Joseph Allen Baker

Joseph Allen Baker (10 April 1852 – 3 July 1918) was a Canadian-born British engineer, specialising in machinery for the confectionery and bakery industries and later in transportation systems, who was also a Liberal Party politician in London.

Joseph Allen Baker was born at Maple Ridge Farm in Trenton, Ontario the son of Joseph Baker, an engineer. The Baker family were Quakers by religion. Baker was educated at Trenton High School. In 1878 he married Elizabeth Moscrip of Morebattle, Kelso, Roxburghshire. They had three sons and four daughters.

Baker followed his father's professional footsteps and entered the family engineering business. He left Canada for London in 1878 and established a firm, Baker & Sons, with his brothers, of which he became chairman in 1892 on the death of his father. In 1879 they set up business in Finsbury but the trade expanded and, in 1890 a move was made to a large, newly built engineering works in Hythe Road, Willesden, where it remained for the next 43 years. As Quakers, the Baker family tried to run a model business taking a paternal interest in the welfare of their workforce and introducing schemes such as shorter working days, encouraging employees to participate in health and insurance plans and fostering a relaxed approach on the shop floor, perhaps to the detriment of profits. The company had interests in Britain, Canada, Australia and the USA.

Baker was prominently connected with the tramways in London and the extension of the tramway system in the London County Council area. He published special reports on tramway traction and recommended the conduit system for London. Baker and Sons also had connections to the motor car industry and in around 1902, the company held an agency for the American car manufacturers Stevens-Duryea. They later designed and built their own lorry for deliveries to the London docks. Baker & Sons merged with Perkins Engineers Ltd in 1919 to form Baker Perkins Ltd.

...
Wikipedia