Richardsons Westgarth & Company was a leading British shipbuilding and marine engineering business. The Company was based in Hartlepool and was a major employer in the area.
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Marine engineering |
| Founded | 1832 |
| Defunct | 2000 |
| Fate | Acquired |
| Successor | Klöckner |
| Headquarters | Hartlepool, UK |
History edit
The company was established in 1832 by Thomas Richardson as a marine engineering concern based in Hartlepool under the name of T. Richardson & Sons.[1] In 1900 it merged with Sir C. Furness Westgarth and Company of Middlesbrough and William Allan and Company of Sunderland to form Richardsons Westgarth.[2] As part of the merger Furness Withy, a shipping business, took a controlling interest in the company.[3]
From 1840 to 1857, products included steam locomotives.[4] The Company was at the forefront of the development of steam engines and diesel engines for large ships throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.[5] It built engines for many ships including SS Empire Amethyst. In 1927, the company began manufacturing Brown Boveri designed turbo-alternators under licence.[6] It acquired the firm of George Clark in Sunderland in 1938.[2] In 1962 its marine activities were merged with that of Weir Group[7] and it began focussing on engineering for power stations such as Trawsfynydd[8] and Dungeness B. It ceased operations in Hartlepool in 1982.[2]
The Company then diversified into steel processing and was acquired by Klöckner, one of the world's largest steel stockholders, in 2000.[9]
References edit
- ^ Port Cities: T. Richardson
- ^ a b c Port Cities: Richardsons Westgarth
- ^ Christopher Furness, Obituary The Times, 11 November 1912
- ^ "T. Richardson and Sons". Graces Guide. 22 July 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
- ^ British Marine Industry and the Diesel Engine
- ^ "Richardsons, Westgarth's Swiss Deal". Dundee Courier. British Newspaper Archive. 22 July 1927. p. 2. (subscription required)
- ^ VWS Westgarth: History
- ^ Nuclear Power Plants in the UK - Scotland and Wales Archived 19 July 2009 at the Portuguese Web Archive
- ^ Klöckner & Co expands business in the UK
Further reading edit
- A History of Thomas Richardson & Sons and Richardsons Westgarth 1832-1994, Printability Publishing, 1994, ISBN 978-0-9501306-6-8