Mather & Platt is the name of several large engineering firms in Europe, South Africa and Asia that are subsidiaries of

Wilo SE Wilo SE is a European manufacturer of pumps and pump systems for the building technology, water and industrial sectors with headquarters in Dortmund, Germany. Founded in 1872 as copper and brass factory by Louis Opländer, the company has over 60 ...

, Germany or were founded by former employees. The original company was founded in the

Newton Heath Newton Heath is an area of Manchester, England, north-east of Manchester city centre and with a population of 9,883. Historically part of Lancashire, Newton was formerly a farming area, but adopted the factory system following the Industrial Re ...

area of

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, England, where it was a major employer. That firm continues as a

food processing Food processing is the transformation of agricultural products into food, or of one form of food into other forms. Food processing includes many forms of processing foods, from grinding grain to make raw flour to home cooking to complex industr ...

and packaging business, trading as M & P Engineering in

Trafford Park Trafford Park is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, opposite Salford Quays on the southern side of the Manchester Ship Canal, southwest of Manchester city centre and north of Stretford. Until the la ...

, Manchester. The core business produces large electrical centrifugal

pump A pump is a device that moves fluids (liquids or gases), or sometimes slurries, by mechanical action, typically converted from electrical energy into hydraulic energy. Pumps can be classified into three major groups according to the method they u ...

s. The brand is known in India as Mather & Platt Pumps and in South Africa as Mather & Platt SA PTY Ltd.

History

Timeline

*1794: A map is published, showing the Salford Iron Works, Chapel Street, Salford, owned by

Bateman and Sherratt Bateman may refer to: Places *Bateman, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth, Australia **Electoral district of Bateman, an electorate of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, centred on the suburb *Batemans Bay, a town and bay in New South W ...

. *1817: Peter Mather starts making

textile machinery Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods ...

. *1829: By now only the Sherratts are active at the Salford Iron Works. John and Thomas Sherratt describe themselves as "brass founders, engine makers and

iron founder An iron founder (also iron-founder or ironfounder) in its more general sense is a worker in molten ferrous metal, generally working within an iron foundry. However, the term 'iron founder' is usually reserved for the owner or manager of an iron foun ...

s". *1836: The Sherratts called themselves "iron founders, steam engine manufacturers, millwrights and hydraulic press manufacturers". *1836: Colin "Cast iron Colin" Mather and his brother started a small business, William & Colin Mather. It serviced the local textile bleaching industry by providing simple well-made rollers and equipment. They described themselves as "Engineers, machine makers and millwrights". They had a premises at 23 Brown Street, Salford. **Colin Mather had three sons, none of whom were destined to play a large role in the business. **William Mather, who had had little to do with the running of the business, had two sons, and his second son

William Mather Sir William Mather (15 July 1838 – 18 September 1920) was a British industrialist and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1885 and 1904. Life Mather was born in Manchester, the son of William Mather and his wife, Am ...

became the chairman when Colin retired. William Mather and John Platt travelled extensively in the US and Russia expanding into new markets. Mather was also involved on public life and the advancement of education. He was the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

in 1885 and later for

Gorton Gorton is an area of Manchester in North West England, southeast of the city centre. The population at the 2011 census was 36,055. Neighbouring areas include Levenshulme and Openshaw. A major landmark is Gorton Monastery, a 19th-century Hi ...

. *1837: Thomas Sherratt dies. *1837: Platt takes over the

Salford Iron Works Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county aft ...

*1839: The Salford Iron Works was leased to John Platt a machine-maker from

Higher Broughton Broughton is a suburb and district of Salford, City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England, on the east bank of the River Irwell, it is northwest of Manchester and south of Prestwich. Historically in Lancashire, Broughton was a township ...

. Platt and his partner Yates continued Sherratt's business. *1845: John Platt leased part of the Salford Iron Works to William and Colin Mather. Mather and John Platt form Mather & Platt in

(UK) *1847: John Platt dies. *1851: Mather and Platt exhibit 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 The Crystal Palace, structure in which it was held), was an International Exhib ...

as the

; they took textile finishing equipment including an eight-colour roller printer for

calico Calico (; in British usage since 1505) is a heavy plain-woven textile made from unbleached, and often not fully processed, cotton. It may also contain unseparated husk parts. The fabric is far coarser than muslin, but less coarse and thick than ...

. *1853: John Platt's son William Platt forms the partnership with the Mathers, forming Mather & Platt. William Platt provide capital, land and casting skills; Colin Mather provided the new engineering solution. *1873: Professor

Osborne Reynolds Osborne Reynolds (23 August 1842 – 21 February 1912) was an Irish-born innovator in the understanding of fluid dynamics. Separately, his studies of heat transfer between solids and fluids brought improvements in boiler and condenser design. ...

designed a turbine pump that Mather and Platt improved. The

centrifugal pump Centrifugal pumps are used to transport fluids by the conversion of rotational kinetic energy to the hydrodynamic energy of the fluid flow. The rotational energy typically comes from an engine or electric motor. They are a sub-class of dynamic ...

was essential to operating a

bleaching Bleach is the generic name for any chemical product that is used industrially or domestically to remove color (whitening) from a fabric or fiber or to clean or to remove stains in a process called bleaching. It often refers specifically, to ...

kier, hence their interest. Later, it became the core product and it is the Pump division alone that survives in India. *1883: Mather & Platt obtain the rights to manufacture

Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These invention ...

’s electric

dynamo file:DynamoElectricMachinesEndViewPartlySection USP284110.png, "Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, ) A dynamo is an electrical generator that creates direct current using a commutator (electric), commutator. Dynamos were the f ...

and, as a result of improvements by Dr.

John Hopkinson John Hopkinson, FRS, (27 July 1849 – 27 August 1898) was a British physicist, electrical engineer, Fellow of the Royal Society and President of the IEE (now the IET) twice in 1890 and 1896. He invented the three-wire (three-phase) system for ...

, the Edison-Hopkinson dynamo was produced. This led to the formation of an electrical engineering division, the military work on submarine motors, and later involvement in electricity generation. Fire pump, Bancroft Mill - geograph

*1883: Mather & Platt obtain sole rights outside the USA to manufacture the Grinnel's automatic sprinkler:

cotton mill A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning (textiles), spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system. Althou ...

s were very vulnerable to fire. These rights expired in the 1970s. The production of sprinkler systems for

s led to the prominent water towers and flat roofs for water storage. *1899: Mather & Platt incorporated. Hugh llewelyn 30 (6461798549)

*The firm was expanding and over the years acquired neighbouring properties such as Drinkwaters Mill and whole streets such as Foundry Street. *1894: An agreement was reached to close Union Street and demolish two rows of cottages for the new "erecting shop" which had the splendid name of the Klondyke. Further expansion was impossible. The need for space was partially caused by the acquisition of three important new products described here.

20th century

Park Works, Newton Heath

*1900: Mather & Platt erect on the present Park Works site an administration building, two storeys high. That is the start of moving to and developing the Park Works,

, SJ873998 site, joining with Dowson, Taylor & Company Limited, to form Mathers Platt Ltd. The site measured and was alongside, and with direct access to, the

Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping. It was incorporated in 1847 from an amalgamation of several existing railways. It was the third-largest railway system based in northern ...

. **The first machine shop was originally the Machinery Annexe of the

Paris Exhibition Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

of 1900. Mather & Platt's staff dismantled it and shipped it to Manchester via the

Manchester Ship Canal The Manchester Ship Canal is a inland waterway in the North West of England linking Manchester to the Irish Sea. Starting at the Mersey Estuary at Eastham, near Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, it generally follows the original routes of the river ...

, then re-erected it.Mathers Foundry Company History, page 5
**The site expanded over the years, eventually incorporating a research laboratory, an iron foundry and a sports ground. *31 December 1938: The Salford Foundry closed when the heavy iron foundry was built at the Park Works. Mather and Platt left the Salford Iron Works, and it passed into the hands of Threlfalls the

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of be ...

. Later a part of the works passed to a firm of motor car spring manufacturers.

Expansion elsewhere

*1940: Mather & Platt's start manufacturing in India with a factory at

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

*1959: Mather & Platt's set up a second manufacturing unit set up at

Chinchwad Chinchwad is an upscale, affluent locality in the city of Pune, India. The neighbourhood is home to extensive industry and is well known for its automotive, pharmaceutical, electrical, cons. products, electronics & hardware, aerospace and manuf ...

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

*1978: Mather & Platt's changes its share holding pattern to become an Indian company *1978: Mather & Platt's was taken over by the Australian-based company

Wormald International Wormald is an Australian fire protection brand founded in 1889. Founded as an importer and distributor of fire doors and fire sprinklers, it grew over the decades into a diversified manufacturer of steel and metal products as well as a leader in t ...

. The Pump Department was later sold to the Scottish company Weir Pumps, now Clyde Union Pumps, who supply the OEM spare parts. They used the Newton Heath site until Oct 2008. Most of the original buildings have now been demolished but the foundry and main office building have survived *1982: Fraberry Engineering buys Mather & Platt's Process machinery division to form M&P (Engineering) Ltd. based in

. The founder, Frank Berry, goes on to form Mather and Platt (Asia) Limited, based in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

, Thailand.

21st century

*2005: Mather & Platt's becomes part of

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

*7 October 2008: The Westley Group (a £40m-turnover business with headquarters in

Cradley Heath Cradley Heath is a town in the Rowley Regis area of the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England approximately north-west of Halesowen, south of Dudley and west of central Birmingham. Cradley Heath is often confused with the ...

, West Midlands and employing 500 people on its four sites) buy the old stainless steel foundry at Park Works, Newton Heath from the

Weir Group The Weir Group plc is a Scottish multinational engineering company headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. History The company was established in 1871 as an e ...

. **Westley group directors Rob and James Salisbury have a family connection with the foundry and renamed the site "Mather's Foundry". Their grandfather Jim Musgrave served an apprenticeship at Mather & Platt's from 1932, when he was 14.Press release, reported in Manchester Evening News,October 07, 2008. Mathers specialise in the supply of commercial and high-integrity castings in

carbon steel Carbon steel is a steel with carbon content from about 0.05 up to 2.1 percent by weight. The definition of carbon steel from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) states: * no minimum content is specified or required for chromium, cobalt ...

s, low alloys steels, CrMo steels, nickel alloys,

stainless steel Stainless steel is an alloy of iron that is resistant to rusting and corrosion. It contains at least 11% chromium and may contain elements such as carbon, other nonmetals and metals to obtain other desired properties. Stainless steel's corros ...

s, duplex steels, super nickel and the ZERON range. They supply bespoke cast products from a few kilos to 10 tonnes in weight to companies supplying the oil and gas,

desalination Desalination is a process that takes away mineral components from saline water. More generally, desalination refers to the removal of salts and minerals from a target substance, as in Soil salinity control, soil desalination, which is an issue f ...

, nuclear (N stamp), paper, rubber, chemical, and power generation industries.

Newton Heath site

Avro

*1910: A. V. Roe & Company (Avro) is founded in Manchester by Humphrey and Alliott Verdon Roe. *1914: Outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

: Avro rented part of the Newton Heath site so they could expand production. *1919: A new purpose-built factory for Avro was completed. **The

Avro Avian The Avro Avian was a series of British light aircraft designed and built by Avro in the 1920s and 1930s. While the various versions of the Avian were sound aircraft, they were comprehensively outsold by the de Havilland Moth and its descendants ...

Roy Chadwick Roy Chadwick, CBE, FRSA, FRAeS (30 April 1893 – 23 August 1947) was an aircraft design engineer for the Avro Company. Born at Marsh Hall Farm, Farnworth, Widnes, the son of the mechanical engineer Charles Chadwick, he was the chief designer f ...

was built there, and later, parts for the

Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirlin ...

bomber. When Avro left the site after World War II the factory was used as a storage depot by the

Co-operative Wholesale Society A co-operative wholesale society, or CWS, is a form of co-operative federation (that is, a co-operative in which all the members are co-operatives), in this case, the members are usually consumer cooperatives. According to co-operative economi ...

(CWS). Today the building is used by various businesses for storage.

Boiler Yard

The Plate Metal Works, also called the Boiler Yard, was owned by yet another John Platt, who was not related to the main Platt family. He occasionally subcontracted for Mather & Platt. *1870: John Platt passed the Boiler Yard over to Mather & Platt and was employed as a foreman over 25 men. *1906: The Boiler Yard was extended, absorbing the adjoining works of Edmondson and. Co., General Engineers and using it as a

machine shop A machine shop or engineering workshop (UK) is a room, building, or company where machining, a form of subtractive manufacturing, is done. In a machine shop, machinists use machine tools and cutting tools to make parts, usually of metal or plast ...

and plate shop. It continued as a Mather and Platt Ltd. production site after the Salford Iron Works was closed - maintaining a link between Mather & Platt and Salford till after 1950.

India

* Mather and Platt Pumps Ltd. operate from India.

Art and media

The main entrance to the Park Works features in the 1943 painting ''Going to Work'' by

LS Lowry Laurence Stephen Lowry ( ; 1 November 1887 – 23 February 1976) was an English artist. His drawings and paintings mainly depict Pendlebury, Lancashire (where he lived and worked for more than 40 years) as well as Salford and its vicinit ...

. The picture is now in the collection of the

Imperial War Museum Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...

References

External links

*
sites.google.comM&P Engineering, Trafford Park, ManchesterAnimations of Metal Casting Techniques
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mather and Platt Engineering companies of the United Kingdom Pump manufacturers Manufacturing companies based in Manchester