accelerometers and gradometers, all kinds of speed indicators, recorders and switchboard instruments, telegraph apparatus etc. Employees 400 to 500. [18]
1917 Became Elliott Brothers (London) Ltd
1920 Jan. Physical and Optical Societies Exhibition. Exhibitor of electrical instruments. [19]
1937 Electrical and mechanical instrument makers. [20]
1946 Research laboratories were set up at Borehamwood by Professor John Flavell Coales.
1946 Elliott Brothers and B. and P. Swift were allocated space in the Shorts' factory at Rochester. Elliotts would employ about 500 on all types of electrical and mechanical precision instruments. Swifts will employ about 450 on automatic scales, gears and hydraulic pumps.[21].
1947 The company merged with the weighing machine manufacturers B. and P. Swift; Leon Bagrit, the founder of B and P Swift, became joint managing director of Elliott Bros.
1950 The first Elliott 152 computer appeared
1951 NRDC gave Elliott Bros a study contract to consider whether their constructional technique could be applied to something like a re-engineered version of the Manchester University computer. Eventually this led to a proposal for the development of a packaged computer. NRDC agreed to pay for the development and construction of a prototype - which became the 401.[22]
1952 The prototype 401 went sent to Cambridge and then to Rothamstead
1953 Aviation Division formed at Borehamwood - formed the basis for Elliott Aviation
1953 After a difficult few years post-war, whilst the company was being redirected from armaments work to civilian products, Elliott Brothers had made profits in 1951 and 1952. It now took the opportunity to raise funds for investment with the issue of new shares. It was noted that Bendix Aviation Corporation had recently subscribed for shares at twice the par value.[23].
1954 Elliott Brothers acquired Bristol's Instrument Co to strengthen its process control activities[24]
1957 Elliott Automation issued shares to the shareholders of Elliott Brothers and Associated Automation to effect a merger of the 2 companies, forming 'the largest automation and instrumentation company in Europe'. Elliott Brothers continued to exist as a subsidiary company of the Elliott Automation Group.[25]. Leon Bagrit became deputy chairman and managing director.
1958 Associated Insulation Products subsidiary sold to Associated Electrical Industries (AEI).
1959 Elliott Nucleonics formed as subsidiary company.
1960 Bendix Corporation sold its remaining shareholding in Elliott Automation
1960 The computer scientist, Sir Tony Hoare, was an employee from August 1960 for 8 years. He wrote an ALGOL 60 compiler for the Elliott 803 and also worked on an operating system (Elliott 503 Mark II), although this was less successful and abandoned along with "over thirty man-years of programming effort."
1961 Electrical and mechanical engineers, manufacturing fire control apparatus, precision and electronic equipment for H.M. Ships and instruments and equipment for aircraft. Commercial products include measuring and control instruments, control valves weighing and food preparing machinery and hydraulic pumps. 5,500 employees. [26]
1961 Firth Cleveland Instruments was purchased by Elliott Automation; business would continue from the same site under the name Elliott (Treforest).
1962 Leon Bagrit knighted.
1963 John Lansdown pioneered the use of computers as an aid to planning; making perspective drawings on an Elliott 803 computer, modelling a building's lifts and services, plotting the annual fall of daylight across its site, as well as authoring his own computer aided design applications.
1964 Two new management divisions formed - Mechanical Automation and Elliott-Automation Nucleonics - bringing the total to 14 business divisions in the Group.
1967 In the first deal arranged by the Industrial Reorganization Corporation, English Electric Co took over Elliott Automation to form the leading European group in computing and process control.
1968 Supplied plug stringers for the Winfrith power station. [27]
1968 English Electric Computers Ltd was taken over by International Computers and Tabulators (ICT); this marriage was forced by the British Government, who believed that the UK required a strong national computer company. The combined company was called International Computers Ltd (ICL). English Electric Co retained the military and industrial automation activities of its Marconi and Elliott Automation subsidiaries.[28].
1968 GEC took over English Electric Co
1969 GEC reorganised the businesses it had acquired from Elliott Automation, English Electric Co, AEI and Marconi. In electronics, GEC-Marconi Electronics was created with 4 subsidiaries Marconi-Elliott Avionics Systems Limited, GEC-Elliott Space and Weapons Systems, Marconi Communications Systems and Marconi Radar Systems.[29]. GEC-Elliott Automation comprised the automation and control activities of the predecessor companies.[30].
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ Morning Post - Monday 29 March 1824
- ↑ Morning Post - Friday 10 April 1835
- ↑ Morning Post - Tuesday 19 April 1853
- ↑ Abstract of Records held at Lewisham Local Studies and Archives, displayed at National Archives
- ↑ London Daily News - Saturday 13 May 1854
- ↑ Morning Post - Tuesday 18 May 1858
- ↑ [1] Gazette Issue 22339 published on the 23 December 1859. Page 7 of 36
- ↑ [2] Gazette Issue 22445 published on the 9 November 1860. Page 26 of 48
- ↑ [3] Gazette Issue 23174 published on the 19 October 1866. Page 15 of 64
- ↑ [4] Gazette Issue 23379 published on the 15 May 1868. Page 68 of 124
- ↑ [5] Gazette Issue 23637 published on the 26 July 1870. Page 17 of 40
- ↑ 1871 Census
- ↑ [6] Gazette Issue 24036 published on the 18 November 1873. Page 25 of 92
- ↑ The Engineer 1889/05/03 1889 p383
- ↑ [7] Gazette Issue 26241 published on the 5 January 1892. Page 25 of 68
- ↑ [8] Gazette Issue 27512 published on the 2 January 1903. Page 13 of 104
- ↑ The Engineer 1903/05/29, p 558
- ↑ 1914 Whitakers Red Book
- ↑ The Engineer of 16th Jan 1920 p62
- ↑ 1937 The Aeroplane Directory of the Aviation and Allied Industries
- ↑ The Times, 4 October 1946
- ↑ Memories of NRDC [9]
- ↑ The Times, 11 May 1953
- ↑ Moving Targets: Elliott-Automation and the Dawn of the Computer Age, by Simon Lavington, 2011
- ↑ The Times, 8 October 1957
- ↑ 1961 Dun and Bradstreet KBE
- ↑ The Engineer 1968/03/08 p399
- ↑ The Times, 22 March 1968
- ↑ The Times, 8 August 1969
- ↑ The Times, 27 November 1969
- [10] Wikipedia
- Mosquito by C. Martin Sharp and Michael J. F. Bowyer. Published by Crecy Books in 1995. ISBN 0-947554-41-6
- AA. [11] Image courtesy of Aviation Ancestry
- Records held at Lewisham Local Studies and Archives; abstract from National Archives [12]
- The Engineer of 30th March 1894 p270