JA Prestwich Industries
| Industry | Engineering and pencil manufacturing |
|---|---|
| Predecessor | J.A.Prestwich and Company Limited and Pencils Limited |
| Successor | Villiers Engineering |
| Founded | 1951 |
| Defunct | 1964 |
| Headquarters | Tariff Road, Northumberland Park, London |
|
Key people
|
John Alfred Prestwich |
| Products | Industrial and motorcycle engines, pencils |
JA Prestwich Industries, was an English manufacturing company named after founder John Alfred Prestwich, which was formed in 1951 by the amalgamation of J.A.Prestwich and Company Limited and Pencils Ltd.
John Prestwich, an engineer, commenced manufacture of scientific instruments in 1895, when he was 20, initially behind his father's house at 1 Lansdowne Road, Tottenham, London. By 1911 he had moved to new premises in Tariff Road, within the Northumberland Park area of Tottenham, London, and which still exists as of 2015. Prestwich was initially best known for his cinematography cameras and projectors He worked with S.Z. de Ferranti and later the cinema pioneer William Friese-Greene.
In about 1902 J.A.Prestwich and Company started the manufacture of motorcycle engines which were used in many famous motorcycle marques. The motorcycle engines were associated with racing and record success and were still used in speedway bikes well into the 1960s. Prestwich also made some engines for aeroplanes. In 1919 Prestwich formed Pencils Limited to exploit his invention of new machinery and the company made Master Pencils, also in Tariff Road. In the nineteen thirties engine production increasingly focused on small industrial and agricultural engines. During WWII Prestwich produced around 240,000 industrial petrol engines in support of the war effort, together with millions of aircraft parts, fuses, etc.
In 1951 the assets of J.A.Prestwich and Company Limited and Pencils Ltd were taken over by J.A.Prestwich Industries Limited which was registered on 23 April 1951 and floated on the London Stock Exchange shortly after. By 1957 practically all the shares in the company had been acquired by Villiers Engineering Company Limited of Wolverhampton, which also made motorcycle and industrial engines. The engineering works in Northumberland Park closed in 1963 and J.A.Prestwich Industries Limited was liquidated in 1964.
Papers, photographs and publicity material relating to the company are held at the Bruce Castle Museum Tottenham and the Science Museum Library & Archives at the Science Museum at Wroughton.
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