William Beardmore & Co Ltd

Introduction

William Beardmore & Co was an industrial giant. The company manufactured an extremely broad range of products: metal plates, guns, warships, locomotives, taxis, airships, aeroplanes and much else besides.



Dates

  /  /1902William Beardmore & Co Ltd
Formed by William Beardmore [Junior] and Vickers, Sons and Maxim Ltd. William Beardmore [Junior] becomes Chairman and Managing Director, Albert Vickers and Lt. Trevor Dawson become directors.
  /  /1902William Beardmore & Co Ltd
Construction of Dalmuir Naval Shipyard (Beardmore's shipyard) begins.
  /  /1903Glasgow Electric Crane and Hoist Co
Formed by William Beardmore & Co Ltd and Vickers.
  /  /1905William Beardmore & Co Ltd
Mossend Iron and Steel Works purchased and reconditioning begins. It was purchased from the Summerlee & Mossend Iron & Steel Co Ltd to secure supplies of ship plates and angles.
  /  /1905Arrol-Johnston Ltd, Underwood Weaving Mills, Paisley
Purchased by William Beardmore & Co Ltd. Re-created as New Arrol Johnston Car Company.
  /  /1907Dalmuir Dry Dock Co
Established by William Beardmore & Co Ltd alongside the Dalmuir Naval Shipyard (Beardmore's shipyard).
  /  /1907Caledonian Motive Power Co
William Beardmore & Co Ltd buys main shareholding.
  /  /1908William Beardmore & Co Ltd
Construction of Dalmuir Naval Shipyard (Beardmore's shipyard) complete.
  /  /1908William Beardmore & Co Ltd
Mossend Iron and Steel Works re-building complete.
  /  /1913William Beardmore & Co Ltd
Manufacturing rights of Ljungstom turbine and Fottinger marine transformer acquired.
  /  /1913Beardmore Aero Engines Ltd
Created by William Beardmore & Co Ltd.
29/10/1914William Beardmore & Co Ltd
Trade unions officially recognised.
  /  /1915Speedwell Works, Coatbridge
Purchased by William Beardmore & Co Ltd from Lidgerwood & Co.
  /  /1915Victoria Engine Works, Airdrie
Purchased by William Beardmore & Co Ltd
  /  /1915William Beardmore & Co Ltd
Construction of new Mossend Steel Works begins. The new works was larger and west of the original Mossend Iron and Steel Works which was demolished.
  /  /1918Alley & MacLellan
Purchased by William Beardmore & Co Ltd.
  /  /1919William Beardmore & Co Ltd
Starts building locomotives.
  /  /1919William Beardmore & Co Ltd
Anniesland Works and Coatbridge Works modified to build cars.
  /  /1919William Beardmore & Co Ltd
Underwood Weaving Mills starts building Taxis.
  /  /1919J.H. Kellys Van and Lorry works, Parkhead
Purchased by William Beardmore & Co Ltd.
  /03/1919R34 crosses the Atlantic in 108 hours
Built by William Beardmore & Co Ltd at Inchinnan Airship Constructional Station.
  /  /1920Galloway Motor Ltd
Formed by William Beardmore & Co Ltd to sell cars built by Galloway Engineering Co.
  /  /1920Beardmore Motors Ltd
Formed by William Beardmore & Co Ltd to sell cars.
  /  /1920William Beardmore & Co Ltd
Buys 50% of the Glasgow Iron and Steel Co, the other 50% by Swan, Hunter and Wigham Richardson.
  /  /1921William Beardmore & Co Ltd
Airship and aeroplane divisions closed.
  /  /1922Glasgow Iron and Steel Co
Wishaw Steel Works closed, due to William Beardmore & Co Ltd having redeveloped at Mossend to produce the new Mossend Steel Works around 1915.
  /  /1924William Beardmore & Co Ltd
Leases Bootle Docks, Liverpool from Canadian Pacific Co.
  /  /1924William Beardmore & Co Ltd
Aeroplane department re-opens.
  /  /1924William Beardmore & Co Ltd
License to build Rhorbach all metal stressed skin aircraft taken.
  /  /1925William Beardmore & Co Ltd
Patent rights of Caprotti valve gear purchased.
  /  /1925Beardmore (Paisley) Ltd
Formed by William Beardmore & Co Ltd to build Taxis (at Underwood Weaving Mills?).
  /  /1926William Beardmore & Co Ltd
Douglas Vickers shares purchased by Lady Invernairn (William Beardmore [Junior]'s wife, Elspeth Small Tullis), Sir Trevor Dawson resigned.
13/06/1928William Beardmore & Co Ltd
Parkhead investment halted by management.
  /07/1928William Beardmore & Co Ltd
Mossend Steel Works closed.
  /  /1929William Beardmore & Co Ltd
Manufacturing of cars and aircraft abandoned.
  /02/1929William Beardmore & Co Ltd
Coatbridge Works closed.
  /03/1929William Beardmore & Co Ltd
Purchases Queenstown Dry Dock Shipbuilding & Engineering Co.
31/01/1930William Beardmore & Co Ltd David Colville & Sons
Agreement on plate, sections and rail manufacturing.
  /03/1930National Shipbuilding Security Ltd
Registered, and buys the Dalmuir Naval Shipyard (Beardmore's shipyard) of William Beardmore & Co Ltd.
09/09/1930William Beardmore & Co Ltd
Locomotive works closed.
  /  /1932William Beardmore & Co Ltd
Armour pool between William Beardmore & Co Ltd, Firth Brown Ltd and the English Steel Corporation formed
  /05/1932William Beardmore & Co Ltd
Price discussed for selling the closed Mossend Steel Works.
01/07/1932William Beardmore & Co Ltd
Sir James Lithgow appointed director.
  /03/1934Colvilles Ltd
Mossend Steel Works bought from William Beardmore & Co Ltd.
  /10/1934William Beardmore & Co Ltd
Dalmuir engine works closed, Diesel engine production moved to Dalmuir Naval Shipyard (Beardmore's shipyard).
26/02/1936William Beardmore & Co Ltd
Sir James Lithgow becomes chairman.
  /  /1937William Beardmore & Co Ltd
Paisley Works (Underwood Weaving Mills) closed.
  /  /1937William Beardmore & Co Ltd
Alley & MacLellan sold.
  /05/1939William Beardmore & Co Ltd
Anniesland Works and Underwood Weaving Mills sold.
  /10/1939William Beardmore & Co Ltd
Buy Germiston Works for shell and gun factory.
  /  /1944William Beardmore & Co Ltd
Germiston Works closed.
  /  /1947William Beardmore & Co Ltd
Liquidation of Beardmore Diesels Ltd and Newton Mines.
31/12/1975William Beardmore & Co Ltd
Ceases trading, Parkhead Forge controlled by Firth Brown.

Portions of line and locations

This line is divided into a number of portions.


Works

This forge in Parkhead, north east Glasgow, was built around 1837 for Reoch Brothers & Co. The oldest part was on the south side of New Road by the junction with Old Edinburgh Road. In 1841 David Napier took over the Parkhead Forge.
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See also
The Switchback (Caledonian Railway)
Glasgow and Coatbridge Branch (North British Railway)


This works was located on the west side of the Wishaw and Coltness Railway and north of the A775. It was initially a malleable iron works. This was the first malleable iron works in Scotland to use Henry Cort's puddling process.
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Mossend Marshalling Yard (Caledonian Railway)
Summerlee Iron Co


This reconstruction of William Beardmore & Co's Mossend Iron and Steelworks was due to the demands of Great War and was in part supported by the Ministry of Munitions. The new works was laid out to the west of the existing works and was on a considerably greater scale. Reconstruction was around 1915.
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This shipyard was built for William Beardmore and Company specifically to build naval vessels due to his connections with Admiralty and ownership of the Parkhead Forge, construction of other ships would also be undertaken. It was on the north bank of the River Clyde by Dalmuir and north of the Newshot Island bend. The site reached from the Clyde Navigation Trust's Dredger Works, to ...

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Looking east towards the site of the former MoD Inchterf military shell testing range, once referred to locally as The Gun Range. Taken just ...
David Forbes /07/2009
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This was the works of Alley and MacLellan. It was located on the east side of Polmadie Bridge, south of the West Coast Main Line (former Polloc and Govan Railway) opposite the Polmadie Depot.
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Polloc and Govan Railway


This weaving mill was owned by Archibald Coats and Peter Coats. The works was both north (the older part) and south of the former Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway just west of Paisley Gilmour Street's Wallneuk Junction. A railway crossed over a bridge giving access from the north to the south part of the works.
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