Manganese Bronze and Brass Co
of St. George's Wharf, Deptford, London and of St. David's Wharf, Millwall, London, and of Birkenhead and Ipswich, later known as Manganese Bronze.
1881 Company founded.
1882 Incorporated as a Limited Company. The company was registered on 28 June, to acquire the business of P. M. Parsons, carried on at the works at St. Georges Wharf, Deptford, London. [1]. Directors included W Colchester, chairman of the Lawes Chemical Manure Co of Ipswich, W Pearce of John Elder and Co of Glasgow, P. M. Parsons, etc; manager of the works was P.E. Parsons; temporary offices were at 3 Walbrook, London EC[2].
1899 Public company. The company was reconstructed in connection with an increase in the capital, re-registration taking place on 10 March.
1914 Directory: Listed as 'sole manufacturers of Parson's patent Manganese Bronze, Immadium and Crotorite; general founders and engineers also manufacturers of plates, sheets, rods, tubes and stampings in Manganese Bronze, yellow metal and naval brass; rolling mills and works'. [3]
1914 Listed as manufacturing the above. Also Electric, Hydraulic and other work, manufacturers of Damaxine and Turbadium and Parsons' White Brass in various grades; suppliers of bronze propellers to all the leading navies and steamship lines of the world. [4]
1933 Note accompanying report of annual results mentioned that the company was controlled by British Metal Corporation[5].
1934 The Thames was home to specialists in propellors - J. Stone and Co at Deptford and Charlton made 4 of the largest propellors ever made for vessel #534 being constructed on the Clyde; Manganese Bronze and Brass Co made the other four[6].
1936 British Metal Corporation sold its shareholding to Anglo-French Trust which was followed by a capital reorganisation allowing shareholders to subscribe for more shares and gace the company capacity to borrow money in future; turnover increased substantially with the increase in shipbuilding so expansion was likely to be needed; demand for Oilite bearings was likely to increase[7].
1938 Propellor works at Millwall; extrusion and rolling of specialized alloys at Ipswich[8].
1939 See Aircraft Industry Suppliers
WWII: Propellor works moved to Birkenhead.
1951 Progress in design of propellors would be aided by the new cavitation tunnel at Durham University; new alloy Nikalium developed as replacement for manganese bronze[9].
1956 Took over Lightalloys Ltd[10] and Steven and Struthers Ltd[11].
1958 Expansion of Lightalloys into doors for railway stock.
1959 Took over Redro Ltd with its subsidiaries Deans and Son (Yorkshire) Ltd and Beverley Fibre Glass Ltd, all located at Beverley, manufacturers of manual and power-operated doors for road and rail vehicles. Declining demand for propellors but new developments such as variable pitch were in demand[12].
1960 Formation of Stone-Manganese Marine to handle overseas sale of marine products of Manganese Bronze and Brass Co, J. Stone and Co (Propellors), Bulls Metal and Marine, and Steven and Struthers[13]. Factory at Willesden sold; Lightalloys merged with Deans at Beverley[14].
1961 Manufacturers of marine propellers in manganese bronze; Kaplan blades and Francis runners; brass and bronze ingots; extruded brass rods, tubes and sections; rolled rods, tubes, plates and sheets; forgings, chill castings and anti-friction white metal ingots; self-lubricating bronze bearings; sintered bronze and brass parts; sintered (high density) iron parts; sintered superload bearings and structural parts; sintered metal filters[15].
1962 Name shortened to Manganese Bronze from 1 January[16]. Acquired Patent Die-Casting Co[17].
1963 Stone-Platt took over the marine division based at Birkenhead[18].
1963 64th AGM. Company converted into a holding company Manganese Bronze Holdings Ltd. Two subsidiaries - established Manganese Bronze Ltd to hold the Wrought Metals Division and Sintered Materials Division, both at Ipswich[19] and Alpax Ltd to hold the Deans and Lightalloys and other companies operating principally at Willesden and Beverley.
1963 Motor Show exhibitor. Bearings and Sinterings. Manganese Bronze of Ipswich, Deans and Lightalloys and Patent Die-Casting Co were linked companies
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ The Stock Exchange Year Book 1908
- ↑ The Times, 12 July 1882
- ↑ Kelly's Directory of Durham, 1914 p724
- ↑ 1914 Whitakers Red Book
- ↑ The Times, 15 May 1933
- ↑ The Times, 25 September 1934
- ↑ The Times, 1 May 1937
- ↑ The Times, 30 March 1938
- ↑ The Times, 15 May 1951
- ↑ The Times, 3 October 1956
- ↑ The Times, 6 May 1957
- ↑ The Times, 11 May 1960
- ↑ The Times, 29 July 1960
- ↑ The Times, 30 June 1961
- ↑ 1961 Dun and Bradstreet KBE
- ↑ The Times, 30 June 1961
- ↑ The Times, 5 April 1962
- ↑ The Times, 23 February 1963
- ↑ The Times, Wednesday, Apr 17, 1963