Dorman, Long and Co
From GracesGuide
Dorman, Long and Co of Middlesbrough were a major manufacturer and fabricator of steel components and structures.
The firm began as an iron and steel works manufacturing bars and angles for ships. A natural progression from this was to become involved in the construction of bridges, particularly when Dorman Long took over the concerns of Bell Brothers and Bolckow, Vaughan and Co in the late 1920s. [1]
1837 The first Cleveland ironstone mine opens, at Grosmont.
1841 Bolckow, Vaughan and Co open the first ironworks in Middlesbrough.
1855 30 blast furnaces operate within six miles of Middlesbrough.
1865 One million tonnes per annum (TPA) of iron were produced to make the area one of the world's major centres of iron production.
1875 Number of blast furnaces increases to 100, producing two million TPA.
1879 Sidney Gilchrist Thomas persuaded E. W. Richards, manager of Bolckow, Vaughan and Co's works, to try out the process that he and his cousin, Percy Gilchrist, had invented for dealing with the phosphorus in pig iron produced by the Bessemer converter[2] leading to the commercial production of steel.
1889 The company was registered on 2 November, to take over the business of manufacturers of iron and steel bars of the firm of the same name at Middlesbrough-on-Tees, and other businesses have since been acquired. [3]
1902 The first integrated steelworks, involving conversion of iron ore to finished rolled steel shapes, is built at Cargo Fleet.
1914 Directory: Steel Manufacturers of Port Clarance, Middlesbrough. [4]
1914 Steel manufacturers, bridge builders and constructional engineers, manufacturers of rolled steel girders and all descriptions of sectional steel for shipbuilding, bridge building etc., steel rails and billets, galvanized corrugated sheets and steel wire of all classes. [5]
1917 The Redcar steel plant is opened, making steel in the 'open hearth' process.
1918 Cleveland Works opens.
1923 Bought North Eastern Steel Co.
1924 Dorman Long and Co wins the contract to build the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
1927 See Aberconway for information on the company and its history.
1929 Acquired Bolckow, Vaughan and Co; the latter controlled Redpath, Brown and Co; the bridge-building and structural engineering parts of Dorman together with the Redpath business would assume a commanding position in structural engineering[6].
1933 Proposed amalgamation with South Durham Steel and Iron Co[7] failed to proceed[8] because of relative weakness of Dormans
1946 Dorman Long and Co purchased 600 acres of land between the Redcar and Cleveland Works to build the Lackenby development.
1949-59 Built railway locomotives. [9]
1951 Nationalised under the Iron and Steel Act; became part of the Iron and Steel Corporation of Great Britain[10]
1954 Dorman Long and Company became a holding company on 2 October. The Holding and Realization Agency sold all of the shares in the company to the public[11].
1956 Annual meeting told about performance of the main subsidiary companies[12]:
- Dorman Long (Steel) Ltd, including Lackenby and Cleveland steel works and blooming mills, and coke ovens at South Bank.
- Dorman Long (Bridge and Engineering) Ltd at Middlesborough
- Teesside Bridge and Engineering works at Middlesborough
- Redpath Brown constructional works at Edinburgh and Glasgow and East Greenwich
- Dorman Long constructional works at Nine Elms, London
- Clarence chemical works at Cleveland, to treat the tar and benzole from the Cleveland coke ovens, producing saleable products.
1961 Bridge builders and constructional engineers. [13]
1967 Became part of British Steel.
1968 The new 80in light plate mill at Lackenby works opens causing the closure of Ayrton Sheet Works. [14] [15]
1973 The existing Redcar Ironworks site development begins.
1979 The number of blast furnaces drops to one - producing 3.3 million TPA.
1990 they were merged with the Cleveland Bridge and Engineering Co and are still involved in the design, manufacture, fabrication and erection of many different types of structures such as bridges, buildings, offshore platforms, airports, etc, with one of the most recent high profile contracts, being the new Wembley Stadium in London, England.
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ [1] Wikipedia
- ↑ Wikipedia entry on Sydney Gilchrist Thomas[2]
- ↑ The Stock Exchange Year Book 1908
- ↑ Kelly's Directory of Durham, 1914
- ↑ 1914 Whitakers Red Book
- ↑ The Times 12 Octobe 1929
- ↑ The Times 4 July 1933
- ↑ The Times 21 December 1933
- ↑ British Steam Locomotive Builders by James W. Lowe. Published in 1975. ISBN 0-905100-816
- ↑ Hansard 19 February 1951
- ↑ The Times, 4 January 1956
- ↑ The Times, 4 January 1956
- ↑ 1961 Dun and Bradstreet KBE
- ↑ The Engineer of 12th April 1968 p581
- ↑ The Engineer of 19th July 1968 p102
