VICKERS

The South Yorkshire Steel Industry and the Industrial Revolution

"SHEFFIELD WAS A CUTLERY TOWN long before it became Steel City. The first documentary reference to a Sheffield Cutler comes from 1297, but steel was not made there until just after 1700. The town was known as a smoky centre of industry long before the first steel furnace was erected...

...In the first half of the nineteenth century the steel industry was still dependent on the handicraft skills of its workforce. A clever, hard-working, risk-taking mechanic could make his fortune, however humble his beginnings. The trade was easy to enter, as Huntsman had shown, and nearly all the capital that was invested came from local sources. The subsequent history of the Sheffield and Rotherham steel industry has been well covered by Dr Geoffrey Tweedale, who has shown how the American market was largely responsible for the remarkable expansion of the Sheffield crucible steel industry between the Napoleonic Wars and the American Civil War.  In good years a third or more of Sheffield's steel output was sent across the Atlantic, in addition to the vast trade in cutlery and edge tools.  Large fortunes were made from the American trade by the steel firms of Sanderson, Jessop, VICKERS, Greaves, Butcher, and Cammell...[from an article by David Hey, University of Sheffield 2005].

More Sheffield Steel Works information available - Click Here.
 

John Vickers

In 1786, on the 24th day of February John Vickers marries Gertrude Rodgers in St. Peter Cathedral, Sheffield.  They had ten children; Mary (1787), John (1788), Thomas (1790), Gertrude (1790), Ann (1794), Benjamin (1796), William (1799), Sarah (1800), Elizabeth (1802) and Edward (1804)"...[more descendents /  and more...]
 

Edward & William Vickers

"The company that grew into the famous engineering and armaments companies of Vickers and Vickers-Armstrongs was started in 1829 by Edward Vickers, a miller of Mill Sands, Sheffield and his brother William"...
 

Thomas & Albert Vickers

"Thomas and Albert Vickers were both born in Sheffield, Thomas on 9th July 1833 and Albert on 16th September 1838. Their father Edward (1804-97) was a miller who had married Anne, the daughter of George Naylor, a senior partner in the local steelmaking firm of Naylor & Sanderson.  Edward's brother William, owned a steel rolling mill and he too was connected with the firm. As a result of profitable railway investments during the 1830's and 40's Edward"...[more on Tilthammer].
 

Naylor, Vickers & Co.

"The Sheffield, England, steel manufactory of Naylor, Vickers & Co. (later Vickers Sons & Co., but commonly referred to as simply "Naylor Vickers"), has long been known for the cast steel bells which it produced in the mid to late 19th century"...[more on Home.SwBell].

"Vickers was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by the steel manufacturer Edward Vickers and his father-in-law in 1828. The company went public in 1867 as Vickers, Sons & Company.  It began life making steel castings, though gradually acquired more businesses, branching out into various sectors.  It bought out The Barrow Shipbuilding Company in 1897, also acquiring"...[more on Wikipedia].
 

Vickers Sons & Co.

"Vickers, Sons & Co. Ltd. was formed in 1867. It was based initially in Sheffield, where the Head Office was attached to the steelworks at the River Don Works. The company did not have a London address until it acquired the Maxim Nordenfelt Guns and Ammunition Co. Ltd. in 1897, and inherited a suite of offices at 32 Victoria Street. In its early years the company concentrated on the production of high quality steel castings. By the start of the twentieth century"...[more on ArchivesHub].
 

Douglas Vickers

"...was the son of Colonel Thomas Edward Vickers (1833-1915), owner and Director of the famous Sheffield firm Vickers, Sons & Co. Ltd"....[more on Wikipedia].
 

Family Portraits

"Thomas Vickers, commissioned John Singer Sargent to paint portraits of the family.  Douglas' portrait was painted in 1914. John Singer Sargent's online gallery includes portraits of; 

    Edward Vickers

    Colonel Thomas Vickers

    Mrs. Thomas Vickers

    Douglas Vickers

    The Misses Vickers

    Mr. and Mrs. Albert Vickers

    Mrs. Albert Vickers

    The Vickers Children

    Dorothy Vickers  
 

General Interest

    Article on Naylor Vickers by the Reverend David Cawley

    The Grand Slam Bomb

   Index of Known Naylor Vickers Bells

    River Don Works, Brightside - Successors to Messrs. Naylor, Vickers and Co

    Sheffield Flood Loss Claims 1 | 2 | 3

    Thomas Vickers - Turkish Baths

    Unique Bells of St Mary's - 1861 Bells by Naylor, Vickers

        Vickers-Armstrong Ltd - British Defence Firm

    Vickers, Sons & Maxim Limited - Worker Images

            15-inch Gun - made by Vickers, Son & Maxim

            Quick-Firing 13-Pounder Mark I Field Gun - Made by Vickers, Son & Maxim

    Workers of Vickers - Died in WW1



[Sources: www.tilthammer.com, Wikipedia, www.jssgallery.org, ArchivesHub, www.scienceandsociety.co.uk, home.swbell.net, www.victorianturkishbath.org, viewfinder.english-heritage.org.uk, www.made-in-sheffield.com, www.stannington.webitsmart.co.uk, www.georgedawson.homestead.com, http://freespace.virgin.net/chris.vickers/theco.htm, http://north.iwm.org.uk, http://collections.iwm.org.uk, www.answers.com ]