| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Locomotive manufacturing Shipbuilding |
| Founded | 1886 |
| Defunct | 1993 |
| Fate | Acquired |
| Successor | Vodafone |
| Headquarters | Hebburn,UK |
R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company, Limited, usually referred to asHawthorn Leslie, was ashipbuilder andlocomotive manufacturer. The company was founded onTyneside in 1886 and ceased building ships in 1982.
The company was formed by the merger of the shipbuilderA. Leslie and Company inHebburn with the locomotive works ofR and W Hawthorn at St. Peter's inNewcastle upon Tyne in 1886.[1] The company displaced its locomotive manufacturing interests in 1937 toRobert Stephenson and Company, which becameRobert Stephenson and Hawthorns Ltd.[2]
Perhaps the most famous ship built by the Company wasHMSKelly, launched in 1938 and commanded byLord Louis Mountbatten.[3] In 1954, the shipbuilding and marine engine activities were put into separate subsidiaries, Hawthorn Leslie (Shipbuilders) Ltd. and Hawthorn Leslie (Engineers) Ltd.[4] In 1968 the Company's shipbuilding interests were merged with that ofSwan Hunter and theVickers Naval Yard to createSwan Hunter & Tyne Shipbuilders.[5]
The company's shipbuilding and marine engineering interests were bothnationalised and subsumed withBritish Shipbuilders in 1977;[4] in 1979 its engine business was merged withGeorge Clark & NEM, which had also been nationalised, to formClark Hawthorn.[4]
The company's main shipbuilding yard atHebburn closed in 1982,[6] was sold toCammell Laird[7] and then acquired byA&P Group in 2001[8] but now lies derelict.[9] The Company itself, deprived of its main activity, diversified into telephones.[10] In March 1993,Vodafone made a bid for the Company which by then had become a mobile phone air time reseller.
The Hawthorn Leslie building still standing in Hebburn has been the target of numerous arson attacks in recent years.[11] This, combined with the presence of asbestos in the brickwork and the ease of access to children, has led to repeated calls from Hebburn residents and councillors for the building to be demolished.
After the merger the locomotive side continued manufacturing formain line,light andindustrial railways, including a large number built for export, usually to the designs of theCrown Agents.
The company manufactured locomotives to order for main line companies. Four0-4-4T locomotives were supplied to theMetropolitan Railway between 1896 and 1901. In 1915, F. G. Smith of theHighland Railway ordered six4-6-0s to his own designs. However they were rejected by that railway as being too heavy, they were taken over by theCaledonian Railway. TheLondon and North Eastern Railway ordered a batch ofGreat Central designed locomotives from the Company in 1925/6.
In addition it built locomotives to its own designs such as a4-2-2-0 with four cylinders - two inside and two outside - connected separately to the two pairs of driving wheels. It was produced for theChicago World's Fair of 1893 but could not produce sufficient steam to compete effectively with the American products.
The company later had a number of standard designs including0-4-0STs andfireless locomotives.
| Origin | Wheel arrangement | Class | Notes | Photograph |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hawthorn Leslie | 2-4-0T | No. 1Tenterden. Works number 2420/1899. Bought new for the opening of the line. Withdrawn for overhaul in 1938, scrapped in 1941.[12] |  | |
| Hawthorn Leslie | 2-4-0T | No. 2Northiam. Works number 2421/1899. Bought new for the opening of the line. Loaned in 1917 to theWeston, Clevedon and Portishead Railway, returned in 1918. Loaned in 1923 to theEast Kent Light Railway, returned in 1930. In 1937,Northiam starred inOh, Mr Porter!, filmed on theBasingstoke and Alton Light Railway.[12] Last ran on 22 August 1938[13] and scrapped in 1941.[12] |
| PD&SWJR no. | Name | LSWR number | Wheel arrangement | Driving wheels | Cylinders | Boiler pressure | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | A. S. Harris | 756 | 0-6-0T | 3 ft 10 in | 14" x 22" | 170 psi | |
| 4 | Earl of Mount Edgcumbe | 757 | 0-6-2T | 4 ft 0 in | 16" x 24" | 170 psi | |
| 5 | Lord St Levan | 758 | 0-6-2T | 4 ft 0 in | 16" x 24" | 170 psi |
| Year | Quantity | Manufacturer | Works Numbers | TVR Numbers | GWR Numbers | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1914 | 6 | Hawthorn Leslie | 3057–3062 | 3, 7, 10, 11, 12, 120 | 438, 335, 337, 343, 344, 441 | 441 renumbered 322 in 1947, 438 renumbered 309 sometime between 1948 and 1950 |
| 1920 | 16 | Hawthorn Leslie | 3394–3409 | 20, 134, 144, 149, 162, 164, 165, 400 to 408 | 345, 368, 375, 376, 383 to 391, 393, 394, 397 | |
| 1921 | 5 | Hawthorn Leslie | 3410–3414 | 409 to 413 | 398, 399, 401 to 403 | 401 and 403 renumbered 303 and 305 in 1947, 402 renumbered 304 sometime between 1948 and 1950 |
Hawthorn Leslie, in collaboration with theEnglish Electric Company, builtdiesel shunting locomotives for theLondon, Midland and Scottish Railway in the 1930s. This design formed the basis for the laterBritish Rail Class 08 diesel shunter.
Hawthorn Leslie, and its successor Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns, built fourelectric locomotives for Kearsley power station between 1928 and 1946 and three of these still exist. No. 2 has been converted to battery operation and is in use atHeysham nuclear power station. Nos. 1 and 3 are preserved, see below.
28 Hawthorn Leslie Tank Engines are in preservation today:
Two of the Kearsley power station locomotives (see above) are preserved. No. 1 at theElectric Railway Museum, Warwickshire and no. 3 at theTanfield Railway.
Ships built by Hawthorn Leslie included:
Aircraft Carriers
Cruisers
Frigates
Destroyers
Royal Fleet Auxiliary
Merchant ships