British Thomson-Houston
Encyclopedia
British Thomson-Houston (BTH) was a British
engineering
and heavy industrial
company, based at Rugby, Warwickshire
, England
. They were known primarily for their electrical systems and steam turbine
s. They were merged with the similar Metropolitan-Vickers
company in 1928, but the two maintained their own identities until 1960. The holding company, Associated Electrical Industries
(AEI), later merged with GEC which exists today as Marconi Corporation plc
.
In the 1960s BTH apprenticeship
s were highly thought of: apprentices were exposed to production of a wide range of industrial products. Each year in Rugby there was a big parade of floats
run by its apprentices, many of whom lodged in the nearby Coton House
apprentice hostel.
Britain, AEI established a consolidated research effort at Aldermaston
in Berkshire, England. The research centre was based at Aldermaston Court
a large stately home owned by AEI that had been requisitioned for military use during the war time period.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
and heavy industrial
Heavy industry
Heavy industry does not have a single fixed meaning as compared to light industry. It can mean production of products which are either heavy in weight or in the processes leading to their production. In general, it is a popular term used within the name of many Japanese and Korean firms, meaning...
company, based at Rugby, Warwickshire
Rugby, Warwickshire
Rugby is a market town in Warwickshire, England, located on the River Avon. The town has a population of 61,988 making it the second largest town in the county...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. They were known primarily for their electrical systems and steam turbine
Steam turbine
A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884....
s. They were merged with the similar Metropolitan-Vickers
Metropolitan-Vickers
Metropolitan-Vickers, Metrovick, or Metrovicks, was a British heavy electrical engineering company of the early-to-mid 20th century formerly known as British Westinghouse. Highly diversified, they were particularly well known for their industrial electrical equipment such as generators, steam...
company in 1928, but the two maintained their own identities until 1960. The holding company, Associated Electrical Industries
Associated Electrical Industries
Associated Electrical Industries was a British holding company formed in 1928 through the merger of the British Thomson-Houston Company and Metropolitan-Vickers electrical engineering companies...
(AEI), later merged with GEC which exists today as Marconi Corporation plc
Telent plc
Telent Limited is a radio, telecommunication, and internet systems installation & services provision company. The company was formed in 2006 from the UK and German services businesses of Marconi Corporation which had not been acquired by Ericsson.- History :The company was formed in January 2006...
.
In the 1960s BTH apprenticeship
Apprenticeship
Apprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a skill. Apprentices or protégés build their careers from apprenticeships...
s were highly thought of: apprentices were exposed to production of a wide range of industrial products. Each year in Rugby there was a big parade of floats
Float (parade)
A float is a decorated platform, either built on a vehicle or towed behind one, which is a component of many festive parades, such as those of Mardi Gras in New Orleans, the Carnival of Viareggio, the Maltese Carnival, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the Key West Fantasy Fest parade, the...
run by its apprentices, many of whom lodged in the nearby Coton House
Coton House
Coton House is a late 18th century country house at Churchover, near Rugby, Warwickshire which is now in use as a corporate commercial training centre. It is a Grade II* listed building....
apprentice hostel.
History
- 1886: The company Laing, Wharton and Down formed, to sell products from the American Electric Company. They soon won a contract for electrical lighting for the east end of LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. - 1892: General ElectricGeneral ElectricGeneral Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
in USA was created by the merger of Thomson-Houston and Edison General Electric Company. - 1893: The American Electric Company became Thomson-Houston.
- 1894: British Thomson-Houston was formed.
- 1896 May: Laing, Wharton and Down was renamed as BTH. BTH got production licenses for the American Electric Company's products, and soon started setting up factories in the English MidlandsEnglish MidlandsThe Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...
. For much of the late 19th century they competed for electrical generation and distribution contracts with British WestinghouseBritish WestinghouseBritish Westinghouse Electrical and Manufacturing Company was a subsidiary of the American Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company. British Westinghouse would become a subsidiary of Metropolitan-Vickers in 1919; and after Metropolitan Vickers merged with British Thomson-Houston in 1929, it...
, mirroring the same company's battles in the US between their parents, General ElectricGeneral ElectricGeneral Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
(created by the merger of Thomson-Houston and Edison General Electric Company in 1892) and Westinghouse. BTH became mainly associated with Rugby, WarwickshireRugby, WarwickshireRugby is a market town in Warwickshire, England, located on the River Avon. The town has a population of 61,988 making it the second largest town in the county...
, due to its good accessibility by rail and a local coal supply. - 1899: BTH chose Rugby.
- 1900: BTH bought GlebeGlebeGlebe Glebe Glebe (also known as Church furlong or parson's closes is an area of land within a manor and parish used to support a parish priest.-Medieval origins:...
Farm (on the west side of Mill Road north of the railway) for £10,000, from Thos. Hunter & Co., to build their factory on it. - 1900: The Power Act of 1900 was passed. It let BTH and British Westinghouse get new contracts to supply electric power to large areas.
- 1902 March: BTH opened their factory in Mill Road in 1902 making electric motorElectric motorAn electric motor converts electrical energy into mechanical energy.Most electric motors operate through the interaction of magnetic fields and current-carrying conductors to generate force...
s and generatorElectrical generatorIn electricity generation, an electric generator is a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy. A generator forces electric charge to flow through an external electrical circuit. It is analogous to a water pump, which causes water to flow...
s. - 1902: BTH got a license to produce the CurtisCurtisCurtis is a common given name and surname of English origin derived from the Old French "curteis," which means 'polite, courteous, or well-bred.' It's related with the spanish and portuguese surname Cortes. It was brought to England via the Norman Conquest...
steam turbineSteam turbineA steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884....
, which became one of their major products. - 1904: BTH started making turbineTurbineA turbine is a rotary engine that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work.The simplest turbines have one moving part, a rotor assembly, which is a shaft or drum with blades attached. Moving fluid acts on the blades, or the blades react to the flow, so that they move and...
s. - 1905: BTH made its first turbo-alternator.
- 1907: BTH started a joint venture with Wolseley Motors to make petrol-electric busBusA bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
es. - 1909: BTH supplied major coal-fired steam generators to London to power an electric trolleyTramA tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
system that was being set up. - 1911: BTH got licenses for all of General Electric's drawn-wire light bulbs, which they produced under the MazdaMazda (light bulb)Mazda was a trademarked name created by the Shelby Electric Company for incandescent light bulbs. The name was used from 1909 through 1945 in the United States by Shelby and later General Electric; Mazda brand light bulbs were made for decades after 1945 outside the USA...
trademarkTrademarkA trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
.
Consolidation
- 1914-1918 (World War IWorld War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
): BTH expanded into naval electrical equipment, supplying the Royal NavyRoyal NavyThe Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
with various lighting, radio and signalling gear. - 1916: Howard C. Levis became chairman of BTH.
- 1918 and after: BTH expanded dramatically, adding or expanding factories at WillesdenWillesdenWillesden is an area in North West London which forms part of the London Borough of Brent. It is situated 5 miles north west of Charing Cross...
, BirminghamBirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, ChesterfieldChesterfieldChesterfield is a market town and a borough of Derbyshire, England. It lies north of Derby, on a confluence of the rivers Rother and Hipper. Its population is 70,260 , making it Derbyshire's largest town...
, and LutterworthLutterworthLutterworth is a market town and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. The town is located in southern Leicestershire, north of Rugby, in Warwickshire and south of Leicester. It had a population of 8,293 in the 2001 UK census....
. (It later had factories in CoventryCoventryCoventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
, and in LarneLarneLarne is a substantial seaport and industrial market town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland with a population of 18,228 people in the 2001 Census. As of 2011, there are about 31,000 residents in the greater Larne area. It has been used as a seaport for over 1,000 years, and is...
in Northern IrelandNorthern IrelandNorthern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
.) - 1924: BTH's Building 52, the research laboratory, was purpose built in 1924.
- 1926: Gerard Swope, president of General ElectricGeneral ElectricGeneral Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
, proposed that BTH, Westinghouse, GEC and English Electric should amalgamate. Lord Hirst of GEC was not interested in Swope’s scheme, but a new holding company was formed, Associated Electrical IndustriesAssociated Electrical IndustriesAssociated Electrical Industries was a British holding company formed in 1928 through the merger of the British Thomson-Houston Company and Metropolitan-Vickers electrical engineering companies...
(AEI). - 1928: AEI bought BTH and Metropolitan-Vickers. Howard C. Levis became chairman of AEI.
- 1929: AEI bought Edison Swan (Ediswan) and Ferguson Pailin, which BTH had been in the process of buying in 1928.
- 1929: Howard C. Levis retired.
- 1930 or earlier: AEI started to build buildings west of the footpath that runs north through the AEI site in Rugby to the Leicester Road (known in the area as the Black Path because it was surfaced with cinderCinderA cinder is a pyroclastic material. Cinders are extrusive igneous rocks. Cinders are similar to pumice, which has so many cavities and is such low-density that it can float on water...
s). - 1937: Frank WhittleFrank WhittleAir Commodore Sir Frank Whittle, OM, KBE, CB, FRS, Hon FRAeS was a British Royal Air Force engineer officer. He is credited with independently inventing the turbojet engine Air Commodore Sir Frank Whittle, OM, KBE, CB, FRS, Hon FRAeS (1 June 1907 – 9 August 1996) was a British Royal Air...
's Power JetsPower JetsPower Jets Ltd was a United Kingdom company set up by Frank Whittle for the purpose of designing and manufacturing jet engines.-History:Founded on January 27, 1936, the company consisted of Whittle, Rolf Dudley-Williams, James Collingwood Tinling, and Lancelot Law Whyte of investment bankers O T...
company built the world's first prototypePrototypeA prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from.The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον , "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος , "original, primitive", from πρῶτος , "first" and τύπος ,...
jet engineJet engineA jet engine is a reaction engine that discharges a fast moving jet to generate thrust by jet propulsion and in accordance with Newton's laws of motion. This broad definition of jet engines includes turbojets, turbofans, rockets, ramjets, pulse jets...
at the BTH works in Rugby. BTH had a major role in developing it. Development was later moved to the LutterworthLutterworthLutterworth is a market town and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. The town is located in southern Leicestershire, north of Rugby, in Warwickshire and south of Leicester. It had a population of 8,293 in the 2001 UK census....
works, which were falling into disuse at the time. BTH's directors seemed skeptical of the design and offered little help.
- 1939-1945 (World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
): BTH expanded north of the River AvonRiver Avon, WarwickshireThe River Avon or Avon is a river in or adjoining the counties of Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire in the Midlands of England...
into the Boughton Road site to make magnetoMagneto (electrical)A magneto is an electrical generator that uses permanent magnets to produce alternating current.Magnetos adapted to produce pulses of high voltage are used in the ignition systems of some gasoline-powered internal combustion engines to provide power to the spark plugs...
es for aircraftAircraftAn aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...
engines and other war products. - 1940: BTH decided they were not really interested in making jet engines due to their commitment to electrical equipment. RoverRover (car)The Rover Company is a former British car manufacturing company founded as Starley & Sutton Co. of Coventry in 1878. After developing the template for the modern bicycle with its Rover Safety Bicycle of 1885, the company moved into the automotive industry...
was soon selected to make jet engines. - 1943: Rover passed on jet engine making to Rolls-RoyceRolls-Royce LimitedRolls-Royce Limited was a renowned British car and, from 1914 on, aero-engine manufacturing company founded by Charles Stewart Rolls and Henry Royce on 15 March 1906 as the result of a partnership formed in 1904....
. - 1944: The Lutterworth Power Jets work was nationalized.
- 1945: After World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Oliver Lyttelton took over AEI, and started a massive expansion. - 1947: The HungarianHungaryHungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
scientist Dennis GaborDennis GaborDennis Gabor CBE, FRS was a Hungarian-British electrical engineer and inventor, most notable for inventing holography, for which he later received the 1971 Nobel Prize in Physics....
invented holographyHolographyHolography is a technique that allows the light scattered from an object to be recorded and later reconstructed so that when an imaging system is placed in the reconstructed beam, an image of the object will be seen even when the object is no longer present...
at the BTH site in Rugby. - 1953: AEI acquires Siemens Brothers.
- 1954-1963: Lord ChandosOliver Lyttelton, 1st Viscount ChandosOliver Lyttelton, 1st Viscount Chandos KG, PC, DSO, MC was a British businessman who was brought into government during the Second World War, holding a number of ministerial posts.-Background, education and military career:...
was chairman of AEI. - 1955: BTH supplied 18 Dsc class Rolls-Royce powered locomotives for New Zealand Railways. One unit has been preserved in service.
- 1956: Ediswan trademark appears on semiconductors.
- 1957: The massive new £8 million turbine works was opened at LarneLarneLarne is a substantial seaport and industrial market town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland with a population of 18,228 people in the 2001 Census. As of 2011, there are about 31,000 residents in the greater Larne area. It has been used as a seaport for over 1,000 years, and is...
as a result. - 1957 or after: BTH won the contract to build the new Buenos AiresBuenos AiresBuenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
power station, valued at £35 million. Rivalries intensified with Metrovick. Lyttelton continued to try to reduce this friction, leading to several unsuccessful reorganizations and slipping profits.
AEI (Associated Electrical Industries)
- 1957: Construction of Britain's first commercial nuclear powerNuclear powerNuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
facility commenced at Berkeley. - 1957: Siemens Edison Swan subsidiary formed.
- 1 January 1960: To try to cure internal political and efficiency problems, AEI stopped using the names BTH and MetrovickMetrovickMetrovick is a contraction of Metropolitan-Vickers, a British engineering company. Articles include:* Metropolitan-Vickers, the company* Metrovick 950, computer* Metrovick F.2, turbo-jet engine* Metrovick diesel locomotive, see British Rail Class 28...
. This led to a huge falling-off in sales because no-one had heard of "AEI" before, and in turn, a massive drop in AEI's stock price. Continued attempts to streamline what was two separate management structures continued to fail, and by the mid-60's the entire AEI empire was in financial trouble. - 1960: The AEI research lab was built (building BR57 in the Boughton Road site).
- about 1960: The size of BTH's Rugby site peaked. By then all the BTH Rugby's land west of the Black Path was built over.
- 1961: The name AEI was first used on products.
- 1962: Commissioning of Britain's first commercial nuclear powerNuclear powerNuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
facility at Berkeley. - 1963-1967: Construction and commissioning of the 25M Chilbolton (radar) Dish at Chilbolton ObservatoryChilbolton ObservatoryThe Chilbolton Observatory is a facility for atmospheric and radio research located on the edge of the village of Chilbolton near Stockbridge in Hampshire, England...
. - 1967: AEI brands included Metropolitan-VickersMetropolitan-VickersMetropolitan-Vickers, Metrovick, or Metrovicks, was a British heavy electrical engineering company of the early-to-mid 20th century formerly known as British Westinghouse. Highly diversified, they were particularly well known for their industrial electrical equipment such as generators, steam...
, BTH, Edison Swan and Ediswan, SiemensSiemens AGSiemens AG is a German multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Munich, Germany. It is the largest Europe-based electronics and electrical engineering company....
Bros., HotpointHotpointThe Hotpoint Electric Heating Company is a British brand of domestic appliances. The brand is currently fully owned by Italy's Indesit....
, Birlec and W.T. Henley.
GEC (General Electric Company)
- 1967: GEC bought AEI outright. GEC thus became the UK's largest electrical group.
- 1969: Marconi Radar Systems Ltd. (MSRL) formed from GEC-AEI Electronics (Blackbird Road and New Parks, Leicester), Marconi's Radar Division (Chelmsford) and Elliott's Aerospace Control Division.
- 1980s and around: GEC Rugby shrank. Many buildings were pulled down. The south part of the area west of the Black Path became a supermarketSupermarketA supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
site. The Boughton Road site became several separate small firms. - 1989: GEC in Rugby split into GEC AlsthomAlstomAlstom is a large multinational conglomerate which holds interests in the power generation and transport markets. According to the company website, in the years 2010-2011 Alstom had annual sales of over €20.9 billion, and employed more than 85,000 people in 70 countries. Alstom's headquarters are...
and Cegelec Projects. - 1998: GEC AlsthomAlstomAlstom is a large multinational conglomerate which holds interests in the power generation and transport markets. According to the company website, in the years 2010-2011 Alstom had annual sales of over €20.9 billion, and employed more than 85,000 people in 70 countries. Alstom's headquarters are...
and Cegelec Projects were reunited as Alstom. - 2007: The firm's clubhouse on Hillmorton Road was pulled down, and its surrounding sports field was intruded on for house building along its south edge.
- 2011: By now the former BTH Rugby site been greatly changed and now includes rugby college (http://www.warwickshire.ac.uk/our_locations/rugby.aspx). Quartzelec http://www.quartzelec.com/quartzelec-rugby.html and converteam (http://www.converteam.com/majic/pageServer/1p040000yn/UK---Main-Office---Rugby.html) continue to work on electrical engineering projects in some of the early BHT buildings, notabley blds 4, 193 and 140. A public road now runs through the site between its former east and west gates.
Research
During post-World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Britain, AEI established a consolidated research effort at Aldermaston
Aldermaston
Aldermaston is a rural village, civil parish and electoral ward in Berkshire, South-East England. In the 2001 United Kingdom Census, the parish had a population of 927. The village is on the southern edge of the River Kennet flood plain, near the Hampshire county boundary...
in Berkshire, England. The research centre was based at Aldermaston Court
Aldermaston Court
Aldermaston Court is a country house built in the Victorian era with incorporations from an earlier house, located in the village of Aldermaston in the English county of Berkshire...
a large stately home owned by AEI that had been requisitioned for military use during the war time period.