| Description | Includes records of Willans & Robinson engineering company from its Rugby site (1898 on) and its original site at Thames Ditton in Surrey (1880 on). Material also covers activity at the Rugby site of successor companies such as English Electric, GEC and Alstom.
There are also items relating to the power generating industry in general and to other companies such as British Thomson-Houston, Associated Electrical Industries, and Metropolitan-Vickers that later became part of the same group following the GEC merger in 1968.
The records cover activities such as administration and management, finances, the workforce, property, production, sales and marketing, and corporate relations. Formats include photographs, files, publications, drawings, and objects. |
| AdminHistory | The firm of Willans & Robinson began as a partnership between Peter Willans and Mark Robinson in 1880 and soon started manufacture at the Ferry Works, Thames Ditton, Surrey, producing high-speed steam engines using Willans' design for steam launches, small steam yachts and small marine engines and river launches. In 1880 Willans also took out a patent for the design of a three-cylinder river launch engine.
Peter Willans (born in November 1851) had started his working life as a draughtsman in a works at Greenwich and whilst there took out the first of many patents in 1874 (for a steam engine). The works declined to manufacture it so he left for another company. Mark Robinson (born in 1844) began as an administrator for the Admiralty and then had a small workshop at Kingston-on-Thames.
The early work of manufacturing marine engines was supplemented by boat-building and the firm also produced boat-disengaging gear for the Navy and others - this had been improved by Robinson and was still in use in the 1990s.
The introduction of the Willans & Robinson central valve engine, first patented by Peter Willans in 1884, helped the company expand because the engine could be used in a variety of situations, such as in private premises, hospitals, shops, factories and elsewhere. It was then used in electricity generation for lighting as power stations began to be built and by the late 19th century the company was involved in the generation of almost 70% of the UK's electricity.
The company also led the way in standardisation and interchangeable parts, which was not normal practice in the industry at the time. To make the point an engine powering the Thames Ditton works was partially dismantled in 1893 during a lunch hour and some of its parts were replaced with parts from the stores. The engine was up and running on a full load again in the afternoon. This attention to detail was evident in every aspect of the development and building of products and led to the company getting a reputation for reliable and long lasting engines. The precision and craftsmanship in its product manufacture was acknowledged when a Willans & Robinson engine on display at the Paris Exhibition in 1900 was awarded a gold medal.
By 1892 Willans' engines were helping to generate almost 70% of Britain's overall electricity output and its products were often linked with generators supplied by Dick, Kerr & Co., Siemens, and British Thomson-Houston - all names that would figure in the company's history in the future. The demand for engines increased so much that the firm re-structured itself as a private company in 1888 and then as a private limited company in 1893 to increase its capital.
The Thames Ditton site had been damaged by fire in November 1888 and rebuilt on a larger scale, although boat manufacture was ended. More expansion was still needed however because of the increase in orders and the larger sizes of engines being built. The Head Office had also moved to another building in Thames Ditton to make more room, and the decision was finally made to build a new factory at Rugby. The idea of moving to another site had first been raised in 1888 after the fire at Thames Ditton but the shareholders were against the move at the time. The attraction of this new location was Rugby's central position in the UK and a workforce skilled in manufacturing and power generation because of the railway industry. Good transport access via railway sidings also meant that moving raw material into the factory and finished goods out was straightforward. Another reason was that the site had room to expand, something it did very quickly.
Building work on the Rugby site started in the spring of 1895 and was almost finished by December 1896 and although the Thames Ditton site was kept for the production of launch engines, men and equipment were transferred to Rugby. Work soon declined at the Ferry Works and it was leased out before the company finally left the site in 1904. Building the new factory gave the company the opportunity to replicate the layout of the Thames Ditton site that had taken into account work flows and had shops and offices in order of production - the foundry, blacksmiths, casting stores, machine shop, manufactured stores, erecting stores and shop, packing and despatch. By March 1897 the Victoria Works, as it was known, had produced the first central valve engine in Rugby and by the end of that year the site was in full production and employing 950 men. This figure had gone up to 2000 men by 1898.
Peter Willans died in May 1892 aged only 40 after a traffic accident but Mark Robinson took over the leadership of the company until his resignation due to ill-health in 1909.
The gradual decline in its manufacture of smaller engines led to the company moving into other areas such as iron castings - for example engine casings and cylinders for the rapidly developing car industry including for Duryea cars. A factory was also opened at Queensferry in North Wales in 1900 to combine a foundry producing Vanadium steel with the manufacture of Niclausse boilers under licence but this site was a financial disaster. It closed down in 1906 before being sold off in the First World War for use as a munitions factory. The emergence of new technologies such as steam turbines, diesel engines and at a later date gas turbines, saw the firm move into these markets, with varying degrees of success, and the company reached an agreement with CA Parsons & Co. in 1902 to build steam turbines under licence. By 1904 steam turbines were the company's main specialism and had replaced the central valve engine. Other innovations included 'Eatonia', a cast metal process patented by James Eaton-Shore who was Works Manager from 1892 to 1908.
This change of tack meant a major re-organisation of the Rugby works and this was led by EG Izod, then Assistant Test Engineer. He invented the Izod impact-testing machine that was an important piece of equipment found in virtually every engineering materials testing laboratory. The focus on steam turbines led to work on condensing plants and the Edwards type air pump. Work on the oil engine soon followed and diesel engines were built under licence from the Diesel Engine Co. and Sulzer. When the agreement with the Diesel Engine Co. ended Willans & Robinson continued the manufacture of diesel engines from their own designs. The Rugby works continued to be re-organised to cope with the manufacture of new products such as pumps (a short-lived venture). The growth of steam turbine design and the emergence of different types led to Willans & Robinson producing Zoelly-type impulse turbines under licence.
During the First World War output at the Rugby factory was switched to armament component production - items such as powder cases for cordite charges and shell cases. There were also other government and armed forces orders, which were frequently disguised for security purposes. Submarine conning towers were known as 'lighthouses' and submarine diesel engines were called 'oilers' or 'bearers'. Salmson and Sunbeam aero engines were also manufactured at Rugby. The Salmson engine was originally a Franco/Swiss design and licenced in the UK to the Dudbridge Iron Works at Stroud, which then sub-contracted the manufacture to Willans & Robinson. Another important contribution to the war effort was the manufacture of components for Le Rhone aero rotary engines. Other products included ash-expellers for ships, bronze propellers for the Navy, track links for tanks, torpedo and patrol boat turbines, components for tank engines, lorry-mounted winches to haul down balloons, and parts for the Marconi rotating disc discharger which helped the fine tuning of radio frequencies.
Although the company was highly regarded for its design and manufacturing processes and products, it struggled with its finances and a controlling stake in the company went to Dick, Kerr & Co. in 1916 before that company took over fully in the following year.
ENGLISH ELECTRIC
Dick, Kerr & Co. became part of the English Electric group in 1919 and the Rugby site was renamed the Willans Works. After the acquisition of the water turbine business of James Gordon & Co. in the same year the Willans Works produced water turbine mechanical parts until that work transferred to another English Electric site at Netherton.
Diesel engine production continued until 1960 when it was transferred to the English Electric site at Newton-le-Willows in Lancashire.
GEC
English Electric merged with GEC in 1968 meaning that the Willans Works joined the same group as the Rugby site of rivals British Thomson-Houston/Associated Electrical Industries. As a result of this merger the Willans Works became the GEC Turbine Generators Limited site. The GEC Industrial & Marine Steam Turbine Division moved from Trafford Park to Rugby in the 1980s.
ALSTOM
GEC Alsthom was formed by a merger between GEC Power Systems Ltd and French company Alsthom in March 1989. GEC Alsthom became Alstom in June 1998 and was floated on the Paris, London and New York stock exchanges. Later financial difficulties led to all UK sites being sold to Key Property Investments in 2002 and leased back to Alstom.
In November 2011 the Willans central valve engine received the engineering heritage award from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers at a ceremony held at the Willans Works and a plaque commemorating this was placed on the model of the engine at the works.
The site now specialises as a turbine rotor centre but has the honour of having manufactured every propulsion turbine for British nuclear submarines from HMS Dreadnought in 1960 to the present day.
In June 2014 the Alstom board agreed to a takeover of its power and grid businesses by General Electric and this process was completed after regulatory concerns were addressed in November 2015. As a result the Willans Works became part of GE Power. |