Thomas Firth and John Brown
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Thomas Firth and John Brown of Atlas and Norfolk Works, Sheffield. Telephone: 20081. Telegraphic Address: "Firth, Telex, Sheffield"; "Atlas, Telex, Sheffield". (1937)
Also known as Firth Brown
1902 John Brown and Co acquired seven-eighths of the ordinary shares of Thomas Firth and Sons by exchange of shares, the two companies continuing under separate management.
1930 Thomas Firth and John Brown formed by the merger into Thomas Firth and Sons of the heavy steel interests of John Brown and Co, neighbouring companies in Sheffield[1]. John Brown and Co would own 85% of ordinary shares of the amalgamated business.
1932 Description of Staybrite steel sheets and strip, started by Thomas Firth and Sons soon after WWI, and continued by Firth Brown, sheets being produced at Tinsley Works from steel made at the Atlas Works. New 32 inch finishing mills were installed, made by Davy Brothers using Firth Brown steel castings. The finishing rolls were ground on a Churchill roll grinder, capable of grinding rolls 120 in. long between centres and up to 40 in. in diameter. 'The rolls, it may be of interest to mention, are ground with a negative camber of 0.003 in. when cold, which, however, changes to a positive camber of 0.004 in. at the ordinary working temperature of the roll. This change of camber as the temperature of the rolls rises would normally lead to the production of inaccurate work for the first few hours after the week-end recess, and, to avoid this, electrical roll-heating equipment, designed and constructed by Messrs. The English Electric Company, Limited, Stafford, has been installed.'. The use of induction heating ensured even heating without turning the rolls. Sheets rewuiring to be polished were sent to the company's works at Blackheath, Staffordshire.[2]
1932 Description of the production of a 72-in. reaction chamber, 48 ft long, understood to be the largest single-piece hollow forging so far made in the UK. Made to the order of A. Moir and Co, London Wall-buildings, London, E.C.2, the purchasing agents for Trinidad Leaseholds, Limited, who were producers and distributors of Regent and Regent Super motor spirit. See illustrations.[3]
1934 New company Firth-Vickers Stainless Steels formed to acquire the stainless steel interests of Thomas Firth and John Brown and the English Steel Corporation, which would jointly own the new company[4].
1936 The Engineers Tools Department was especially valuable in helping customers machine the steel products. The jointly owned company Firth-Vickers Stainless Steels Ltd was continually finding new uses for its products[5].
1937 Advert for Firth-Brown Engineers' Tools. Products for the Engineers' Tool Department, including the New Drill Point Grinder, Files, Hacksaws, "Insto" Metal Saws, Milling Cutters, Reamers, and other items made from Firth Speedicut High speed Steels. (Engineering/Metals/Quarry, Roads and Mining/Transport Section - Stand No. D.408) [6]
1937 Steel manufacturers. "Atlas" Steel. "Firth" Steel. [7]
1939 See Aircraft Industry Suppliers
1945 Advert for steel carbide. (Thomas Firth and John Brown Ltd) [8]
1946 Public company Firth Brown Tools formed for purpose of acquiring from Thomas Firth and John Brown Ltd the tools department which had been established around 1900; several directors of John Brown and Co were to be on the board.
1946 Participated in a consortium of engineering companies, led by John Brown and Co, which joined together in an enterprise that would use surplus factory space at Yeovil belonging to Westland[9]
1951 Nationalised under the Iron and Steel Act; became part of the Iron and Steel Corporation of Great Britain[10]
1952 John Brown and Co had received £5.5 million in British Iron and Steel stock for its shares in Thomas Firth and John Brown[11].
1955 On denationalization of Thomas Firth and John Brown[12], John Brown and Co arranged for its shareholders to have the right to invest in the shares themselves, rather than John Brown and Co acquiring them[13].
1960 Subsidiary company was William Beardmore and Co; associated companies were Firth-Vickers Stainless Steels Ltd and Firth-Derihon Stampings Ltd[14].
1961 Listed as Thomas Firth and John Brown Ltd of Sheffield and Scunthorpe. Employs 10,000 persons. [15]
1961 Steel manufacturers handling carbon and alloy steel forged blooms; billets and bars; carbon and alloy steel forgings; hollow forgings; forged steel die blocks; fully-hard, semi-hard and back-up forged steel rolls; slabbing and cogging forged steel rolls; rolled products including carbon and alloy steel billets, slabs, black bars and bright drawn or centreless ground bars, high speed, carbon and alloy tool and die steels, special steels, carbon and alloy tyres, carbon, alloy, stainless and heat resisting steel rings; steel castings; drop forgings in alloy, stainless, special creep-resisting steels and in nimonic and titanium alloys; fusion welded boiler drums and similar pressure vessels; welded fabrications for general engineering; ingots in acid open hearth and electric arc and high frequency steels. 10,000 employees[16].
1967 One of the larger steel makers that was not subject to nationalisation[17]
1969 Shepcote Lane Rolling Mills in Sheffield were being expanded. As result of the Nationalization Act, the mills were owned by British Steel (two-thirds) and Firth Brown, the largest private sector steel company[18]
1972 The nationalized British Steel made an agreement with the private sector Thomas Firth and John Brown to rationalise stainless steel operations by taking over the rolling of strip and plate; Thomas Firth and John Brown would retain the Firth Vickers company[19].
1973 Merger with Richard Johnson and Nephew, company to be known as Johnson and Firth Brown Ltd.
1974 Lamson Engineering Co supplied 1,580m 75mm pressure air tube system at Sheffield.[20]
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ The Times, 23 June 1931
- ↑ Engineering 1932/04/29
- ↑ Engineering 1932/11/11
- ↑ The Times, 12 July 1934
- ↑ The Times, 27 June 1936
- ↑ 1937 British Industries Fair Advert p622; and p363
- ↑ 1937 The Aeroplane Directory of the Aviation and Allied Industries
- ↑ Mechanical World Year Book 1945. Published by Emmott and Co of Manchester. Advert p87
- ↑ The Times, Dec 28, 1946
- ↑ Hansard 19 February 1951
- ↑ The Times, 27 September 1952
- ↑ The Times, 19 March 1955
- ↑ The Times, 26 September 1953
- ↑ The Times, 29 January 1960
- ↑ 1961 Guide to Key British Enterprises
- ↑ 1961 Dun and Bradstreet KBE
- ↑ The Times, Apr 26, 1967
- ↑ The Times, Mar 20, 1969
- ↑ The Times, 3 May 1972
- ↑ The Engineer 1974/04/25