Jessop Saville & Company

Last updated

Jessop Saville and Company, the Sheffield-based special steel makers, was founded in 1929 [1] following a merger of J.J.Saville and Co., Limited and William Jessop and Company, both of these being long established in the trade and in the city.

Contents

History

William Jessop and Company

Thomas Jessop was born on 30 January 1804 at the family home in Blast Lane, Sheffield. The house was situated next to William Jessop’s works, the company, taking the name of the partners, being known as Mitchell, Raikes and Jessop. With expanding markets in the United States, Thomas and his brothers joined the business in 1830 and just two years later the small crucible steelmakers became William Jessop & Sons.

The business moved to a site in the Brightside area of Sheffield and later a works at Kilnhurst was added. The Brightside works eventually covered 30 acres (120,000 m2) and included the site of the former water works. Following the deaths of his father and brothers, Thomas was in sole charge of the business by 1871. The company which was originally established in 1793 became a Limited Company in 1875. Thomas Jessop died on 30 November 1887 and is buried in Ecclesall Parish Churchyard.

Jessops in America. In 1901, with problems in Sheffield caused by the high price of fuel and an adverse American tariff the company was having difficulty offering competitive prices to its U.S. customers. Following an amalgamation of some U.S. crucible steel makers, which would make competition even harder, it was considered that a successful melting facility could be set up in the U.S.A. Many British steel-makers considered that the "Made in England" or "Made in Sheffield" marks were a big selling point for their materials, however Jessop's did not hold the view and considered that they could use their Sheffield name on steel which was made in America. [2]

J.J. Saville & Company

J.J.Saville were Sheffield crucible steel and file makers based at Libau Works in the city.

Rationalisation

It was seen in the mid-1960s that some rationalisation was needed within the Sheffield steel industry, particularly steel founding. With respect to this Jessop Saville separated its interests. Similar moves were taking place at Samuel Osborn & Company, Edgar Allen and Company and Hadfields Limited.

The intention was to merge the foundry interests of the four companies to form one large steel foundry with the capability of making castings from a few ounces to 40 tons, with only English Steel Corporation's Grimesthorpe foundry in the city able to make larger. As negotiations were taking place the deal fell through leaving Osbourne's and Hadfield's to merge, with the foundry being located on Hadfield's East Hecla (Vulcan Road) site, and Edgar Allen's to purchase Jessop's, relocating Jessop's special alloy (medium frequency) melting on Edgar's Sheffield Road site and the 3-ton electric furnace at their Imperial Steel Works site.

Whiston Grange Research Centre

Following the end of World War II, Service Camps were set up to house returning troops, Polish soldiers, prisoners of war, teachers and building craftsmen in training. From 1946 Whiston Grange, near Rotherham, was used for this purpose, however, by 1950, it had become a research centre for the company.

Special Steels, Titanium and its alloys. Research work on Jessop's alloys and special materials for the aerospace industry was carried out in the laboratories, and it was also here that the initial work on the casting of Titanium and its alloys took place. The tie-up with Edgar Allen released foundry space at Brightside Lane and in early 1967 it was decided to convert the research carried out at Whiston Grange into the installation of the world's first commercial casting plant for titanium and titanium alloys on the Brightside Lane site. [3] In the late 1960s, BSA, the owners of Jessop Saville, sold their titanium interests to IMI who absorbed Jessop's alloys into their range.

Closure

The Brightside Lane site was closed in the late 1980s and cleared. It lay dormant for several years before being sold and laid out as an office park, being known as "Jessop's Riverside".

Up to date

In February 1998, Special Melted Products Limited, a Sheffield-based melting and remelting specialists, and Jessop Saville Limited were acquired by Allegheny Teledyne. [4] Of particular interest to the buyers were Jessops specialist products, particularly their non-magnetic drill collars and downhole components for the oil and gas industry.

Philanthropy

Situated in Figtree Lane, in Sheffield city centre, a hospital for sick women was founded by three local doctors. Having only six beds, later extended to nine, it soon outgrew the building (which still stands and in use as solicitors offices) and a search was made for land on which to build a new hospital. A site was found in Levygreave, then on the edge of the city centre, and in 1875, Thomas Jessop provided the funds to buy the site and build the Jessop Hospital for Sick Women. The hospital, which was opened in 1878, and named after its benefactor, closed in 2000. The site is now being used by the University of Sheffield Biosciences Department and a new women's wing, known as The Jessop Wing, was added to the city's Royal Hallamshire Hospital.

Thomas Jessop, along with others within the city's steel industry, supported the setting up of Sheffield Technical School in 1884. This, in 1905, became the embryo of the University of Sheffield.

Related Research Articles

Alloy Mixture or metallic solid solution composed of two or more elements

An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which at least one is a metal. Unlike chemical compounds with metallic bases, an alloy will retain all the properties of a metal in the resulting material, such as electrical conductivity, ductility, opacity, and luster, but may have properties that differ from those of the pure metals, such as increased strength or hardness. In some cases, an alloy may reduce the overall cost of the material while preserving important properties. In other cases, the mixture imparts synergistic properties to the constituent metal elements such as corrosion resistance or mechanical strength.

Vickers was a famous name in British engineering that existed through many companies from 1828 until 1999.

Outokumpu Oyj is a group of international companies headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, employing 10,600 employees in more than 30 countries. Outokumpu is the largest producer of stainless steel in Europe and the second largest producer in the Americas. Outokumpu also has a long history as a mining company, and still mines chromium ore in Keminmaa for use as ferrochrome in stainless steel. The largest shareholder of Outokumpu is the Government of Finland, with 26.6% ownership, including the shares controlled by Solidium, The Social Insurance Institution of Finland, Finnish State Pension Fund and Municipality Pension Agency.

Allegheny Technologies American materials company

Allegheny Technologies Incorporated (ATI) is a specialty metals company headquartered at Six PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Kobe Steel Japanese steelmaker

Kobe Steel, Ltd., operating worldwide under the brand Kobelco, is a major Japanese steel manufacturer headquartered in Chūō-ku, Kobe. Kobe Steel also has a stake in Osaka Titanium Technologies. The company supplies about half of the global market of the wires used in valve springs of auto engines.

Foundry Factory that produces metal castings

A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals processed are aluminum and cast iron. However, other metals, such as bronze, brass, steel, magnesium, and zinc, are also used to produce castings in foundries. In this process, parts of desired shapes and sizes can be formed.

Ladle (metallurgy)

In metallurgy, a ladle is a vessel used to transport and pour out molten metals. Ladles are often used in foundries and range in size from small hand carried vessels that resemble a kitchen ladle and hold 20 kilograms (44 lb) to large steelmill ladles that hold up to 300 tonnes. Many non-ferrous foundries also use ceramic crucibles for transporting and pouring molten metal and will also refer to these as ladles.

Vickers Limited was a British engineering conglomerate. The business began in Sheffield in 1828 as a steel foundry and became known for its church bells, going on to make shafts and propellers for ships, armour plate and then artillery. Entire large ships, cars, tanks and torpedoes followed. Airships and aircraft were added, and Vickers jet airliners were to remain in production until 1965.

Robert Hadfield British metallurgist

Sir Robert Abbott Hadfield, 1st Baronet FRS was an English metallurgist, noted for his 1882 discovery of manganese steel, one of the first steel alloys. He also invented silicon steel, initially for mechanical properties which have made the alloy a material of choice for springs and some fine blades, though it has also become important in electrical applications for its magnetic behaviour.

Edgar Allen and Company was a steel maker and engineer, which from the late 19th century was based at Imperial Steel Works, Tinsley, Sheffield, South Yorkshire. The site was bounded by Sheffield Road, Vulcan Road and the Sheffield District Railway to which it was connected.

Samuel Osborn and Company was a steelmaker and engineering tool manufacturer situated in Sheffield, South Yorkshire.

Firth Brown Steels was initially formed in 1902, when Sheffield steelmakers John Brown & Company exchanged shares and came to a working agreement with neighbouring company Thomas Firth & Sons. In 1908 the two companies came together and established the Brown Firth Research Laboratories and it was here, in 1912, under the leadership of Harry Brearley they developed high chrome stainless steel. The companies continued under their own management until they formally merged in 1930 becoming Firth Brown Steels. The company is now part of Sheffield Forgemasters.

Hadfields Limited

Hadfields Limited of Hecla and East Hecla Sheffield, Yorkshire was a British manufacturer of special steels in particular manganese alloys and the manufacture of steel castings.

Mather & Platt is the name of several large engineering firms in Europe, South Africa and Asia that are subsidiaries of Wilo SE, Germany or were founded by former employees. The original company was founded in the Newton Heath area of Manchester, England, where it was a major employer. That firm continues as a food processing and packaging business, trading as M & P Engineering in Trafford Park, Manchester.

Markham & Co. was an ironworks and steelworks company near Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England.

Mangalloy Alloy steel containing around 13% manganese

Mangalloy, also called manganese steel or Hadfield steel, is an alloy steel containing an average of around 13% manganese. Mangalloy is known for its high impact strength and resistance to abrasion once in its work-hardened state.

Mishra Dhatu Nigam Metallurgy industry

Mishra Dhatu Nigam Limited, is a specialized metals and metal alloys manufacturing facility in India, located in Hyderabad, Telangana. It is a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU), under the administrative control of Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence, Government of India. MIDHANI is the only producer of Titanium in India.

Thomas Jessop was a steelmaker who became Mayor of Sheffield (1863-1864) and Master Cutler (1863). As Mayor, he had to deal with the Great Sheffield Flood of 1864.

Darnall Works

The Darnall Works is a former steelworks in the Darnall area of Sheffield in England. The only remaining large complex of crucible furnaces, the works opened in the 1835 and were frequently extended and adapted until the late 20th century. Some of the structures at the works are listed buildings, at Grade II* and Grade II, and part of the site is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

Crucible Industries, commonly known as Crucible, is an American company which develops and manufactures specialty steels, and is the sole producer of Crucible Particle Metallurgy (CPM) steels. The company produces high speed, stainless and tool steels for the automotive, cutlery, aerospace, and machine tool industries.

References

  1. ↑ The Economist, 11 May 1929
  2. ↑ The New York Times, 8 April 1901
  3. ↑ The Sheffield Morning Telegraph, 2 February 1967
  4. ↑ "Form 10K, FY1997: Allegheny Technologies Incorporated". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission .
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.