Thomson-Bennett Ltd, and Thomson-Bennett Magnetos Ltd., of Cheapside, Birmingham
1904 J. A. Thomson met Peter Bennett, then manager of the Electric Ignition Company of Birmingham
1907 with Thomson's backing, Bennett set up Thomson-Bennett Ltd to manufacture electrical equipment for motor vehicles, including magnetos, spark plugs, the same type of produce as those made by EIC. Thomson-Bennett began making magnetos for specialized purposes; at that time, the German company Bosch had a virtual monopoly of the car magneto market.
When the first World War broke out Thomson-Bennett's expertise as manufacturers of magnetos was key to development of British supplies essential for mechanized transport and aircraft.
1914 Thomson-Bennett had c.100 employees when it was acquired by Joseph Lucas Ltd, particularly for their magneto expertise.
1900-1940s Sometime in this period they were makers of carburettors [1]
Established as Thomson-Bennett Magnetos Ltd, a subsidiary of Joseph Lucas Ltd
1920 issued catalogue of magnetos
Peter Bennett became joint managing director of Lucas.
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ Birmingham’s Industrial Heritage by Ray Shill. Published by Sutton Publishing 2002. ISBN 0-7509-2593-0
- The Engineer of 6th Feb 1920 p130