E. B. Wilson and Company was a locomotive manufacturing company at the Railway Foundry in

Hunslet Hunslet () is an inner-city area in south Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is southeast of the Leeds city centre, city centre and has an industrial past. It is situated in the Hunslet and Riverside (ward), Hunslet and Riverside ward of Lee ...

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Origins

Charles Todd was one of the founders of Todd, Kitson & Laird, but left early in the company's history and in 1838 he joined financier Mr. Shepherd in setting up the

Railway Foundry The Railway Foundry, Leeds, was a railway engineering workshop off Pearson Street, in Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1838 by Shepherd and Todd. Charles Todd had been a partner in Todd, Kitson & Laird but left to se ...

as Shepherd and Todd. E.B. Wilson joined the company in 1845. A year later Wilson left and the company was taken over by

James Fenton James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

, and was renamed Fenton, Craven and Company. The partnership with Craven ended and at the end of 1846, Wilson returned to the company and took over sole ownership of the company, renaming it once more to E. B. Wilson and Company, Fenton stayed on as the Works Manager. Many of the

maker's plate A builder's plate is usually a metal plate that is attached to railway locomotives and rolling stock, bogies, construction equipment, trucks, automobiles, large household appliances, bridges, ships and more. It gives such information as the name ...

s, however, retained the name "The Railway Foundry, Leeds".

Expansion

The works was expanded with the intention of producing up to fifty engines a year. Fenton's boiler designs were particularly successful, and the company's products acquired a reputation for workmanship and reliability.

David Joy

Originally an apprentice at

Fenton, Murray and Jackson Fenton, Murray and Jackson was an engineering company at the Round Foundry off Water Lane in Holbeck, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Fenton, Murray and Wood Fenton Murray and Wood was founded in the 1790s by ironfounder Matthew Murray and ...

and later at

Shepherd and Todd The Railway Foundry, Leeds, was a railway engineering workshop off Pearson Street, in Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1838 by Shepherd and Todd. Charles Todd had been a partner in Todd, Kitson & Laird but left to se ...

, David Joy was their Chief Draughtsman and was tasked with designing a new engine for the

London and Brighton Railway The London and Brighton Railway (L&BR) was a railway company in England which was incorporated in 1837 and survived until 1846. Its railway ran from a junction with the London and Croydon Railway (L&CR) at Norwood – which gives it access fro ...

. Dissatisfied by the engines then current in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

and having spent three weeks studying John Gray's designs at

Brighton railway works Brighton railway works (also known as Brighton locomotive works, or just the Brighton works) was one of the earliest railway-owned locomotive repair works, founded in 1840 by the London and Brighton Railway in Brighton, England, and thus pre-dat ...

, he produced a similar design. The first of these, in 1847, was named ''

Jenny Lind Johanna Maria "Jenny" Lind (6 October 18202 November 1887) was a Swedish opera singer, often called the "Swedish Nightingale". One of the most highly regarded singers of the 19th century, she performed in soprano roles in opera in Sweden and a ...

'' and was an immediate success. There is some controversy whether Fenton, Joy or even Wilson was responsible. Joy would appear to have produced the drawings, but Fenton would have had to approve them, and the success of the engine undoubtedly owed much to the latter's boilers, which were working at the unprecedented pressure of 120psi. Over seventy were built, with twenty four going to the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It am ...

Locomotive designs

Beside the "Jennies", E. B. Wilson also produced and and set out to standardise their designs. They charged a premium for any variations, although the size of the engines gradually became larger. The company exhibited a ''double boiler

tank engine A tank locomotive or tank engine is a steam locomotive that carries its water in one or more on-board water tanks, instead of a more traditional tender. Most tank engines also have bunkers (or fuel tanks) to hold fuel; in a tender-tank locomot ...

'' at

The Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition which took pl ...

of 1851. They also produced pumping engines, carriages and wagon. and carried out maintenance work for the Midland Railway, their

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

works being then short of capacity, and built a few to customer's own designs, including one or two

Crampton locomotive A Crampton locomotive is a type of steam locomotive designed by Thomas Russell Crampton and built by various firms from 1846. The main British builders were Tulk and Ley and Robert Stephenson and Company. Notable features were a low boiler and l ...

Closure

The company closed in 1858 having produced over six hundred engines. The Railway Foundry was refounded by W. S. Hudswell and John Clarke in 1860.

References

* Lowe, J. W., (1989) ''British Steam Locomotive Builders,'' Guild Publishing

External links

Science and Society Picture Library
* {{citation, url =http://leedsengine.info , title =The Leeds Engine web site, work = leedsengine.info
Wilson Manufacturing companies based in Leeds Defunct companies based in Leeds British companies established in 1846 British companies disestablished in 1858 1858 disestablishments in England 1846 establishments in England Manufacturing companies established in 1846 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1858