Harper and Co
Harpers were a family business in the north east of Scotland, of Albion Foundry, Aberdeen.
1857 The Copartnery carrying on Business as Iron, Grate, and wire Manufacturers at 82, King Street and Ferrier Lane, Aberdeen, under the Firm of HARPER, FRIER, & COMPANY, is this day DISSOLVED by mutual consent of the Subscribers, the sole Partners thereof. The Subscriber, John Harper, is authorised to uplift and discharge all debts due to the Firm, and all debts due by the Firm will be paid by him. The Business will in future be carried on under the Firm of HARPER & COMPANY[1]
1857 John and Hugh Harper started an engineering business as a wire manufacturer; also manufactured gates and fences.
The firm went on to produce rope and belt pulleys and more complex items such as steam engines and suspension bridges.
The company manufactured wire for landed estates such as Glentannar and for the Great North of Scotland Railway which was then opening lines in the North East of Scotland.
c.1870 Introduced their particular design of footbridge. John Harper was the first to employ steel wire rope, now a universal feature of modern suspension bridges. In a period of over 30 years (from 1870-1910) they produced many such bridges for the UK and overseas, many designed by John’s son, Louis Harper. An excellent history of the company, with the main focus on their suspension bridges, was published by Douglas Harper in 2015[2]
One of the bridges erected was at Glenkindie where a fence post is marked as made by Harper and Company, Albion Foundry, Aberdeen[3]
By 1881 John Harper senior had retired
1885 The firm invented a machine for cutting key seats on pulleys.
Successor company was Harpers Ltd
1889 Louis Harper left the company to establish his own business as a civil engineer.
Erection of suspension bridge over the River Narva, Estonia. [4]
The bridge was designed by Louis Harper of Aberdeen and manufactured by the family firm Harper & Co. It was made for the Krenholm Manufactory one of the largest textile works in Europe. The bridge was six feet wide with a 260 feet span and took some seven weeks to erect. At the time of the manufacture of the bridge some 400 men were employed at the engineering works. The works employed advanced technology having 20 electric motors driving machinery and lit by 55 arc lamps. See trove.scot website for illustration.
See Also
Sources of Information
- [3] Harpers Bridges