Clarke Chapman
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Clarke Chapman is a British engineering firm based in
Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...
, which was formerly listed on the
London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...
.


History

The company was founded in 1864 in
Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...
by William Clarke (1831–1890). In 1865 Clarke took in a partner, Abel Chapman, and the two of them developed the business into one of the largest manufacturers of cranes and other mechanical handling equipment in the world. In 1870 two further partners joined the firm, Joseph Watson and Joseph Gurney. The firm became known as Clarke, Chapman and Gurney. Joseph Gurney retired from the firm in 1882. The firm subsequently formed a partnership with John Furneaux and Charles Parsons, and became known as Clarke, Chapman, Parsons, and Company. Parsons left the firm in 1889. By 1907 the firm manufactured an extensive range of ship's auxiliary machinery, mining plant, water tube boilers, and pumps. Clarke Chapman became the main supplier of auxiliary equipment to the British shipbuilding industry before the First World War. In 1969 Clarke Chapman acquired Sir William Arrol & Co., a leading bridge-builder. In 1970 Clarke Chapman acquired John Thompson, a leading boiler making business based in
Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...
. In 1974 Clarke Chapman acquired the UK interests of
International Combustion International Combustion Limited was a major engineering business based in Derby offering products for the nuclear engineering industry. International Combustion Australia Limited was a separate non-affiliated company. History The Company was foun ...
, a diverse group of heavy engineering businesses. The company merged with Reyrolle
Parsons Parsons may refer to: Places In the United States: * Parsons, Kansas, a city * Parsons, Missouri, an unincorporated community * Parsons, Tennessee, a city * Parsons, West Virginia, a town * Camp Parsons, a Boy Scout camp in the state of Washingt ...
in 1977 to form
Northern Engineering Industries Northern Engineering Industries plc (NEI) was a British engineering firm, which for over 10 years was one of the largest employers on Tyneside. Its headquarters were based at the Regent Centre at Gosforth in Newcastle upon Tyne. History The com ...
plcNZR Cranes
which itself was acquired by
Rolls-Royce plc Rolls-Royce Holdings plc is a British multinational aerospace and defence company incorporated in February 2011. The company owns Rolls-Royce, a business established in 1904 which today designs, manufactures and distributes power systems for ...
in 1989. The business continues today as part of Langley Holdings Limited which acquired it from
Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...
in 2000. Ships using Clarke Chapman mechanical handling equipment include the RFA ''Wave Knight'' and the RFA ''Wave Ruler'' completed in 2000 and 2001 respectively.


Operations

The company trades under the names of Cowans Sheldon (railway cranes), RB Cranes (construction cranes),
Stothert & Pitt Stothert & Pitt was a British engineering company founded in 1855 in Bath, England. It was the builder of various engineering products ranging from Dock cranes to construction plant and household cast iron items. It went out of business in 1989 ...
(port cranes) and Wellman Booth (steel plant cranes).


See also

* C.A. Parsons and Company * A. Reyrolle & Company


References


External links


Official site



Partial list of the firm's early product literature
* * {{Electricity generation in North East England Boilers Companies based in Tyne and Wear British companies established in 1864 Engineering companies of the United Kingdom 1864 establishments in England Manufacturing companies established in 1864