County of London Electric Lighting Co
The County of London Electric Lighting Co. of New Broad St, London EC4 (1929)
of Moorgate Court, London EC
Also known as The County of London Electric Supply Co.
1891 Company incorporated[1] at the initiative of J. B. Braithwaite, pioneer in the electric supply industry.
1894 Name changed to The County of London and Brush Provincial Electric Lighting Co.. Acquired sites for 2 power stations - on the Regent's Canal at the City Road basin, and on the Thames at Wandsworth. The Brush Company brought their interest in Bournemouth Electric Lighting Co and a generating station at Dover.
1896 Two generating stations started operation - City Road and Wandsworth - producing 2000v single phase 100 Hz with combined capacity of 300kW (equivalent to 9,000 8 candle power glow lamps). The stations were based on a Brush Co design. Bournemouth and Poole Electric Supply Co was an associated company.
1903 Latest in a series of orders granted to The County of London and Brush Provincial Electric Lighting Co. in respect of various areas of London[2]
1904 The County of London Electric Supply Co planned to bring an order in Parliament to enable compulsory purchase of land, build generators, etc.
1905 the Company obtained a Provisional Order to supply Croydon rural district
1911 the City Road and Wandsworth stations were interconnected.
1913 the Romford and District Provisional Order was secured authorising the Company to supply 130 square miles of industrial Essex and which later aided the building of Barking Power Station.
1925 Barking Power Station, costing £2.5 million, was opened by Queen Mary; it came into commercial operation in 1927
The Company pioneered centralised generation and the development of higher tension cables to carry supplies away from Barking which led to further development of supply areas over the majority of Kent, Essex, Surrey and Sussex.
See Also
Sources of Information
- [1] National Archives