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Richardsons Westgarth & Company
Former type Public
Fate Acquired
Successor Klöckner
Founded 1832
Defunct 2000
Headquarters Hartlepool, UK
Industry Marine engineering

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.

History[]

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 W. Allen 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]

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.[4] It built engines for many ships including "SS Empire Amethyst". It acquired the firm of George Clark in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear in 1938.[2] In 1962 its marine activities were merged with that of Weir Group[5] and its began focussing on engineering for power stations such as Trawsfynydd[6] and Dungerness '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.[7]

See also[]

  • List of Shipbuilders

References[]

Further reading[]

  • A History of Thomas Richardson & Sons and Richardsons Westgarth 1832-1994, Printability Publishing, 1994, ISBN 978-0-9501306-6-8

External links[]

  • Photos on Graces Guide of industrial & marine engines.
Smallwikipedialogo This page uses some content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Richardsons Westgarth & Company. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Tractor & Construction Plant Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons by Attribution License and/or GNU Free Documentation License. Please check page history for when the original article was copied to Wikia


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