of Darlaston, South Staffordshire. Telephone: Darlaston 130 (P.B.X.). Telegraphic Address: "Ruberowen, Darlaston". (1937)
of Wednesbury
1884 Company founded by John Rubery and his two brothers, as an ironworks manufacturing gates and fences - see Rubery and Co
1893 The two brothers were replaced by a trained engineer Alfred Owen.
1903 The company name of Rubery Owen was established.
1910 Exhibited at Aero Exhibition at Olympia, displaying tubes, wires, etc for aircraft construction[1]
Owen became sole proprietor of the company
By 1912, after Rubery had left, the company had expanded into Aviation Engineering, Motor Frames and Roofing, in addition to fencing manufacture.
1911 Water filtering and softening plant. [2]
1919 March. Advert for car frames. 22 years experience claimed. [3]
Made a very large steam excavator (face shovel), designed by A R Grossmith, for J B Forder & Son's Pillange Brickworks [4]
1919 Sold the engineering department to Wellman, Smith, Owen Engineering Corporation[5].
1920 Private company. New company registered: Rubery, Owen and Co, constructional engineers[6]
The company expanded still further during the 1920s and 1930s, to include the production of metal airframes, metal storage equipment, steel pulleys and armour plate. They also acquired a Warrington hydraulic company which became Rubery Owen Conveyancer.
1929 Alfred Ernest Owen, proprietor of Rubery, Owen and Co, died[7]
1937 Advert for: Pressed Steel, Split Pulleys; Steel Storage Equipment; Structural Steelwork. (Engineering/Metals/Quarry, Roads and Mining/Transport) [8]
1937 Aircraft parts and accessories. [9]
Formed Rubery Owen Messier.
1938 Alfred George Beech Owen was chairman
c.1938 Rubery Owen (Cooker Dept.) in Coventry
1939 See Aircraft Industry Suppliers
WWII During World War II they concentrated on supporting the war effort, producing parts for war planes. Manufactured parts for the De Havilland Mosquito.
Post-WWII. After the war, they expanded their engineering products to include ploughs for Ferguson Tractors, metal pressings, fasteners, motor vehicle components and structural steel components for the building industry.
1946 Messier Aircraft Equipment Ltd, a member of the Rubery-Owen group of companies, designed and manufactured hydraulic and electro-hydraulic equipment for aircraft and industrial applications, including the Conveyancer forklift truck[10]. This has been claimed to be the UK's first forklift truck. Later became Electro-Hydraulics.
1952 Acquired British Racing Motors Ltd (B. R. M. Ltd) after a meeting of the British Racing Motor Research Trust; this would enable the BRM cars to be raced for the rest of the season[11]
1953 New engines under test by BRM but no intention to produce formula racing cars[12]
1953 Acquired Charles Clark and Son Ltd of Wolverhampton
1954 A new organisation was set up by Alfred Owen to take over the activities of BRM and develop a Formula One BRM car[13]
1956 The company was restructured into seven divisions:
- Motor
- Structural
- Contracts
- Bolt and Nut
- Metal Assemblies
- Metal Equipment
- Rowen-Arc
1961 Manufacturing and constructional engineers. 5,000 employees. [14]
1963 Amongst its various products, the group offered Drott mobile tractor cranes and self-propelled straddle lifting systems[15]. There were more than 50 companies in the Group including:
- Brooke Tool Manufacturing Co Ltd
- Charles Clark and Son Ltd of Wolverhampton and its subsidiaries
- Electro-Hydraulics Ltd
- Joseph Gillott and Sons (Sheffield) including Gillott's Forge and Rolling Mills Ltd
- C. and L. Hill Ltd of Willenhall and its subsidiaries
- Leabank Office Equipment of London
- Motor Panels (Coventry) Ltd
- Salopian Engineers
- Shorrock Superchargers
- A. G. Sutherland Ltd
- A. Warden and Co
1963 Motor Show exhibitor. Car accessories and motor car assemblies. [16]
1964 6,500 employees[17]
1964 Displayed the Rowen dishwasher at the Hanover Fair[18]
1964 Expanded by taking over the Old Park Works at Wednesbury previously used by Metropolitan-Cammell Carriage and Wagon Co[19]
1965 BRM was prepared to supply 3 litre engines to any British team to accomodate the change in Formula 1 Grand Prix rules[20]
1965 BRM entered a collaboration with Lotus to produce 1600cc racing engine[21]
1966 Would construct hydraulic excavators for Warner and Swasey of Cleveland, USA, in the Wednesbury factory[22]
1967 Cash problem faced the company due to the death of Ernest Owen who owned one-third of the shares[23]
1969 The structural fabrications department at Darlaston was closed as part of a group-wide reorganization which included central financial control[24]. Sir Alfred Owen had a stroke; his 2 sons took over the running of the business - David handled Group business; John ran Darlaston which accounted for 40 percent of the company.
1970 Rubery Owen-Rockwell would build a new factory at Wrexham to double output of axles[25]
1971 14,200 employees. After substantial reorganisation, the group's profits had improved but were still low[26]
1972 Sale of subsidiary companies as part of a plan to concentrate on manufacturing and engineering activities - those sold included Charles Clark and Son, the British Leyland distributor, and the merchanting business Rogers and Jackson[27]
By 1973 20 companies had been sold to raise cash whilst concentrating on motor components and materials handling. Darlaston was split into [28] into 2 companies: Rubery Owen Motor and Rubery Owen Contracts[29]. Acquired the 40 percent of Conveyancer not owned by Rubery Owen[30]
1974 January: Rubery Owen established a new company Rubery Owen Conveyancer[31]. The name Electro-Hydraulics seems to have been discontinued about this time.
1974 Flaskless foundry moulding machine produced up to 240 moulds an hour with cores. 'Larkinmatic-3 was a machine without a moulding box. It conformed to coventional foundry practice by pouring moulds horizontally. [32]
1974 Rubery Owen Conveyancer introduced a new computer service that could produce a plan showing the optimum use of warehouse space by calculating the number of pallets to be stacked, height and number.[33]
1974 The Commission on Industrial Relations made proposals for improving industrial relations in the company[34]
1975 Acquired Shelvoke forklift truck business[35]
1976 The Rosafe wheel for preventing skidding after a burst tyre was specially commended by the Don Trophy scheme[36]
1976 Darlaston factory threatened with closure unless industrial relations improved[37].
1977 Coventry Climax acquired the Warrington and Kirkby parts of the forklift truck business of Rubery Owen Conveyancer[38]
1981 The main Darlaston works closed.
1981 The BRM business was auctioned[39]
1982 Kontak Manufacturing Co acquired Rubery Owen Hydraulics[40]
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ The Times, Mar 16, 1910
- ↑ The Engineer of 10th November 1911 p496
- ↑ The Autocar of 29th March 1919 p LXIII
- ↑ 'The Engineer' 15th April 1919
- ↑ The Times, 2 February 1924
- ↑ The Times, Apr 20, 1920
- ↑ The Times Jan 02, 1930
- ↑ 1937 British Industries Fair Advert p651
- ↑ 1937 The Aeroplane Directory of the Aviation and Allied Industries
- ↑ The Times, Mar 14, 1946
- ↑ The Times, Oct 24, 1952
- ↑ The Times Jan 22, 1953
- ↑ The Times, Jan 22, 1954
- ↑ 1961 Dun and Bradstreet KBE
- ↑ The Times, Oct 09, 1963
- ↑ 1963 Motor Show
- ↑ The Times, Mar 19, 1964
- ↑ The Times, Wednesday, May 06, 1964
- ↑ The Times, Dec 22, 1964
- ↑ The Times, Feb 16, 1965
- ↑ The Times Jan 16, 1965
- ↑ The Times, Nov 30, 1966
- ↑ The Times, Dec 18, 1967
- ↑ The Times, Jul 15, 1969
- ↑ The Times, Jun 15, 1970
- ↑ The Times, Jul 06, 1971
- ↑ The Times, Apr 22, 1972
- ↑ The Times, Monday, Aug 06, 1973
- ↑ The Times, Thursday, Jun 28, 1973
- ↑ The Times, Friday, Aug 24, 1973
- ↑ The Times, Thursday, Nov 08, 1973
- ↑ The Engineer 1974/01/17 p 20.
- ↑ The Engineer 1974/05/30
- ↑ The Times, Thursday, Jul 25, 1974
- ↑ The Times, Thursday, Jan 09, 1975
- ↑ The Times Wednesday, May 12, 1976
- ↑ The Times, Friday, Dec 31, 1976
- ↑ The Times, Saturday, Apr 09, 1977
- ↑ The Times, Saturday, Oct 17, 1981
- ↑ The Times, Jan 28, 1982