Thomas Smith & Sons

Thomas Smith & Sons manufactured steam, diesel and electric powered cranes in their Old Foundry on a narrow strip of land between Town Street in Rodley near Leeds and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.

The history of the firm goes back to 1820 and a firm established by Thomas Smith's father David Smith in partnership with Jeremiah Balmforth and based in the nearby area of Calverley. Like several companies operating around Leeds at the time their business was supplying the machinery that would be used in the increasingly mechanised mills of the time. From 1840 hand operated cranes were added to their range of products and these would start a line of business that would be lucrative for all the partners and their descendants for many years. The company were joined by Jeremiah Booth in 1833, he left in 1847 and established his own 'Union Foundry' on Town Street, Rodley. That company also went on to produce large numbers of cranes and was passed on to Jeremiah Booth's son Joseph Booth in 1855, the name Joseph Booth & Bros was adopted.

In the 1850s the original partnership was also passed on to the next generation. Jeremiah Balmforth died in 1858 and his son William Balmforth replaced him, the following year David Smith was succeeded by his son Thomas. Around 1860 they started to produce steam powered cranes capable of handling much larger loads. In 1861 there was a fall out between Balmforth and Smith, Thomas Smith bought out the company and took over its running. William Balmforth set up a new firm the 'Peel Ings Foundry' and remained in the crane manufacturing business. As well as steam cranes they also produced a small number of vertical boilered locomotives. The Peel Ings Foundry didn't enjoy the same kind of success as the works of Thomas Smith and Joseph Booth though. It went bankrupt in 1916 and was bought by bridge maker Samuel Butler & Co but they closed down the works and began production of steam cranes for a time in their own works.

Thomas Smith brought his sons into his firm and they took over when he died in 1902. The company were incorporated as Thomas Smith & Sons in 1918.

One of the company's most popular products were fairly small steam powered cranes. Based on a tall central pivot and with the jib counterbalanced by the boiler these are commonly known as 'Leeds Type' cranes, they were either rail mounted where they were required to move around a site or ground mounted for the likes of quays. Joseph Booth also produced very similar cranes and with high demand at the time there were a few firms nearby that, though specialising in other products such as bridges and structural metal work, produced relatively small numbers of steam cranes. John Butler & Co, Samual Butler & Co (mentioned earlier), Isles and Whitaker Brothers are other local firms to have been involved in steam crane production.

...
Wikipedia