of Hebburn, Co. Durham (1937).
J. H. Holmes and Co of Newcastle-upon-Tyne were makers of dynamos and motors.
1883 Company established by John Henry Holmes with his father and two elder brothers.
1889 Dynamo combined with an engine from Robey and Co at the RASE in Windsor.[1]
1897 Acquired the patent rights for " Lundell " motors[2]
1898 The London Electrical Cab Co had sole licence for the Johnson-Lundell motor
1900 Details of electrically-driven printer's machinery.[3]
1901 Holmes-Clatworthy coupled motors [4]
1920 Showed at the Darlington Agricultural Show with Robey and Co.[5]
1928 A. Reyrolle and Co incorporated J. H. Holmes and Co as a wholly-owned subsidiary, electrical and general engineers. Reyrolle continued the established goodwill and traditions of the firm[6].
1931 A description of their works in The Engineer 1931/01/16
1931 Description of AC commutator motors with wide speed range.[7]
1933 Holmes-Reyrolle System Traffic Control.[8]
1933 Decription of 'Castle' sine wave alternator set for meter testing.[9]
1937 Electrical engineers.[10]
THE JUBILEE OF MESSRS. J. H. HOLMES AND COMPANY, LIMITED. (1933) [11]
The small number of electrical manufacturing firms which have as yet attained the jubilee of their foundation is in itself an indication of the youth of this branch of engineering whose influence to-day is of the most far-reaching character. It would, of course, have been larger, but for a proportion of failures and for amalgamations. It is, therefore, not inappropriate for us to say something about the history of a concern which came into existence in 1883, and is still contributing to the development of the industry in more than one useful way.
The early activities of Messrs. J. H. Holmes and Company, Limited, the firm of which we speak, were confined to the manufacture of electric-lighting plant and installations for houses, ships and factories, their headquarters being then, as now, at Newcastle-on-Tyne. Among the former, mention may be made of the houses of Mr. J. H. Holmes’ father, which was the first on Tyneside to be permanently lighted electrically, and of Jesmond Towers, where a 25-h.p. gas engine, dynamo and batteries were installed, the latter being used both for stand-by purposes and for starting the plant. By the end of 1883, the firm had also obtained contracts for lighting the new docks at Silloth by lamps, and for the equipment of the Nonpareil, which the first merchant ship built on the Tyne to be fitted with electric light. In the following year some useful propaganda work in favour of electric lighting was undertaken by providing a combined portable steam engine and boiler to supply temporary installations at public or private gatherings. This plant was used on the occasion of the visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales to Newcastle to open Jesmond Dene to the public. In 1885, the firm completed the first dynamo of their own manufacture, which, it may be noted, ran in Ireland for 35 years, and was only then replaced, rather against the owner’s wish, so that it could take an honourable position in the company’s museum. It is now in the Newcastle Municipal Museum of Science and Industry. In addition to the design and manufacture of dynamos, Mr. Holmes also invented quick-break switch which to-day has many descendants, and devised a portable lighting apparatus consisting of a steam engine coupled to a dynamo and fitted in a cage with a single lifting eye. This could be slung to the deck of a ship and connected to the boilers by universal joints. The electricity generated in this way was transmitted to a searchlight projector contained in a collapsible cage, which was slung over the bow of the vessel, and to an arc lamp fitted in the rigging. This equipment was hired out to ships not fitted with electric light desiring to proceed through the Suez Canal, and thus effectively increased the carrying capacity of the latter. Other directions in which Mr. Holmes and his firm have played leading parts have keen in the manufacture of electro-plating dynamos and of electrical equipment for driving printing machinery, the first of the latter being installed in 1898, and running for a number of years without repairs or replacements of any kind. More recently attention has been devoted to the production of arc-welding sets and switchgear.
When the original private partnership of Messrs. J. H. Holmes and Company ceased to exist in 1928, the work of the firm was carried on for a time by Messrs. J. H. Holmes and Company, Limited, at the original factory in Portland-road, Newcastle-on-Tyne. In 1930, however, a new works which had been built adjacent to the New Town factory of Messrs. A. Reyrolle and Company, Limited, was taken over, and here equipment for printing presses, heavy-current generators, sine-wave alternators and alternating-current variable-speed commutator and more standard motors are being manufactured, as well as automatic street traffic control apparatus and Holmes-Hazemeyer unit-type switchgear.
It may be added that Mr. Holmes himself is still in enjoyment of good health, and we hope that one of the earliest pioneers in the history of British electrical manufacture may long be spared to witness the progress in which he has played a not unimportant part.
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ * The Engineer 1889/06/28 p545
- ↑ Obituary of Leonard Holmes
- ↑ * The Engineer 1900/07/13 p31
- ↑ Fielden’s Magazine Vol 4
- ↑ * The Engineer 1920/07/09
- ↑ The Times, 16 October 1947
- ↑ Engineering 1931/10/30
- ↑ 1933 Advert.
- ↑ Engineering 1933/09/08
- ↑ * 1937 The Aeroplane Directory of the Aviation and Allied Industries
- ↑ Engineering 1933/10/20