Charles Burrell & Sons
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| Limited Liability Company | |
| Industry | Agricultural Engineering |
| Successor | Richard Garrett & Sons |
| Founded | 1770 |
| Defunct | 1928 |
| Headquarters | Thetford, Norfolk, England |
| Products |
Showmans Locomotives Traction Engines Road Rollers Portable Engines |
Charles Burrell & Sons were builders of steam traction engines, agricultural machinery, steam trucks and steam tram engines. The company were based in Thetford, Norfolk and operated from the St Nicholas works on Minstergate and St Nicholas Street some of which survives today.
At their height they employed over 350 people and were the largest employer within the town. The company became known for producing reliable and good-looking steam-powered engines which were always built to customers' requirements. The company declined after the First World War when internal combustion engines started to become a cheaper alternative to steam engines. The company finally closed in 1928, with the final engines being built Richard Garrett & Sons at Leiston, Suffolk.
In 1770 a Joseph Burrell, a master smith, established a small forge in Thetford, for the manufacture and repair of agricultural implements. In 1801 a Joseph Burrell was found to be advertising "Chaff Engines, Drill Rolls and Drill Machines", items of agricultural equipment, from his foundry on Kings Street Thetford. By 1805 Joseph had joined with his two brothers James and William and were advertising Threshing Machines for sale. In 1817 Charles Burrell was born. Charles was James Burrell's third child. William Burrell died in 1822 and Joseph died in 1831. The sole surviving brother James inherited the business; five years later he died, and control of the business passed to his son and Joseph's nephew, Charles, in 1836 when he was only 19 years old.
Charles Burrell built the company's first steam engine in 1848. Initially like most other manufacturers they built portable engines but they gradually moved into self-moving agricultural engines and later engines built specifically for road transport. In 1856 they built the first road haulage engine in conjunction with James Boydell. Boydell had invented a system where flat boards were attached to a wheel loosely at their centers, as the wheels revolved they were capable of spreading the weight of an engine over the surface of the board, versions of these became known as Dreadnaught Wheels. The wheels were unlike the continuous track used in tanks today.
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Wikipedia