William Beardmore and Company

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Beardmore advert from 1923
Beardmore 12/30 from 1925
Beardmore was also known as a taxi manufacturer in England

The William Beardmore and Company was a Scottish engineering company and shipyard based in Glasgow .

Company history

The founder William Beardmore first set up a company in Parkhead / Glasgow, which dealt in particular with the production of steel parts for the ship industry, the company William Beardmore & Co. The company was involved in the construction of the Blackpool Ferris wheel and provided the steel axis for the structure here. In 1899 Beardmore acquired the Robert Napier & Sons shipyard in Govan near Glasgow . In 1905 another shipyard was opened: the Naval Construction Works in Dalmuir near Clydebank .

Through constant expansion - for example, Beardmore acquired another shipyard, vehicle production facility and a steelworks - the company became the most important arms company in Great Britain in the years before the First World War, with over 40,000 employees at times. Engines, warships, tanks and airplanes were manufactured.

After the end of the First World War, the product range was switched to civilian ships such as passenger steamers and cargo ships as well as locomotives and engines for ships and aircraft. From 1917 Beardmore also manufactured automobiles in Glasgow and set up a factory for the manufacture of taxis in Paisley , where later vans and light utility vehicles derived from them were also manufactured. Both taxi and vans used the same 2.4 liter four-cylinder engine with a removable cylinder head. The taxi production was successful and continued until 1967 or 1968 , with a brief interruption after the Second World War .

In 1918 the majority in Sentinel Wagon Works Ltd. taken in Shrewsbury . The company developed into a market leader for steam trucks and diversified in the manufacture of locomotives and steam trucks .

From 1921 to 1924, Precision brand motorcycles and built-in engines were built. Many of these built-in engines were supplied to manufacturers of cycle cars.

However, the economy went downhill and bankruptcy threatened towards the end of the 1920s. The formerly large company was sold piece by piece. The Dalmuir Naval Construction Works shipyard was taken over, closed and demolished by National Shipbuilders Security in 1930 .

An attempt to enter the heavy-duty vehicle market was made in 1931. Beardmore acquired the production license for a tractor from Chenard-Walcker and launched it on the market as the Beardmore Cobra with 10 t tensile load and Python with 10 to 15 t. Both received Meadows® engines; a four-cylinder with 50 bhp has been proven for the Cobra. The largest model was the Beardmore Anaconda with 15 t tensile load and a six-cylinder engine with 115 bhp. In 1932 the division was sold to Multiwheelers in Harrow , where they continued to be built for some time. The vehicles were designed for towing operations and the Anaconda in particular could not prevail against the more modern semi- trailers.

Another subsidiary in Dalmuir also tried commercial vehicles at the end of 1936. These are front-wheel drive vehicles with in-house diesel engines that were offered in four versions. The smallest model was a two-axle vehicle with a four-cylinder engine, the larger ones were six-cylinder. There was a two- and a three-axle vehicle with a 13 t payload and a four-axle vehicle with a 15 t payload. In fact, only the two-axle eight-tonner with a 5.6 liter four-cylinder engine was probably built, and even this only in small numbers. Omnibuses were also offered, including a double-decker bus .

Beardmore began producing steel in 1937 .

The main factory in Glasgow existed until 1975 and was then demolished; in its place there is now a large shopping center.

literature

  • Harald H. Linz, Halwart Schrader : The International Automobile Encyclopedia . United Soft Media Verlag, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-8032-9876-8 , chapter Beardmore.
  • George Nicholas Georgano (Editor-in-Chief): The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile. Volume 1: A – F. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Chicago 2001, ISBN 1-57958-293-1 , p. 138. (English)
  • George Nicholas Georgano (Ed.), G. Marshall Naul: Complete Encyclopedia of Commercial Vehicles. ; MBI Motor Books International, Osceola WI, 1979; ISBN 0-87341-024-6 .

Web links

Commons : William Beardmore and Company  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ www.theclydebankstory.com 1870-1914
  2. ↑ George Nick Georgano (Editor-in-Chief): The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Chicago 2001, ISBN 1-57958-293-1 , p. 138. (English)
  3. ↑ Harald H. Linz, Halwart Schrader : The International Automobile Encyclopedia . United Soft Media Verlag, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-8032-9876-8 , chapter Beardmore.
  4. ↑ a b Georgano, Naul: Complete Encyclopedia of Commercial Vehicles. , 1979, pp. 73-74. (English)
  5. ↑ Grace's Guide: Sentinel Wagon Works.
  6. ↑ www.theclydebankstory.com 1914-1945