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THE EARLY DAYS - 1830.
George Stephenson had made many improvements to the Steam Locomotive, the Stockton and Darlington Railway had been in operation for five years, and in the same year the Vulcan Foundry came into being, founded by Charles Tayleur in partnership with George Stephenson and his son Robert, and trading as "Tayleur & Stephenson". |
T. & S. Stone. |
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The original stone inscribed T. & S. — 1832, and surmounted by the bronze "Vulcan Visage" representing Vulcan surrounded by lightning flashes, formerly occupied a place over the entrance to the Works and is now preserved in the entrance hall of the Institute. |
Vulcan Visage. |
In September, 1830, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway was opened, and to digress, here is a brief account of the ceremony. Being one of the first passenger lines in the country, its development must have had a profound influence on the policy and prosperity of the Vulcan Foundry, and the Locomotive industry as a whole during its early years, apart from its interest to all dwellers in South West Lancashire in its effect on the industrial life of the district.
The opening ceremony was graced by the presence of the Duke of Wellington, hero of Waterloo, and an imposing array of nobility including the Marquis of Salisbury, the Earl of Wilton, Lord Stanley, Lord Hill and Sir Robert Peel, together with the Lord Mayor of Liverpool and prominent members of Parliament. The proceedings were tragically marred by an accident to the Rt. Hon. William Huskisson, M.P. who was knocked down by the Locomotive 'Rocket' and died from his injuries later the same day at Eccles. A tablet to his memory may be seen opposite the spot where the accident occurred at Parkside, Lowton.
George Stephenson had, of course, been resident in the district during the construction of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, and Stephenson's cottage still stands at the foot of Emmett's Brow, overlooking the Viaduct, popularly known locally as the Nine Arches, spanning the Sankey Valley at Newton Common. This valley, at that period a spongy morass, had been one of the chief difficulties in the building of the line, but Stephenson with his northern tenacity would not be gainsaid, and thousands of tons of ballast were poured into the hungry maws of the marsh to ensure a solid base for the foundations of the magnificent sandstone structure still in perfect condition a hundred and twenty years afterwards. Stephenson's bust stands overlooking the Works on the lawn fronting the offices and a similar model can be seen in the office entrance hall — these busts are reputed to be originals taken from life.
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The firm also had a branch at Warrington at this time, known as the Bank Quay Foundry, and it was here that much of the iron work used in the construction of the Conway Bridge, and the Britannia Tubular Bridge, spanning the Menai Straits was fabricated. Some interesting prints of this work are hung in the south wing of the main office block. |
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The first iron sea-going ship was also built at Bank Quay in the year 1852. She was a tea-clipper named -Tayleur,- but was wrecked on her maiden voyage off Lambay Island in the Irish Sea, with a loss of 450 lives. This disaster brought out weird rumours that the event had been predicted by the captain falling down the hold whilst the ship was under construction, and even more sinister, that an evil spirit ran the vessel aground to favour the Carpenters' Society whose members were naturally perturbed by the substitution of iron for England's traditional "wooden walls." A model of the ship's hull is mounted in the hall of the General Office, together with two lithographs of the ship under sail. Tayleur, however, was not discouraged, and proceeded with the construction of other vessels, and launched from this yard the "Startled Faun," "Liverpoolania," "Sarah Palmer" and "Sarah Sands."
The First Iron Sea-going Vessel—" Tayleur." |
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Meanwhile, Locomotives were being produced at the Works at Newton-le-Willows, amongst the earliest being the 'Tayleur" (No. I) and "Stephenson" built about 1831, and taken over by Mr. Hargreaves for use on the North Union Railway, followed in quick succession by the "Warrington," "Vulcan" and "Newton," to the order of the Warrington and Newton Railway. |
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The firm is justly proud of the long service records of its workers, many of whom can boast of overfifty years employment with the him. As an example the late:-
Josh— Edwards, of the Smithy, had worked here sixty-four years when he retired in 1946, at the age of seventy-nine years. Unique family associations extending into the fourth generation are set out on the "Family Tree" plaques in the Institute entrance hall. For instance, the Harrison family can be traced back to 1840, the Rhodes' a little later, closely followed by the Singletons, all of whom have descendants working here to-day. |
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Tayleur Locomotive. |
Indenture
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Indenture
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Another interesting relic is a form of Indenture dated 1836 in respect of John Nichols, uncle of James Nichols, late Chief Accountant. John Nichols retired from his position as Foreman Coppersmith in 1896, after 63 years' service. Joseph Ball, a relation of the family and employed here as an Inspector, has in his possession a leather wallet in a perfect state of preservation, inscribed in gold lettering as under :—
"This purse of gold was presented to Mr. John Nichols by his fellow workmen at the Vulcan Foundry on his retirement from Foreman Coppersmith, after 63 years' continuous service. -- December, 1896."
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As early as 1835 engines were being shipped abroad, amongst the earliest being eight single drivers for the Paris and St. Germain Railway. In 1837, one of the first Locomotives to run in Russia was built here, a 2-2-2 for the St. Petersburg-Pavlosk Line, and two 0-4-2 goods engines were delivered the same year to the Kaiser Ferdinand Nordbahn of Austria. American orders included three for the South Carolina Railroad, and two for the Raleigh and Gaston Railroad, delivered in 1835 and 1836 respectively. Other early Locomotives were L'Elephant for the Belgian Railways, and four single driver engines for the Berlin and Potsdam Railway.
Warning Notice re Vulcan Property. |
1832 Plan of Vulcan Foundry. |
At home the Vulcan supplied the London & Greenwich Railway with its first Locomotive (VF. No. 25) and the Jacob Perkins" for the Stanhope & Tyne Railway. In 1837, Vulcan,- "Aelos" and ,-Pacchus- were delivered to the Great Western Railway, these were of seven foot gauge.
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