Graham and Hirst
Graham & Hirst of Carlinghow Lane, near Batley, Yorks.
1881 Explosion of a Lancashire boiler on 19 January. The boiler was made by Thomas Hill, of Heywood, in 1855, and supplied to the Halifax Flour Society in that year. It was one of Hill's patent seven-flued boilers, but in 1862 it was altered into a two-flued Lancashire boiler by Crossley and Westwood, of Halifax. The Halifax Flour Society worked the boiler until October, 1870, after which it was replaced and sold. Passing through one or two hands, it was bought by Graham Hirst from a second-hand boiler dealer. Repairs were carried out at various times during its time there. The explosion resulted from wasting of the plates by corrosion. Aspects of the incident were described in two articles in Engineering 1881/02/25.