R. and W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Co
.jpg)
R. and W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company of St. Peter's, Newcastle-upon-Tyne (usually referred to as Hawthorn Leslie), was a shipbuilding and locomotive manufacturer.
1817 R. and W. Hawthorn company established.
1885 Merger of the shipbuilding and graving dock business A. Leslie and Co and the locomotive works of R. and W. Hawthorn[1].
1886 Public company. The company was registered on 7 April, to acquire the businesses of R. and W. Hawthorn engineers of Newcastle-on-Tyne and A. Leslie and Co, shipbuilders of Hebburn-on-Tyne. [2]
1887 Built the triple expansion engines for the SS Courier. They were fitted with Marshall's patent valve gear. The bed plates and pillars were of cast-steel. The 1500 sqft condenser is separate from the engines and made of gun-metal. The cylinders are 30in., 46 in., and 73 in. respectively by 36 in. stroke. 150lb steam is supplied by two multitubular boilers; 15 ft 3 in. by 11ft. The forced draught is supplied by two double-sided fans, each driven by a high speed compound engine. The trial trip toook place on 28th October 1887 on the Admirality course of 9.6 knots between Cullercoats and Newbiggin off the mouth of the Tyne. An average speed of 17.548 knots was obtained, with an indicateed horse power of 2979; with 124 revolutions per minute and the vacuum 26.5 in. [3]
1888 Built a crane locomotive for Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Co.
1890 Triple expansion engine for 'SS Orel'. Illustration in 'The Engineer'. [4]
1893 After the merger the locomotive side continued making locomotives, among them a 4-2-2-0 with four cylinders - two inside and two outside - connected separately to the two pairs of driving wheels. It was produced for the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 but could not produce sufficient steam to compete effectively with the American products.
1894 Antwerp Exhibition. Details of their display
1899 See 1899 Shipbuilding Statistics for details of production this year
Constructed HMS Viper at the Hebburn yard, the first destroyer equipped with a propulsion turbine[5].
1900 Frank Theodore Marshall was appointed director of R. and W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Co, his father Francis Carr Marshall retiring from the Board.
1900 Engines of the SS Canadian. Article and illustration in The Engineer. [6]
1907 Acquired land adjoining the Forth Banks Works for extensions
1911 Manufacturer of Locomotives for the Railways.[7]
1912 Built 6 ships
1914 Directory: Listed as Iron Ship Builders and as R. Hawthorne and W. Leslie and Co of Hebburn. [8]
1914 Marine and locomotive engineers and shipbuilders. Specialities: marine engines, turbine and reciprocating machinery, water-tube boilers, locomotives of all descriptions and combined crane and locomotive. [9]
1915 F. G. Smith of the Highland Railway ordered six 4-6-0s to his own designs. Being rejected by that railway as being too heavy, they were taken over by the Caledonian Railway.
A great number of locomotives were built for export, usually to the designs of the Crown Agents, among them many fireless locomotives.
1923 The company opened a new office in Westminster at 3a, Dean's-yard. The office was under the supervision of Mr Robert S. Rowell one of the directors resident in London.[10]
1927 See Aberconway for information on the company and its history.
1937 The locomotive production was bought by Robert Stephenson and Co, becoming Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns. Hawthorns had built 2,783 locomotives.
1954 Private company.
1961 Shipbuilders and repairers, specialising in passenger and cargo liners, refrigerated dry cargo and ore carrying vessels, oil tankers and warships. 2,200 employees.
1961 Engaged as marine engineers and ship builders. [11]
1977 Hawthorn Leslie was subsumed by British Shipbuilders.
A Short History of The Firm
From 'Short Histories of Famous Firms' by Ernest Leopold Ahrons The Engineer - 1922/07/14.
R. and W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Co, Newcastle-On-Tyne.
The firm of R. and W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Co., Limited, is one of the oldest in the country, for its origin dates back more than a century ; but, unlike some of the famous firms whose histories have been recorded in these columns, it has constantly increased in size, and at the present day is one of the largest and foremost of British firms. Locomotive and marine engine construction and shipbuilding form the principal industries with which its name is connected. The original works were founded as an open shed in January, 1817, on the east side of Forth Banks, Newcastle, by Mr. Robert Hawthorn, who began the manufacture of stationary steam engines and millwork. There were only four workmen in addition to Mr. Hawthorn, who worked with them. All the machinery was driven by hand. In 1820 Mr. William Hawthorn became a partner with his brother, and from that date the firm was known as R. and W. Hawthorn. The two brothers were the sons of Robert Hawthorn, who for more than fifty years was engineer to the owners of Walbottle Colliery, near Newcastle, and a man of great mechanical ability.
In 1819 a small portion of the ground upon which the present works stand was purchased. Being on a hill-side, it had to be excavated and prepared for the first workshop by Mr. Hawthorn and his men during the evenings after work hours. About 1820 the firm made the first steam crane for hoisting ballast from ships. It was erected at St. Anthony's Quay, on the Tyne, and at the same period the marine engineering branch was started. In December, 1822, steam power was first supplied to the works for driving the lathes, which until that time had been driven by men turning a hand wheel."
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ The Times, 5 January 1910
- ↑ The Stock Exchange Year Book 1908
- ↑ Engineering, 6th January, 1888.
- ↑ The Engineer of 30th May 1890. p450
- ↑ The Times, 5 January 1910
- ↑ The Engineer of 17th August 1900 p160
- ↑ Bradshaw’s Railway Manual 1911
- ↑ Kelly's Directory of Durham, 1914 p714
- ↑ 1914 Whitakers Red Book
- ↑ The Engineer 1923/02/09
- ↑ 1961 Dun and Bradstreet KBE
- 1961 Dun and Bradstreet KBE
- [1] Wikipedia
- British Steam Locomotive Builders by James W. Lowe. Published in 1975. ISBN 0-905100-816