Richard Hornsby and Sons
of Spittlegate Ironworks, Grantham, iron and brass founder.
formerly Seaman and Hornsby
1828 The firm became Richard Hornsby and Sons when Seaman retired. The company made ploughs and seed drills. The firm made ploughs and seed drills.
1840 The company made steam engines, which were used for traction engines in the 1850s. These were used for harvesting crops.
1849 Produced their first portable engine.
1850 Described as 'agricultural implement makers, iron and brass founder and paper maker'.
1851 Award at the 1851 Great Exhibition. See details at 1851 Great Exhibition: Reports of the Juries: Class IX.
1851 With his three sons Richard, James and William the firm becomes Richard Hornsby and Sons
1861 378 men employed [1]
1863 The first traction engine built under the Bonnall and Astbury patents.
1864 Richard, the founder, died.
1867 Won a prize for horse-powered turnip pulper at the Royal Agricultural Society's meeting[2]
1873 Gold Medal at the Moscow Exhibition [3]
1876 Exhibitor at the Royal Agricultural Show at Birmingham. [4]
1877 Exhibitor at 1877 Royal Agricultural Show.[5].
1879 Incorporated as a limited company. The company was registered on 20 November, to take over the business of the firm of the same name, as engineers and machine manufacturers. [6]
1880 The firm gained limited liability status.
1880 The firm offered 5, 6, 8, 10 and 12 nhp engines.
1882 The Engineer 1882/07/14, page 25, reported the death of John Bonnell, leading engineer and designer of successful engines and thrashing machines for Hornsby and Sons, Grantham.[7]
1889 Portable Winding and Pumping Engine. [8]
1889 Showed engines at the RASE at Windsor. [9]
1891 Started production of an i/c engine following an agreement with Herbert Akroyd Stuart - the Hornsby-Akroyd engine became an immediate success. Eventually a total of 32,417 engines of this type were built.
1892 May. The first three Hornsby-Akroyd engines were installed at the Great Brickhill Waterworks at Fenny Stratford. The engines worked regularly until 1923.
1894 June. Took part in the Royal Agricultural Society’s Competitive Trial of Oil Engines. 8.0 bhp fixed engine and a portable engine. Article in ‘The Engineer’. [10]
1894 Smithfield Club Show. Exhibited two oil engines. [11]
1896 the Hornsby-Akroyd type of engine was used to power the first oil tractor and the first oil locomotive.
1897 Ordinary General Meeting with H. Simpson Gee presiding. [12]
1899 Ordinary General Meeting. H. Simpson Gee presided and other directors present were James Hornsby (Chairman of the Board), J. W. Hornsby, William Hornsby, H. H. Johnston and Edward Wood. Among the shareholders was R. W. Hornsby. [13]
1900 Paris Exhibition. Description of three oil engine shown. [14]
1906 Absorbed J. E. H. Andrew and Co of Stockport
1906 The manufacture of steam engines was discontinued.
1908 Detailed description of their works.[15][16]
1908 April. Details of their 35-hp chain-track tractor.[17]
1911 Electrical Exhibition. Suction gas engines and others. [18]
1911 Smithfield Club Show. Exhibited stationary oil engines, a binder, a straw trusser, mowers, ploughs and a drill. [19]
1912 L type engine introduced
1914 Listed as engineers. Specialities: oil, petrol and gas engines, suction gas plants, general agricultural implements. Employees 3,500. [20]
1918 September. Amalgamated with Ruston, Proctor and Co to become Ruston and Hornsby [21]
1927 See Aberconway for information on the company and its history.
Steam Engines
Hornsby built 106 traction engines with 7 known to survive
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ 1861 Census
- ↑ The Times, Jul 18, 1867
- ↑ The Times, Wednesday, Jan 08, 1873
- ↑ The Engineer of 21st July 1876 p40
- ↑ The Engineer 1877/07/13
- ↑ The Stock Exchange Year Book 1908
- ↑ The Engineer 1882/07/14
- ↑ The Engineer of 1st March 1889 p189
- ↑ The Engineer of 28th June 1889 p546
- ↑ The Engineer of 22nd June 1894 p540
- ↑ The Engineer of 6th July 1894 p9
- ↑ The Times, Tuesday, Dec 07, 1897
- ↑ The Sheffield & Rotherham Independent), Tuesday, December 05, 1899
- ↑ The Engineer of 16th November 1900 p487
- ↑ The Engineer 1908/03/06
- ↑ The Engineer 1908/03/13
- ↑ Automotor Journal 1908/04/25
- ↑ The Engineer of 13th October 1911 p390
- ↑ The Engineer of 8th December 1911 p594
- ↑ 1914 Whitakers Red Book
- ↑ The Times, Tuesday, Oct 14, 1919
- Traction Engine Album by Malcolm Ranieri. Pub 2005
- British Steam Locomotive Builders by James W. Lowe. Published in 1975. ISBN 0-905100-816
- [1] Wikipedia
- The Engineer of 14th December 1894 p524
- Steam Engine Builders of Lincolnshire by Ronald H. Clark. Published 1955 by Goose and Son