Wilson, Cammell and Co
of Dronfield
1872 Messrs. G. Wilson and Cammell erected large works at Dronfield, comprising blast and puddling furnaces.
1872 Rupert Thomas Cooke assisted his father in erecting and managing the Dronfield Steel Works; he worked for one year in the drawing office, and five years in the mills as engineer and manager.
1873 Charles Cammell, chairman of Charles Cammell and Co, George Wilson, the managing director, and other members of the board were also shareholders and directors in the Wilson–Cammell Patent Wheel Company Ltd, formed to further exploit the market for steel rails (sic)[1].
1879 Alexander Wilson, of the company, had invented a process for fusing plates of iron and highly carbonised steel which were used for composite armour-plates for HMS Inflexible's turrets that were subjected to Admiralty gunnery tests.
1881 installed electric light. [2]
1881 Negotiations were underway to amalgamate Derwent Hematite Iron Company of Workington, and Messrs. Wilson, Cammell and Co. of Dronfield Steel Works, which would move to Workington - see Derwent Steel and Iron Works[3].
1882 Acquired by Charles Cammell and Co[4]