John Musgrave and Sons
John Musgrave and Sons of Globe Ironworks, Bolton were makers of stationary steam engines
Successors to Musgrave, Son and Heaton
1832 Established (according to exhibit at Manchester's Museum of Science and Industry)
1839 Globe Ironworks was established by John Musgrave.
1849 June 30th. Partnership dissolved: John Musgrave, Joseph Musgrave, and John Heaton, Globe Foundry, Little Bolton, Lancashire, engineers, millwrights, and ironfounders. Debts received and paid by John Musgrave [1]
1853 Supplied vertical twin-cylinder winding engine for Wombwell Colliery
1864 'Casting of an Immense Engine-beam for Russia.— On Thursday, at the engineering works of Messrs. Musgrave and Sons, the Globe Iron Works, in Kay-street, was witnessed a gigantic casting operation, upwards of twenty-one tons of metal having been required for an engine beam, believed to be the largest ever cast for a cotton mill. The establishment for which this immense work is in course of completion is in Russia, and is known the 'Neaskir Cotton Spinning Company, St. Petersburg.' The engine will be 100-horse power, and the beam is of the following dimensions:- length, 28 ft. 9 in. centres; depth, 5 ft 6 in. ; thickness in the body, 3½ in. ; breadth in middle, 18 in. ; and breadth at ends, 10½ in. The wrought iron connecting-rod is 24 feet centres ; 10½ in. diameter at the ends, 15 in. in the middle, and weighs tons 7½ cwt. The cylinder is 60 in. diameter, has an eight-feet stroke, and weighs seven tons. The preliminary operations commenced about the middle of February ; the casting was completed yesterday, and was taken out preparatory to boring. The pouring of the immense mass of molten metal into the mould occupied a minute and a half; the process was very interesting, and was witnessed by a considerable number of spectators unconnected with the works; the veteran senior partner, now in his 80th year, being also present, and quite as busy as his juniors in directing the operations. The casting yesterday was pronounced perfect. In the erecting shop we saw, complete for delivery, about a dozen steam hammers of all sizes, from 8 tons to 3½ cwt., the largest being for the Lancashire Steel Works, at Ardwick.'[2]
1864 John Musgrave died; the business was continued by his sons Joseph, Jonathan, John junior, and James Musgrave, who also diversified into cotton spinning - presumably at Atlas Mill, Halliwell, later as Musgrave Spinning Co
1866 Products included steam engines, moving cylinder steam hammers, boilers, bridges. cranes, gears (see advert)
1870 Engine for Brackley Colliery, Atherton
1879 Supplied horizontal twin-cylinder, Cornish and drop valve winding engine for Brackley Colliery
1889 The 'Globe' high speed enclosed single-acting range of compound and triple expansion engines was described in 'The Engineer'[3]. These appear to have been inspired by the Westinghouse high speed engines.
1890 Pair of mill engines for Messrs Sorabjee, Shapurgee and Co of India, for the Oriental Mills, Bombay/Mumbai. Rated at 2000 HP at 50 rpm, 100 psi, the cylinder diameters were 42" and 72". An impression of the size may be gained from the height of the handrails. Musgrave also supplied seven Lancashire boilers for the mill[4] See illustration
1891 Directory: Listed as Cotton spinners and manufacturers. More details [5]
1894 Engines for Peel Mills. [6]
1894 Description of their works in 'The Engineer' (p121). Employ 1,000 men. [7]
1896 Engine for Chanters Colliery, Atherton
1898 Horizontal engine in the London Science Museum
1900 Compound engine for the New Electric Manufacturing Co - illustration in 'The Engineer'. [8]
1908 Two new 3000 IHP engines for the Musgrave Spinning Co.
1908 Supplied two 600 kW Zoelly steam turbines to Siemens Brothers to drive alternators for the Falcon Mills Co in Bolton. One was exhibited at the 1908 Manchester Electrical Exhibition. Other exhibits included electrical barring gear for a 4000 IHP vertical compund engine suppled to the City of London Electric Light Co at Bankside generating station.[9]
1910 Introduced uniflow engine in Britain - in this steam is exhausted in the middle and may be the highest development of the steam engine[10]; supplied a uniflow engine to the Hafod Works of Vivian and Sons.
1911 Supplied horizontal twin-cylinder, Cornish and drop valve winding engine for Nook Colliery
1911 Supplied engine for the Glynhir Tinplate Co
1911 Supplied a uniflow engine to Abercarn Tinplate Works
1913 Name Plate. Engineer, Millwrights and Boilermakers. Exhibit at Manchester's Museum of Science and Industry
1914 Horizontal engine for John Barnes & Sons, Waverley Park Mill, Preston [11]
1927 Premises advertised for sale by Gerald C. Roberts, Liquidator[12]
Globe Iron Works
The works occupied a more or less pentagon-shaped plot bounded by Waterloo Street, Chemist Street, Kay Street and Croasdale Street. It had its own narrow gauge railway system, and although it was close to Halliwell railway sidings, it was not connected to the railway network.
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ Aris's Birmingham Gazette, 17 December 1849
- ↑ Bolton Chronicle, 5 March 1864
- ↑ The Engineer 1889/11/29 p.457
- ↑ The Engineer 1890/09/26
- ↑ Cotton Mills in Bolton 1891
- ↑ The Engineer 1894/08/10 p118
- ↑ The Engineer 1894/08/10 p121
- ↑ The Engineer of 22nd June 1900 p646
- ↑ Bolton Evening News, 5 October 1908
- ↑ West Glamorgan Archives [1]
- ↑ [2] Photo of engine in Preston Digital Archive - "A Lancashire Cotton Scrapbook"
- ↑ Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer - Saturday 13 August 1927
- Stationary Steam Engines of Great Britain by George Watkins. Vol 10
- The Steam Engine in Industry by George Watkins in two volumes. Moorland Publishing. 1978/9. ISBN 0-903485-65-6