British Thomson-Houston
Parent General Electric | |
British Thomson-Houston (BTH) was a British engineering and heavy industrial company, based at Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Originally founded to sell products from the Thomson-Houston Electric Company, it soon became a manufacturer using licences from the American company. They were known primarily for their electrical systems and steam turbines.
BTH merged with the
In the 1960s AEI's apprenticeships were highly thought-of, both by the apprentices themselves and by their future employers, because they gave the participants valuable experience in the design, production and overall industrial management of a very wide range of electrical products. Over a hundred of the apprentices - who came to Rugby from all over the UK, and a few from abroad - lodged in the nearby Apprentices' Hostel at Coton House which was uphill from Rugby on the road to Lutterworth and Leicester.
Each year in Rugby there was a big parade of floats run by the apprentices.
In 1980, G.E.C. Turbine Generators Ltd, on the Rugby site, was awarded a
History
The company Laing, Wharton and Down was formed in 1886 to sell products from the Thomson-Houston Electric Company. Laing, Wharton and Down soon won a contract for electrical lighting for the east end of London.[1]
In 1894 Laing, Wharton and Down purchased patents and exclusive production rights from the American company, now known as
Once BTH had the production licences for Thomson-Houston's products it started setting up factories in the
For much of the late 19th century BTH competed for electrical generation and distribution contracts with British Westinghouse, mirroring the same company's battles in the US between their parents, General Electric and Westinghouse. The Power Act 1900[clarification needed] let BTH and British Westinghouse get new contracts to supply electric power to large areas.[1]
As well as manufacturing, BTH also began to move into transport. On 22 December 1898 BTH opened the
Consolidation
During World War I BTH expanded into naval electrical equipment, supplying the Royal Navy with various lighting, radio and signalling gear.[1]
After the war BTH expanded dramatically, adding or expanding factories at Willesden, Birmingham, Chesterfield, and Lutterworth. It later had factories in Coventry, and in Larne in Northern Ireland. From 1924 to 1927 Demetrius Comino worked as an apprentice for BTH.
In 1926 Gerard Swope, president of
In 1927 BTH sold the Chatham and District Light Railways Company to Maidstone and District Motor Services Ltd.
Throughout the 1920s BTH made turbo generators and motors for
The site at Rugby was also developed. Building 52, the research laboratory, was purpose-built in 1924. In the late 1920s AEI started to build buildings west of the footpath that runs north through the AEI site in Rugby to the Leicester Road, known in the area as the Black Path because it was surfaced with cinders, clinker and bitumen. During World War II BTH expanded north of the River Avon into the Boughton Road site to make magnetos for aircraft engines and other war products.
BTH had a major role in developing the world's first
After World War II
The postwar period saw continued development at BTH. The Hungarian scientist Dennis Gabor invented holography at the BTH site in Rugby in 1947, and in 1951 BTH supplied a 890 kW (1,200 bhp) gas turbine for the Auris, the first commercial ship to use gas-turbine propulsion. In 1955 BTH supplied 18 New Zealand DSC class locomotive Rolls-Royce powered locomotives for New Zealand Railways. The Ediswan trademark appeared on semiconductors in 1956 and the following year British Rail Class 15 diesel-electric locomotives were designed by BTH.
AEI (Associated Electrical Industries)
To try to cure internal political and efficiency problems, AEI stopped using the BTH and Metrovick names on 1 January 1960. This led to a huge decline in sales because no-one had heard of "AEI" before, and in turn, a massive drop in AEI's stock price. Continued attempts to streamline what was two separate management structures continued to fail, and by the mid-60s the entire AEI group was in financial trouble. The AEI name was first used on products in 1961. By 1967 AEI brands included Siemens Edison Swan,
The AEI research lab (building BR57) was built in 1960 at the Boughton Road site. At this point the size of the Rugby site peaked, with all of the company's land west of the Black Path built over.
Britain's first commercial
GEC (General Electric Company)
In 1967
In 1980 GEC Turbine Generators Ltd received
During the 1980s GEC Rugby shrank and buildings were demolished. The south part of the area to the west of the Black Path became a supermarket site. The Boughton Road site became several separate small firms. In 1989 GEC Rugby split into GEC
The firm's clubhouse on Hillmorton Road was demolished in 2007, and the south edge of its surrounding sports field was encroached along for house building.
By 2011 the Mill Road factory site was greatly changed and included
Research
During post-World War II Britain, AEI established a consolidated research effort at Aldermaston in Berkshire, England. The research centre was based at Aldermaston Court, a large stately home owned by AEI that had been requisitioned for military use in the war era.
Preserved locomotives
One of the BTH-built batch of New Zealand Railways DSC class Bo-Bo shunters has been preserved and is used in industrial service, complete with original Rolls-Royce engines. The locomotive (DSC406) is the primary motive power at Alliance Ltd, Pukeuri, New Zealand. All the others were scrapped between 1986 and 1990.
Metro-Cammell-BTH diesel electric locomotive 4102 has been preserved in New South Wales, Australia.[9]
Another BTH diesel locomotive is preserved in the UK[10] This locomotive was purchased from Ford Dagenham by AEI and presented to the Kent and East Sussex Railway for preservation. See Rolling stock of the Kent & East Sussex Railway (heritage) for details.
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f "British Thomson-Houston History". Marconi Corporation. Archived from the original on 6 March 2005. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
- ^ "The Money Market". The Times. 17 August 1894.
- ^ a b "BTH". Grace's Guide to British Industrial History. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
- ISBN 0-85361-358-3.
- ^ "Celebrating 175 glorious years". AEI Cables. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
- ^ [1] Warwickshire University, Rugby College. Retrieved 2013-12-28
- ^ [2] Quartzelec, Rugby. Retrieved 2013-12-28
- ^ [3] Converteam Archived 4 April 2010 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Locomotive, Diesel 4102 NSW Government Environment & Heritage
- ^ [4] Archived 31 December 2019 at the Wayback Machine.