Vickers Aircraft
| Industry | Engineering |
|---|---|
| Fate | Acquired |
| Successor | Rolls-Royce plc |
| Founded | 1828 |
| Founder | Edward Vickers |
| Defunct | 1999 |
| Headquarters | London, UK |
| Products | Aircraft Armaments Ships |
| Subsidiaries | Metropolitan-Vickers |
Vickers was a famous name in British engineering that existed through many companies from 1828 until 1999.
Vickers was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by the miller Edward Vickers and his father-in-law George Naylor in 1828. Naylor was a partner in the foundry Naylor & Sanderson and Vickers' brother William owned a steel rolling operation. Edward's investments in the railway industry allowed him to gain control of the company, based at Millsands and known as Naylor Vickers and Company. It began life making steel castings and quickly became famous for casting church bells. In 1854 Vickers' sons Thomas (a militia officer known familiarly as 'Colonel Tom') and Albert joined the business and their considerable talents – Tom Vickers as a metallurgist and Albert as a team-builder and salesman – were key to its subsequent rapid development. "Its great architects," the historian Clive Trebilcock writes, "Colonel T.E. (1833–1915) and Albert (1838–1919) Vickers... provided both inspired technical leadership... and equally astute commercial direction. Both men were autocrats by temperament, but neither shunned advice or avoided delegation; each, but particularly Albert, had a marked gift for the selection of talented subordinates."
In 1863 the company moved to a new site in Sheffield on the River Don in Brightside.
The company went public in 1867 as Vickers, Sons & Company and gradually acquired more businesses, branching out into various sectors. In 1868 Vickers began to manufacture marine shafts, in 1872 they began casting marine propellers and in 1882 they set up a forging press. Vickers produced their first armour plate in 1888 and their first artillery piece in 1890.
Vickers bought out the Barrow-in-Furness shipbuilder The Barrow Shipbuilding Company in 1897, acquiring its subsidiary the Maxim Nordenfelt Guns and Ammunition Company. at the same time, to become Vickers, Sons & Maxim.
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