Sidney Adolph Horstmann,

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(7 July 1881 – 11 July 1962) was a British engineer and businessman.

Early life

Sidney was the youngest son of the German clockmaker Gustav Horstmann, who moved to England about 1850. Gustav designed the world's first

micrometer Micrometer can mean: * Micrometer (device), used for accurate measurements by means of a calibrated screw * American spelling of micrometre The micrometre ( international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; ...

with an accuracy greater than 1/10000 of an inch. Sidney was born in

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

Horstmann Gear

In 1904, Horstmann and his brothers founded

Horstmann Gear Horstmann is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * August Friedrich Horstmann (1842–1929), German physical chemist * Carl Horstmann, editor of the Middle English ''South English Legendary'' * Cay Horstmann, author of several compu ...

to produce a variable speed gearbox he had invented for cars and motorcycles. The firm later became a general engineering company and came to specialise in gas street lighting controls, time switches, gauges, and latterly central heating controls. They also worked with

William Friese-Greene William Friese-Greene (born William Edward Green, 7 September 1855 – 5 May 1921) was a prolific English inventor and professional photographer. He was known as a pioneer in the field of motion pictures, having devised a series of cameras in 1 ...

in the development of the first cameras for moving celluloid film. In 1915 a large factory, Newbridge Works, was opened in a former dance hall at

Newbridge, Bath Newbridge is a largely residential electoral ward on the western edge of Bath, England. Geography The Newbridge electoral ward can be divided into three areas from south to north: * Locksbrook: an industrial and residential area between the Rive ...

, and subsequently Newbridge was used as a trade mark. In 1994 the Horstmann family sold their remaining shares in Horstmann Gear and Horstmann Group became part of Clayhithe plc, which in 1998 was acquired by Roxspur plc. The factory was moved from Newbridge to

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

in 2000. In 2001 the company became

Horstmann Controls Horstmann is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *August Friedrich Horstmann (1842–1929), German physical chemist *Carl Horstmann, editor of the Middle English ''South English Legendary'' *Cay Horstmann, author of several computer ...

Horstmann Cars

In 1913, Horstmann founded an automotive company,

Horstmann Cars Sidney Adolph Horstmann, MBE (7 July 1881 – 11 July 1962) was a British engineer and businessman. Early life Sidney was the youngest son of the German clockmaker Gustav Horstmann, who moved to England about 1850. Gustav designed the world' ...

, which was later renamed to Horstman Cars. Car production ceased in 1929, by which time 1,500 or 3,000 cars had been made. He was responsible for developing a tracked coil spring suspension system known as the Horstmann bogie, which is used on many Western (particularly British)

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...

s, including the

Centurion A centurion (; la, centurio , . la, centuriones, label=none; grc-gre, κεντυρίων, kentyríōn, or ) was a position in the Roman army during classical antiquity, nominally the commander of a century (), a military unit of around 80 ...

and

Chieftain A tribal chief or chieftain is the leader of a tribe, tribal society or chiefdom. Tribe The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of western Afroeurasia. Tribal societies are sometimes categori ...

. He patented this system in 1922, some nine years prior to Dr.

Ferdinand Porsche Ferdinand Porsche (3 September 1875 – 30 January 1951) was an Austrian-German automotive engineer and founder of the Porsche AG. He is best known for creating the first gasoline–electric hybrid vehicle (Lohner–Porsche), the Volkswag ...

's similar system which was featured in many German tanks in the

Second World War 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 ...

. The suspension company eventually became Horstman Defence Systems which () retains a site in Bath.

Hadrill and Horstmann

After the

Horstmann formed a new electrical engineering company with G. C. T Hadrill, named Hadrill and Horstmann Ltd. They were most famous for the Counterpoise Lamps they produced, which are now collectors items. The company was acquired in 1955 by Simms Group, which also acquired Horstman Ltd. In 2019 the Horstman Holding Ltd. was acquired by

Renk The RENK Group (stylised as RENK Group) is a German company and ranked among the top ten companies in the German defense industry in terms of sales in 2010. Its main production sites are located in Augsburg, Rheine, Hanover and Winterthur (Swit ...

Awards

Horstmann was appointed a Member of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

in the

1919 New Year Honours The 1919 New Year Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were published in ''The London Gazette'' and ''The Times'' in Jan ...

, in his role as managing director of Horstmann Cars Limited.

References

External links

Portrait by Howard Barron
– Museum of Bath at Work, at artuk.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Horstmann, Sidney 20th-century British engineers British people of German descent People from Bath, Somerset Members of the Order of the British Empire 1881 births 1962 deaths