George Saxon & Co
Brook No. 2 Mill, Hollinwood, showing engine house suitable for a George Saxon four cylinder engine.
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| Industry | Engineering |
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| Founded | 1878 |
| Founder | George Saxon |
| Defunct | 1943 (closed) |
| Headquarters | Openshaw, Manchester, England |
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Number of locations
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3 Hawthorn Mill, Chadderton, Magnet Mill, Chadderton, Broadstone Mill, Reddish |
| Products | Triple expansion cross compound with Corliss valvess, Manhattan engine |
Coordinates: 53°28′26″N 2°10′45″W / 53.4740°N 2.1793°W
George Saxon & Co was an English engineering company that manufactured stationary steam engines. It was based in the Openshaw district of Manchester. The company produced large steam-driven engines for power stations and later for textile mills in Lancashire and elsewhere.
George Saxon was born in Manchester in 1821. He served an apprenticeship with William Fairbairn, and rose to supervisor. In 1851, he moved to be foreman at Benjamin Goodfellow's works in Hyde, Greater Manchester. Here in 1854, he invented and patented a fusible plug for steam boilers. That year he formed his own business at Spring Works, Openshaw, trading as George Saxon. He was a mill-wright. He probably started manufacturing steam engines in 1860. He patented many small improvements to engine design. He was elected president of the Manchester Association of Engineers in 1871. He was also a member if the Institute of Mechanical Engineers. In February 1879 he patented an automatic cut-off motion, which made his engines more economical. He believed in the use of a long cylinder stroke on his horizontal engines to produce more power. His sons followed him into the business and continued it after his death in 1879.
Up to 1860 Saxon appears to have mainly concentrated on engine repair work and producing mill gearing and shafting. Spring Works was extended in 1860 by the addition of an erecting shop, when engine making seems to have started in a small way, and was further expanded in 1870. An example of an early Saxon engine was one built in the 1860s for a Manchester confectionery firm which was a horizontal single cylinder non-condensing engine, 60 ihp, with a Meyer variable cut-off slide valve. The construction of larger engines had started by 1870/71 when they built a horizontal cross compound engine, possibly for an Oldham customer, which used steam at the relatively high pressure for that time of 100 lbs psi. By 1875 Saxon was building engines of between 750 and 1,000 ihp, for the new 'Oldham Limiteds'. These were mostly horizontal twin tandem compound engines - a 4-cylinder design for which Saxons became noted during the last quarter of the 19th century. During 1871–80 Saxons are known to have built at least 10 engines with a capacity of about 6,800 ihp, mostly for cotton mills.
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