Rubery Owen is a British engineering company which was founded in 1884 in

Darlaston Darlaston is an industrial town in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall in the West Midlands of England. It is located near Wednesbury and Willenhall. Topography Darlaston is situated between Wednesbury and Walsall in the valley of the Riv ...

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

History

In 1884 the company was started by John Tunner Rubery (1849-1920) and his two brothers (Samuel 1844-1910 and Thomas William 1856-1925), as an ironworks manufacturing gates and fences. In 1893 trained engineer Alfred Ernest Owen joined John Rubery, replacing his two brothers, and in 1903 the company name of ''Rubery Owen'' was established. When John Rubery retired in 1910, the partnership was bought out by Owen and by 1912 the company had expanded into aviation engineering, motor frames and roofing, in addition to fencing manufacture. Bristol 170

The company expanded during the 1920s and 1930s to include the production of metal airframes, metal storage equipment, steel pulleys and armour plate. They also acquired a

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

hydraulic company Conveyancer Fork Trucks Ltd which became Rubery Owen Conveyancer, and which claims to have launched the UK's first

forklift truck A forklift (also called lift truck, jitney, hi-lo, fork truck, fork hoist, and forklift truck) is a powered industrial truck used to lift and move materials over short distances. The forklift was developed in the early 20th century by various ...

in 1946. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

they concentrated on supporting the war effort, producing parts for military aircraft, and

Brodie helmet The Brodie helmet is a steel combat helmet designed and patented in London in 1915 by Latvian inventor John Leopold Brodie ( lv, Leopolds Janno Braude). A modified form of it became the Helmet, Steel, Mark I in Britain and the M1917 Helmet in ...

s. Bolt (fastener)#bolt heads of early post-war Rubery Owen production were marked simply with "RO", and then "Rubery Owen" was spelled out; these bolts made their way to any number of British factories building motor-vehicles, from automobiles to motorcycles. At the same time the company widened its range to include other engineering compoments for industry, including ploughs for Ferguson Tractors, metal pressings, fasteners, motor vehicle components and structural steel components for the building industry. In 1950 the company became a member of the new holding company, the "Owen Organisation", under the same ownership. In 1956 they were designing and manufacturing aircraft landing gear. There was a large test rig where the wheel assembly was held, the wheel spun up to the equivalent landing speed and then dropped onto the "ground" to simulate the landing process. Measuring equipment recorded the stresses. In the 1960s and 1970s Rubery Owen supplied many components and parts to the British motor industry but the most recognised is the

Rostyle wheel Rostyle wheels are a notable design of automobile wheels of American origin but made under licence by the British firm of Rubery Owen - hence RO-Style - The Rostyle wheel was especially popular during the 1960s and 1970s. The wheels had a charac ...

(the word 'Rostyle' being a contraction of RO-Style). These were distinctive steel disc wheels pressed to a shape to give the effect of spokes. Rostyle wheels were common on British cars of the period both as manufacturer fitted options and aftermarket accessories. In 1977

Coventry Climax Coventry Climax was a British forklift truck, fire pump, racing, and other specialty engine manufacturer. History Pre WW1 The company was started in 1903 as Lee Stroyer, but two years later, following the departure of Stroyer, it was reloca ...

acquired the Warrington forklift truck business of ''Rubery Owen Conveyancer''. In 1981 the main Darlaston works closed down. Rubery Owen is now managed by David Owen, and co run by Jim Owen. David Owen recently sold the building for £1 to Walsall Housing Regeneration Agency (WHRA), a local charity who offers numerous projects based in Darlaston and surrounding areas. David and a small team are still based within Rubery Owen.

The Owen Group of Companies 1965

;England *Rubery, Owen & Co—Darlaston—

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

—

West Bromwich West Bromwich ( ) is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is north-west of Birmingham. West Bromwich is part of the area known as the Black Country, in terms of geography, ...

—

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 ...

—

Prees Prees () is a village and civil parish in north Shropshire, near the border between England and Wales. Its name is Celtic and means "brushwood". Prees civil parish The civil parish includes many other villages and hamlets as well as the namesa ...

—

Pensnett Pensnett is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, West Midlands, England, south-west of central Dudley. Pensnett has been a part of Dudley since 1966, when the Brierley Hill Urban District, of which it was a part, was absorbed into the ...

—

Willenhall Willenhall is a market town situated in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands, England, with a population taken at the 2011 census of 28,480. It is situated between Wolverhampton and Walsall, historically in the county of ...

—Moxley—Bourne *Bentley Hall Brick Co—

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

* Bowser International—London *W Brealey & Co—

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

* The Brooke Tool Mfg Co—

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

::Brooke Tool Automation—Birmingham ::T S Harrison & Sons—

Heckmondwike Heckmondwike is a town in the metropolitan borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England, south west of Leeds. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is close to Cleckheaton and Liversedge. It is mostly in the Batley and Spen pa ...

::Boxford Machine Tools— Halifax ::Fred Whiteley—Halifax ::Steel Fabrications (Halifax)—Halifax *E Camelinat & Co—Birmingham *The Castra Electric Washing Machine Co—Rodley—Leeds *Chains—

Wednesbury Wednesbury () is a market town in Sandwell in the county of West Midlands, England. It is located near the source of the River Tame. Historically part of Staffordshire in the Hundred of Offlow, at the 2011 Census the town had a population of ...

*Charles Clark & Son—Wolverhampton ::Bull Stake Motors (Darlaston)—Darlaston ::Charles Clark (Stafford)—

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...

::Charles Clark & Son (Commercial Vehicles)—Wolverhampton *Esiclene Porcelain-Enamel (1938)—Wolverhampton * Electro-Hydraulics—Warrington ::Conveyancer Fork Trucks—Warrington ::Conveyancer-Scott Electric Vehicles—Warrington ::Conveyancer-Raymond—Warrington *Gasel Appliances—Darlaston *Gasel—

Oakengates Oakengates is a constituent town and civil parish in Telford and Wrekin, Shropshire, England. The towns parish population was recorded as 8,517 in the 2001 census. Etymology The name is not derived from "oak" or "gates" but is derived from the ...

*Joseph Gillott & Sons—Sheffield ::(Proprietors Cardinal Steels) ::Gillotts Forge and Rolling Mills—Sheffield *W Gwennap (Agricultural)—Stafford *C & L Hill—Willenhall ::C & L Hill (Diecastings)—Willenhall ::Hill-Alzen (Sales)—Willenhall *Central Patternmaking Co—Willenhall *Hudson Brown–Oldbury *Invicta Electrodes—Willenhall *Leabank Office Equipment—London *Motor Panels (Coventry)—Coventry *Nuts & Bolts (Darlaston)—Darlaston ::J Stanley & Co—Wednesbury *Owen Kleine Structures—Darlaston *Shuker & Son (Shrewsbury—Shrewsbury *J W Baker & Co—Darlaston *A Warden & Co—London *Rubery, Owen Kepston—Pensnett *Rubery, Owen (Warrington)—Warrington * Rubery, Owen Drott—London *Salopian Engineers—Prees Salop *Salopian Kenneth Hudson—Prees Salop *Shorrock Superchargers—Wednesbury *A G Sutherland—Birmingham ::H T Developments—Birmingham ::J B Williams (Maxstoke)—Birmingham ;Scotland *Rubery, Owen & Co—

Cumbernauld Cumbernauld (; gd, Comar nan Allt, meeting of the streams) is a large town in the historic county of Dunbartonshire and council area of North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the tenth most-populous locality in Scotland and the most populated t ...

*William Donaldson (Engineers)— Paisley ;Wales *Rubery, Owen & Co—

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

*Rogers & Jackson—Wrexham ::R & J Wrexham (Wholesale)—Wrexham ::J E Brassey & Son—Wrexham *E Camelinat & Co—

Dowlais Dowlais () is a village and community of the county borough of Merthyr Tydfil, in Wales. At the 2011 census the electoral ward had a population of 6,926, The population of the Community being 4,270 at the 2011 census having excluded Pant. Dowlai ...

*Nuts & Bolts (Darlaston)—

Tredegar Tredegar (pronounced , ) is a town and community situated on the banks of the Sirhowy River in the county borough of Blaenau Gwent, in the southeast of Wales. Within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, it became an early centre of the In ...

;Australia *Rubery, Owen & Kemsley Pty—Finsbury SA—Moorabbin Vic. *Conveyancer Fork Trucks (Australia) Pty—Rosebery NSW ;South Africa *Ruberowen (South Africa)—Vanderbijlpark Transvaal *Ruberowen Metal Pressings—Roodeport Transvaal—

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...

Cape Province *Rubery, Owen & Scott (S.A.)—

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

;India *Mahindra Owen—

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

;Canada *Rubery Owen, Canada—

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

References

*{{cite web , title = "A Brief History of Darlaston: Years of Growth" , author = Parker, Bev , url = http://www.localhistory.scit.wlv.ac.uk/articles/Darlaston/Growth.htm , accessdate = 2006-07-02 , url-status = dead , archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20060427011142/http://www.localhistory.scit.wlv.ac.uk/articles/Darlaston/Growth.htm , archivedate = 2006-04-27

Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick The Modern Records Centre (MRC) is the specialist archive service of the University of Warwick in Coventry, England, located adjacent to the Central Campus Library. It was established in October 1973 and holds the world's largest archive collecti ...

Catalogue of the Rubery Owen (Darlaston) Ltd archives
held at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick Engineering companies of the United Kingdom Science and technology in the United Kingdom Companies based in the West Midlands (county) Walsall Former defence companies of the United Kingdom United Kingdom in World War II

History

The Owen Group of Companies 1965

References

External links