The Edison and Swan Electric Light Company Limited was a manufacturer of incandescent lamp bulbs and other electrical goods. It was formed in 1883 with the name Edison & Swan United Electric Light Company with the merger of the Swan United Electric Company and the Edison Electric Light Company.

Thomas 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 inventi ...

established the Edison Electric Light Company in 1878.

Joseph Swan Sir Joseph Wilson Swan FRS (31 October 1828 – 27 May 1914) was an English physicist, chemist, and inventor. He is known as an independent early developer of a successful incandescent light bulb, and is the person responsible for develop ...

established the Swan United Electric Light Company in 1881. Swan sued Edison in the UK, claiming patent infringement; this was upheld by the British courts. In 1882, Edison sued Swan, claiming infringement of his 1879 U.S. patent; however, the Edison Company believed their case would be jeopardized if Swan could demonstrate prior research and publication. Subsequently, in order to avoid uncertain and expensive litigation, the two companies negotiated a merger. The glass bulbs sold in Britain were of Swan's design, while the filaments were of Edison's. From 1887 or earlier Sir

Ambrose Fleming Sir John Ambrose Fleming FRS (29 November 1849 – 18 April 1945) was an English electrical engineer and physicist who invented the first thermionic valve or vacuum tube, designed the radio transmitter with which the first transatlantic radi ...

was an adviser to the company, and conducted research at Ponders End. The company had offices at 155 Charing Cross Road, London, and factories in Brimsdown,

Ponders End Ponders End is the southeasternmost part of Enfield, north London, centred on the Hertford Road. Situated to the west of the River Lee Navigation, it became industrialised through the 19th century, similar to the Lea Valley in neighbouring Ed ...

and Sunderland. In 1928, the company was acquired by Associated Electrical Industries. In 1956, a new cathode ray tube plant was opened in Sunderland. The company was renamed Siemens Ediswan following the takeover of Siemens Brothers by AEI in 1957. In 1964, AEI merged its lamp and radio valve manufacturing interests with those of

Thorn Electrical Industries Thorn Electrical Industries Limited was a British electrical engineering company. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange, but merged with EMI Group to form Thorn EMI in 1979. It was de-merged in 1996 and became a constituent of the FTSE 100 ...

to form British Lighting Industries Ltd.

Ediswan Valves

Edison Swan (or later Siemens Edison Swan) produced a wide range of

vacuum tube A vacuum tube, electron tube, valve (British usage), or tube (North America), is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric potential difference has been applied. The type known as ...

s and cathode ray tubes under the names "Ediswan" or "Mazda" and the 1964 Mazda Valve Data Book claimed: "Professor Sir. Ambrose Fleming... was Technical Consultant to the Edison Swan Company at the time. It was this close co-operation between University and Factory which resulted in the first radio valve in the world." Ediswan still survives as a manufacturer of valves (located in Bromsgrove England).

References

External links

* http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Edison_Swan_Electric_Co * http://www.vintage-technology.info/pages/ephemera/vemazda.htm {{Thomas Edison Electrical engineering companies of the United Kingdom Lighting brands Vacuum tubes General Electric Company Associated Electrical Industries Manufacturing companies established in 1883

Ediswan Valves

See also

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Further reading

External links