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of Atherton's Quay, Warrington

of Blackhorse Lane, Walthamstow, London, E.17. (1922)

of Ponders End

of Old Fletton, Peterborough

c.1890/1900 Company founded, as gauge manufacturers

1901John Edward Storey became works manager, and shortly afterwards became general manager. In this position be introduced and commenced to manufacture the Newall limit-gauges, extensively used in connexion with war work. External and internal micrometers and a measuring machine were also made, all of his design. It was through his work with this firm that he was invited to become a member of the Engineering Standards Committee

1907 Stanley Theocletus Mercer of Newall Engineering Co., Atherton's Quay, Warrington, listed as a Graduate Member of the IMechE in the 1907 list of members.

1909Peter Hooker Ltd purchased the complete business: plant, stock, patents and goodwill of Newall, who were making limit gauges, measuring machines, micrometers, surface plates etc.^[1]. Hooker moved the business from Warrington to Walthamstow.

During the later part of WW1 the metrology part of the business was taken over and operated as one of theNational Gauge Factories by the Ministry of Munitions. In February 1919 it was reported in Flight Magazine that it had now reverted toPeter Hooker Limited. A new general manager had been appointed,R. J. Bray, previously Director of the Machine Tool Section, Aircraft Production Department.

1922 Proprietors: Peter Hooker Limited. Manufacturer of standard and limit gauges, screw thread gauges, micrometers, measuring machines.

1928 The metrology business of Peter Hooker Ltd was bought bySydney Player, who became chairman and managing director^[2]. He set up a new operation at Ponders End, Essex, using the old name, Newall Engineering Company Limited.

1933 Player added machine tools to the catalogue of products.

1935 New factory established at Peterborough, moving away from Ponders End. The principal machine tool products were mechanical lapping machines and thread grinding machines used in all types of precision engineering.

1936 Public company.

1950s TheNewall Engineering Limited in Peterborough made 35mm studio cine cameras, made under licence from the Mitchell Camera Corporation.^[3]

1961 Engineers, manufacturing machine tools, thread and plain grinding machines, jig boring, lapping and other machine tools used for precision and production engineering. Also manufacture optical inspection equipment, pneumatic gauging and machine tool control equipment. 1,000 employees.^[4]

1962 Subsidiaries included^[5]:

• Optical Measuring Tools of Maidenhead
• Keighley Grinders (Machine Tools)
• Newall Precision Foundries, of Bury

An associate company was

• Stockdale Newall Machine Tools

1964 New holding company established -Newall Machine Tool^[6]

1968 Angle-approach cylindrical grinder.^[7]

1968 Agreement with Burgmaster of USA to licence their machining technology for sales in Europe. Established a wholly-owned subsidiary Newall-Burgmaster, with premises in Croydon, to offer a full range of machining centres^[8]

1972 Received support for a project on a grinding machine from government programme for the machine tool industry^[9]

1972 In the face of unexpected losses, the company closed 2 factories in Peterborough^[10]

1976 Group back in profit^[11]

1977 Specialised in circular grinding machines. Acquired byB. Elliott and Co which wanted to expand in areas of high technology such as Newall's^[12]

BecameDanobat Newall

Interesting information about the company's history and productshere (1962)^[13],here (2021)^[14], andhere (2024).

See Also

Sources of Information