Guide to the Records of the Vickers PLC (as filmed by the AJCP), 1915-1965

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Summary

Collection number:

M2587-M2590

Creator:

Vickers, Sons & Company Ltd.

Extent:

156 items

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the location of the original material and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.

Items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.

Example: M Series: Journal of Capt. James Cook, 18 February 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1234)

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Available for reference.

Background

Content Summary:

Reports, correspondence, notes and other papers relating to the company's operations in Australia and New Zealand.

Includes papers on directors and agencies of subsidiary companies, papers on supply of aircraft, correspondence on flights of Sir Ross and Keith Smith, and reports by directors and executives of visits to Australia and New Zealand.

Correspondents include Sir Keith Smith, Sir Robert Knox, Sir Ronald Weeks and Lord Knollys.

The correspondence originally on microfilm is mainly that of Directors whose files have been destroyed.

Biographical / Historical:

Naylor, Hutchinson, Vickers Company was established as a steel foundry in Sheffield in 1829 by Edward Vickers (1804-1897) and his father-in-law George Naylor. It produced steel castings and became famous for casting church bells. In 1854 Vickers's sons Thomas (1833-1915), who was a metallurgist, and Albert (1838-1919) joined the company. In 1867 Vickers, Sons Company Limited was incorporated, with half the shares issued to Edward Vickers and his sons and half to Ernst Benzon (d. 1873), who had been the company's agent in New York. The company expanded rapidly, producing crucible steel for railway tyres, marine shafting and screw propellers. In 1888 it entered the armament industry, laying down plant for the construction of guns and armour.

In 1884 the Maxim Gun Company was formed, with Albert Vickers as the chairman, and it amalgamated with the Nordenfeldt Guns and Ammunition Company in 1888. In 1897 Vickers purchased the Naval Construction and Armaments Company at Barrow and also Maxim Nordenfeldt. It thus challenged the Tyneside company Armstrong Whitworth as the leader of the British armament industry. In 1901 it built its first submarine at Barrow and by 1906 had built 29 submarines in three series. The construction and arming of ships for the Royal Navy became Vickers's main business. By 1911 it had also entered the aircraft industry and by 1914 was producing fighting planes for the Royal Flying Corps. The Vickers Vimy, a heavy bomber aircraft, was built at the Vickers factory at Bexley in 1918. It achieved fame immediately, when in 1919 it was flown on the first trans-Atlantic flight (by John Alcock and Arthur Brown) and the first England to Australia flight (by Ross and Keith Smith). Throughout the 1920s it was the main heavy bomber aircraft of the Royal Air Force.

In 1926 Vickers faced a financial and management crisis arising from the diversity of its undertakings and the decline in demand for armaments. It disposed of a number of its subsidiary companies, combined with Cammell Laird to form the English Steel Corporation, and amalgamated with Armstrong Whitworth. The rise of Nazi Germany in the 1930s eventually led to increased orders for ships, aircraft, tanks and armaments. The production of the Spitfire at Vickers's Supermarine works commenced in 1936. Vickers played a major role in World War II, especially in aircraft production, but the demand for armaments was changing, with battleships, big guns and big gun mountings becoming a thing of the past. The output of aircraft fell drastically after the War, while the English Steel Corporation faced the prospect of nationalisation. In 1960 Vickers' aircraft interests were merged with those of three other companies to form the British Aircraft Corporation. It was nationalised in 1977, becoming part of the British Aerospace group. Vickers's steel operations were taken over by the British Steel Corporation in 1967, while the shipbuilding division was absorbed by British Shipbuilders. The remnants of the company became Vickers PLC in 1986 and was acquired by Rolls Royce in 1999.

Reference: J.D. Scott. Vickers, a history, London, 1962.

Access and use

Conditions Governing Access:: Available for Access.
Conditions Governing Use:: Many of the records digitised as part of the AJCP are still in copyright. Readers wishing to publish or reproduce documents should seek permission, in the first instance, from the owner of the original material.