Walter Somers (1839 – 1917) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

and businessman who established a forge company, later known as Walter Somers Limited, producing a range of steel products including items for military use by the British Admiralty during World War I. In 1866 Somers was given a loan of £100 by his father and took on a short lease on an ironworks complex at Mucklow Hill,

Halesowen Halesowen ( ) is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the county of West Midlands, England. Historically an exclave of Shropshire and, from 1844, in Worcestershire, the town is around from Birmingham city centre, and fro ...

, establishing a forgemaster business. Initially focused on production of chains and anchors, the business later also produced axles and railway buffers. By the last decade of the 19th century, it was delivering forgings to Admiralty specifications - a customer relationship that continued throughout World War I. Somers' company also produced parts of the anchors used on the RMS ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unit ...

''. In 1907 Somers bought Belle Vue House on Mucklow Hill, installing electricity in the house. Overhead lines from a generator at Somers' works supplied current for the house until the 1920s when it connected to public services. Somers died in 1917, leaving the company under the direction of his two sons, Seth and Frank. Frank Somers was managing director until 1954.

Legacy

Walter Somers Limited was incorporated in 1919. However, it became embroiled in the Arms-for-Iraq scandal in the 1980s. The business was acquired by the local Folkes Group in the 1990s and the main Mucklow Hill site operates as Somers Forge Ltd. The subsidiaries Somers Handling and Somers Vehicle Lifts also still trade in the Halesowen area. Halesowen town centre was regenerated in the 2000s and the people of the town were given a chance to vote on naming the central pedestrianised area. They chose to name it Somers Square. The family also left legacies of the Somers Sports and Social Club, the Cycling and Athletic Club, the British Legion Club and the Seth Somers Park on which stands the Halesowen Cricket Club.

References

1917 deaths English engineers People from Repton Businesspeople in steel 1839 births 19th-century English businesspeople {{UK-business-bio-stub