Records of A & W Smith & Co Ltd, sugar machine manufacturers, Glasgow, Scotland
- Reference:GB 248 UGD 118/1,/118/8,/118/12
- Dates of Creation:1863-1970
- Name of Creator:
- Physical Description:7.8 metresThere are no physical characteristics that affect the use of this material.
Scope and Content
- Minutes 1909-1947
- Order books 1845-1886
- Duplicate order books 1863-1906, 1926-1965
- Sub-order books 1872-1919
- Job books 1900-1962
- Cost price books 1906-1934
- Photographs 1907-1924
- Drawing registers 1859-1959
- Miscellaneous volumes and historical notes 1897-1963
- Production order books 1954-1970
- Sugar machinery drawings [to be identified]
Administrative / Biographical History
In 1837, the brothers Andrew and William Smith, millwrights, entered into a partnership as agricultural and general engineers in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, under the name A & W Smith & Co , millwrights and machine engineers. Their first machine was a 16 inch x 30 inch steam-driven sugar mill for Tobago, West Indies. In 1855, the firm moved to the Eglinton Engine Works in Tradeston, Glasgow, Scotland, and began to specialise in the manufacture of sugar machinery, having been introduced to the sugar industry by W & A McOnie, engineers, Glasgow, who had subcontracted to them the manufacture of cattle-driven sugar mills. In 1896, they became a limited company, A & W Smith & Co Ltd , and the first chairman was John Wilson, MP. As well as producing sugar machinery, the firm also produced bridge and structural steelwork for locomotive sheds and buildings. Railway wagons and weighbridges were also a speciality and in 1869 the company produced its first tank locomotive for Robson Maynard & Co, coalmasters, Middlesborough, England.
In the twentieth century, the inter-war period saw the sugar machine industry struggle in the general depression of the world economy. Most of the sugar-producing areas were equipped with relatively new machinery with a long life expectancy so the stable demand for sugar meant little work for machinery builders. Most of the West of Scotland firms survived, but only through diversification. A & W Smith & Co Ltd, for example, bought the power hammer business of R G Ross & Sons Ltd in the early 1930s , made Loudon planes for Russia, and took out a licence for sandslingers for foundry use. In 1953 , the company was acquired by Tate & Lyle Ltd, sugar refiners, London, England.
The 1950s and 1960s saw a collapse in the industry with A & W Smith & Co Ltd acquiring the goodwill of most of its former rivals. In 1967 they acquired The Mirrlees Watson Co Ltd , and subsequently traded as Smith Mirrlees . Smith Mirrlees was acquired in 1988 by Fletcher & Stewart Ltd , sugar machine manufacturers, Derby, England. They ceased to operate at the Eglinton Works in the late 1980s . In 2002, A & W Smith & Co Ltd was a non-trading subsidiary company of United Molasses, itself a subsidiary of Tate & Lyle plc. The company was the last sugar machinery manufacturers in Scotland.
Source: Michael Moss and John Hume, Workshop of the British Empire: Engineering and Shipbuilding in the West of Scotland(London, 1977)
Arrangement
This material is arranged into series, which consists of numbers of items related by format and/or function. Within series, the items are generally arranged chronologically
Access Information
Access to all records dating within the past 50 years must be cleared with the company. Apply in the first instance to the University Archivist
Acquisition Information
Smith Mirrlees : Eglinton Works : Glasgow : 1972
Smith Mirrlees : Eglinton Works : Glasgow : 1976 (Additional deposit)
Smith Mirrlees : Eglinton Works : Glasgow : c1982 (Additional deposit)
Fletcher & Stewart Ltd : c1988 (Additional deposit)
Other Finding Aids
Digital file level list available in searchroom as part of the Smith Mirrlees finding aid (UGD 118)
Manual file level list available at the National Registers of Archives in Edinburgh (NRA(S)3119) and London (NRA14656)
Alternative Form Available
No known copies
Conditions Governing Use
Applications for permission to quote should be sent to the University Archivist
Reproduction subject to usual conditions: educational use & condition of documents
Appraisal Information
This material has been appraised in line with standard GB 248 procedures
Custodial History
Acquired directly from creators
Accruals
None expected
Related Material
GB 248 UGD 062 Records of The Mirrlees Watson Co Ltd
GB 248 UGD 116 and UGD 118/6 Records of Blairs Ltd
GB 248 UGD 118/2 Records of Mirrlees Watson & Co Ltd
GB 248 UGD 118/3 Records of Pott, Cassels & Williamson
GB 248 UGD 118/4 Records of W & W McOnie
GB 248 UGD 118/5 Records of John McNeil & Co Ltd
GB 248 UGD 118/7 Records of R G Ross & Sons Ltd
GB 248 UGD 118/9 International Sugar Bulletin
GB 248 UGD 118/11Records of Fletcher & Stewart Ltd
See source list on Sugar available via Glasgow University Archive Services homepage at http://www.archives.gla.ac.uk
Material in other repositories: no material associated by provenance
Bibliography
No known publications using this material
Additional Information
This material is original
No alterations made to date
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Corporate Names
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