S. Smith and Sons (Motor Accessories)
1914 Formed a public company S. Smith and Sons (Motor Accessories) Ltd to acquire from S. Smith and Sons[1] that part of the business concerned with manufacture of speedometers, carburretors, and other motor accessories[2] with headquarters at Great Portland Street. The company was run by Samuel Smith Junior's son Allan Gordon Smith and the turnover was more than £100,000.
1914 Released their design of Self Starter to the British automotive market.
1914 Raised additional capital of £100,000. S. Smith and Sons (Motor Accessories). The board members were- [3]
1915 Raised additional capital of £200,000. [4]
1915 September 30th. First OGM of S. Smith and Sons (Motor Accessories). [5]
1916 October 2nd. Second OGM held. [6]
1917 November 14th. Third OGM held. [7]
1918 December 20th. Adjoined third OGM held. Have increased employees from 280 at outbreak of war to 2,000 now. Previously obtained the patents of Trier and Martin and retained the services of Vernon Trier. [8]
1919 Raised additional capital of £1,000,000. Recently purchased 95% of the M. L. Magneto Syndicate and the sole selling rights for the world for KLG Sparking Plugs. [9]
1919 December 3rd. Fifth OGM held. [10]
1920 February 13th. Shareholder meeting [11]
1920 Raised additional capital of £2,000,000. The board members were[12]:
- Samuel Smith Chairman
- Charles W. Nichols
- Reginald Aldin Smith
- George W. Arnold
- Charles Percy Newman
- Allan Gordon Smith
1920 December 31st. Adjoined fifth OGM and the sixth OGM held. Charles Newman takes the chair as Samuel Smith is ill. [13]
1925 December 10th. Eleventh OGM held. Main products of the company were speedometers (3,000 per week), clocks and carburetters. Walter Henderson-Cleland is chairman. [14]
1927 January 20th. Twelfth OGM of S. Smith and Sons (Motor Accessories) held. Walter Henderson-Cleland is chairman[15]
1929 Smiths acquired the British Jaeger Company, which later became British Jaeger Instruments
1929 Formed an Aircraft Instruments Department.
1931 S. Smith and Sons (Motor Accessories) Ltd, entered the domestic clock market and formed a new company, Smiths English Clocks, as the Clock and Watch division of S. Smith and Sons (Motor Accessories) Ltd, with Cricklewood as the main factory. Smiths, as they were later known, were one of the first companies to produce synchronous electric clocks. These were put on the market towards the end of 1931.
1935 Acquired controlling interest in Henry Hughes and Son
1937 23rd general meeting. Walter Henderson-Cleland was chairman[16]
1939 Ralph Gordon-Smith, the son of Allan Gordon-Smith arranged for a new site to be purchased at Bishop's Cleeve near Cheltenham to protect the business from potential bombing in the London area. The site at Bishop's Cleeve was Kayte Farm of 300 acres and it was purchased for £25,000 on the 6th April 1939. On 1st June S. Smith and Sons (Cheltenham) Ltd was formed as a subsidiary of the main business
British Precision Springs was set up to manufacture the hairsprings used in clocks as the source in Germany was not available during the war years
1940 In August the the main instrument repair department at Cricklewood was destroyed by bombing
World War II Production expanded. There was a demand for motor, aircraft and marine instruments for the Services and the production of industrial instruments, hitherto imported, was begun. Fuses for shells were also manufactured.
1944 A major regrouping of the whole Smiths organisation was carried out.
1944 The name of the principal company was changed to S. Smith and Sons (England) Ltd with four divisions[17]:
- Smiths Motor Accessories
- Smiths Industrial Instruments
- Smiths Aircraft Instruments
- Smiths English Clocks
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ Companies House filing
- ↑ The Times 21 July 1914
- ↑ The Times, Tuesday, Jul 21, 1914
- ↑ The Times, Thursday, Sep 09, 1915
- ↑ The Times, Friday, Oct 01, 1915
- ↑ The Times, Tuesday, Oct 03, 1916
- ↑ The Times, Thursday, Nov 15, 1917
- ↑ The Times, Saturday, Dec 21, 1918
- ↑ The Times, Tuesday, Jul 29, 1919
- ↑ The Times, Thursday, Dec 04, 1919
- ↑ The Times, Saturday, Feb 14, 1920
- ↑ The Times, Tuesday, Feb 17, 1920
- ↑ The Times, Saturday, Jan 01, 1921
- ↑ The Times, Friday, Dec 11, 1925
- ↑ The Times, Friday, Jan 21, 1927
- ↑ The Times 19 November 1937
- ↑ The Times 1 January 1945