Dobson & Barlow Ltd.

Allgemeines

NameDobson & Barlow Ltd.
OrtssitzBolton (Lancsh)
StraßeKay Street
Art des UnternehmensTextilmaschinenfabrik
AnmerkungenGründer: Isaac Dobson (1767-1833) und Peter Ruthwell (gest. 1816); Nachfolger: Neffe Benjamin Dobson (1787-1839); dann dessen Sohn Benjamin Dobson (1823-1874) mit Edward Barlow (1821-1868) als Partner; dann Urenkel des Gründers Benjamin Alfred Dobson (1847-1898) mit Thomas Henry Rushton (18451903) als Partner. Anfangs: Black Horse Street, seit 1850 Kay Street.
Quellenangaben[Kgl. Technikum Reutlingen (1912/13) 31] [Katalog Textile Machinery Exhibition Manchester (1925), Ebay] [Farnie: Sir B. A. Dobson (Internet)] http://www.stmarksbolton.webspace.virginmedia.com
HinweiseBestand im "Bolton Museum and Archive Service" [http://www.boltonmuseums.org.uk]: (ZDB, ZZ/36, 477) Correspondence and papers relating to wages, strikes, industrial disputes, working conditions and prices; sale catalogue of Blackhorse Street Works; plan of Kay Street Works; title deeds of Great Bolton, Little Bolton and Tonge-with-Haulgh; trade catalogue, scrap book; accounts of Waterloo Mill, Chorley 1706-1944




Unternehmensgeschichte

Zeit Ereignis
1767 Geburt von Isaac Dobson
1790 Gründung durch den Möbeltischler Isaac Dobson (1767 - 1833) für die Herstellung von Textilmaschinen. In Partnerschaft mit dem Holzhändler Peter Rothwell (+1816) baut man Spinnmaschinen ("mules") in der Blackhorse Street.
1833 Tod von Isaac Dobson
1850 Die Firma eröffnet vor 1850 eine größere Fabrik in der Kay Street, die in größerem Umfang Ausstattungen von Textilfabriken baut.
1851 Edward Barlow (1821-1861) wird Partner
1868 Tod des Partners Edward Barlow; der Name der Firma bleibt bestehen.
1871 Benjamin Dobson II zieht sich zurück, und sein Neffe Benjamin Alfred Dobson wird zusammen mit Thomas Henry Rushton Teilhalber.
1871 Die Herstellung der Heilmann'schen Kämmmaschine beginnt. Sie wird von Benjamin Alfred Dobson verbessert, und ihre Produktivität steigt um die Hälfte.
1872 Benjamin Dobson wird Mitglied der Institution of Mechanical Engineers
1874 Dobson investiert in erste GmbH in Bolton, die "Bolton Union Spinning Co. Ltd."
1874 Beginn der Herstellung von Ringspinnmaschinen
1878 Erste Patente in den USA und in Deutschland
1880 Erste Patente in Belgien und Frankreich
1883 Der erste fremdsprachige Katalog wird herausgegeben.
1884 Die "William Dobson's improved flexible spindle" wird patentiert.
1886 Die Firma macht dem Museum in Bolton eine Original-"mule" von Crompton zum Geschenk.
1886 Erste Patente in Österreich
1886 Die "Simplex Revolving Flat Card" kommt als Neuerung heraus.
1887 Lieferung von Ringspinnmaschinen in neue Spinnereien in Japan in direktem Wettbewerb mit Platt Bros.
Ende 1880er Jahre Um diese Zeit werden zwischen 600 und 650 Webstühle im Jahr hergestellt.
1888 Dobson & Barlow ist in der Lage, an Spinnereien in Bolton Spinnmaschinen für Garnnummern bis zu 160 zu liefern
1889 Ausrüstung der ersten Spinnereien auf Ceylon durch Dobson & Barlow
1889 Erste Patente in der Schweiz
1890 Ausrüstung der ersten Spinnereien in der Türkei durch Dobson & Barlow
1890 Die "Simplex Revolving Flat Card" wird verbessert.
1890 Ein Gewinnverteilungssystem wird eingeführt, wobei den Anleiheinhabern ein Anteil an den Gewinnen und an Anteilen/Zinsen gesichert wird.
1891 Umwandlung in eine GmbH mit einem Kapital von 750.000 Pfund (1/4 des Kapitals von Platt Bros.)
1891 Dobson rüstet neue Spinnereien in China aus.
1891 Einführung der elektrischen Schweißung bei der Fertigung von Ringspinnmaschinen
1895 Bis 1895 hat Dobson 77 Prozent der 180.000 Spinnspindeln, die Shanghai laufen, geliefert.
1896 B. A. Dobson unterrichtet während einer Weltreise über die Baumwollindustrie in Japan. Er erhält von der "Japan Cotton Spinners' Association" einen hervorragend lackierten Schrank als Geschenk.
1897 Ausrüstung der ersten Spinnereien in Peru durch Dobson & Barlow
1898 38 Prozent der Produktion entfällt auf Ringspinnmaschinen (= 42 Prozent der Produktionsmenge von Platt Bros.)
1898 Die Firma erhält seit 1869 128 englische und 50 ausländische Patente.
04.03.1898 Tod von Benjamin Dobson auf seinem Gut Doffcockers
07.03.1898 Beisetzung von Benjamin Dobson in St. Peter's Church, Smithills, Bolton. An seiner Beerdigung nehmen ca. 20.000 Menschen teil.
1901-1903 Herstellung der ersten Kunstseidespinnmaschine für eine Firma in Zürich
1906 Bau einer zweiten Produktionsstätte in Bradley Fold. Die Mitglieder der Familie Dobson halten Schlüsselstellungen im Direktorium der GmbH.
1. Weltkrieg Während des Ersten Weltkrieges wird Dobson & Barlow Ltd. einer der bedeutendsten Hersteller von Munition in der Region. Die Firma stellt einen großen Bereich von Kriegsausrüstungen, einschließlich "Mills No. 5"-Handgranten, Artillerie-Granathülsen, Feldküchen, mobile Werkstätten, Schiffsmaschinen und Suchlichter her. Neben der bemerkenswerten Unterbrechung der normalen Aktivitäten durch die Munitionsproduktion, bewerben sich ca. 1.600 männliche Arbeiter für die Streitkräfte.
1931 Dobson & Barlow wird in die "Textile Machinery Makers Ltd." eingegliedert und verliert danach viel ihrer Selbständigkeit. Die "Textile Machinery Makers Ltd." soll sowohl den Wettbewerb verringern als auch Verluste vermeiden. Sie ist ein Kartell, zusammengesetzt aus "Dobson & Barlow", "Platt Brothers", "Howard & Bullough", "Asa Lees" and "Brooks & Doxey" mit "Tweedales & Smalley", einem Mitglied mit Assoziierten-Status. Stanley H. L Greaves von "Dobson & Barlow" wird Sekretär der TMM Ltd. bei ihrem Beginn, und Sir Walter Preston ist ihr bank-ernannter Vorsitzender.
1931 Zusammenschluß mit mit "Platt Brothers", "Howard & Bullough", "Asa Lees & Co.", "Brooks & Doxey", "Joseph Hibbert", "John Hetherington" und "Tweedales & Smalley" fusioniert zu "Textile Machinery Makers Ltd."
1975 Die Firma verliert den Namen ihrer Gründer.
1986 Schließung




Produkte

Produkt ab Bem. bis Bem. Kommentar
Flügelspinnmaschinen 1900 jedenfalls 1912 in Reutlingen 1900 jedenfalls 1912 in Reutlingen  
Horizontal-Doppelöffner 1900 jedenfalls 1912 in Reutlingen 1900 jedenfalls 1912 in Reutlingen  
Karden 1900 jedenfalls 1912 in Reutlingen 1900 jedenfalls 1912 in Reutlingen  
Kämmaschinen 1871 Beginn     Heilmann'sche, mit eigenen Verbesserungen
Ringspinnmaschinen 1874 Beginn 1900 jedenfalls 1912 in Reutlingen  
Selfaktoren 1875 vmtl. schon in den 1870er Jahren 1900 jedenfalls 1912 in Reutlingen  
Spinnmaschinen 1790 Beginn (Gründung) 1984 Ende (Schließung)  
Strecken 1900 jedenfalls 1912 in Reutlingen 1900 jedenfalls 1912 in Reutlingen  




Personal

Zeit gesamt Arbeiter Angest. Lehrl. männl. weibl. Kommentar
1860 1600            
1873 2000           1871 werden 14 % der Bevölkerung von Bolton von der Firma unterhalten.
1890 3700            
1897 4000           1898 werden 20 % der Boltoner Bevölkerung von der Firma ernährt.
1913 4000            




Allgemeines

THEMAVita von Benjamin Dobson
TEXTIn 1876 Benjamin Dobson married Coralie Palin (1853?1904), daughter of William Thomas Palin, a railway engineer serving in India. They had six sons and three daughters. In 1886 Dobson bought the Doffcockers estate, and later another estate at Haverthwaite in Westmorland. His talents were widely recognized within his own profession. He became a member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1872: he served as a member of its council from 1885 to 1891 and again from 1893 to 1894. The firm overcame opposition from its workmen to the introduction of improved methods of working. It emerged victorious from local strikes in 1875 and 1887 as well as from a national strike in 1897?8. Dobson was elected chairman of the Bolton Engineering Employers' Association, and president of the Bolton Iron Trades Employers' Association as well as, in 1893, an honorary member of the Manchester Association of Engineers. He was chosen by the Engineering Employers' Federation as a representative at the conferences which ended the strike of 1897?8. He entered the Bolton town council in 1874 as a Conservative, and was elected an alderman and borough magistrate in 1880. He took a prominent part in the formation of Bolton Conservative council in 1884, and became the leader of the local Conservative Party. He was an enthusiastic churchman as well as a freemason. He was especially proud of his service as a rifle volunteer with the Loyal North Lancashire regiment, wherein he rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel and earned the Volunteer Decoration for twenty years of service. As a town councillor he worked steadily from 1887 for the improvement in the facilities available for technical education, endowing scholarships for his workmen, but always viewing education as a lifelong process. As chairman of the council's Technical Instruction committee, he helped to transform the mechanics' institute into a new technical school, which was opened in 1892 and was equipped free of charge with machinery from his firm's own workshops.

In 1894 a new phase in his life began when Dobson was elected mayor of Bolton, having earlier declined the honour. The appointment was an inspired one, for Dobson had become the borough's senior magistrate as well as its leading businessman, and had been elected president of Bolton's chamber of commerce in 1893. Dobson proved to be an outstanding success as mayor and more popular than any of his predecessors. His personal qualities served him as well in public life as they had in the conduct of business. He was a born leader of men, with a commanding presence, and a pronounced capacity for persuasive speech. Those qualities were reinforced by his keen insight, his sure grasp of detail, his immense tact, and his great determination. He succeeded where two previous mayors had failed, in conciliating the opposition of the out-townships to incorporation in a ?Greater Bolton?. As mayor he accepted office in a dozen associations established for charitable purposes. He had been a governor of Bolton School since 1882. He became vice-president of Bolton Infirmary and president of Bolton Humane Society. As the first citizen of the borough he held official functions for his fellow Boltonians, a ball for children in the town hall, a garden party at Doffcockers, and an autumn conversazione and a Christmas party for the aged poor. Three times he was re-elected to office, in 1895, in 1896, and in 1897, becoming the first mayor of Bolton to hold office for a fourth term. In recognition of his civic services he was knighted in the Queen's Diamond Jubilee honours of 1897, a dignity never conferred upon any member of the Platt family.

In his fifty-first year, and apparently still in the prime of life, Dobson died at Doffcockers on 4 March 1898. The military funeral was attended by some 20,000 people, by mourners occupying 300 carriages, and by 33 clergymen: it became the occasion for an unprecedented display of public sympathy, and for heart-felt allusions from some 31 pulpits. Dobson was buried on 7 March at St Peter's Church, Smithills, Bolton. He left an estate of £240,134 where his uncle had left one of £140,000 in 1874. His eldest son, Benjamin Palin Dobson (1878?1936) left only £37,646. The profits generated by the firm were apparently reaped by the Rushton family. Dobson's death preceded the year of peak demand for the firm's machines in 1906. Dobson and Barlow had, however, continued to look to the future and manufactured in 1901?3 the first rayon spinning machine, for a Zürich firm. The works lost the name of its founders in 1975 and were closed in 1984. Bolton retained however a permanent memorial of Benjamin Alfred Dobson in the form of a 20 feet tall statue in Victoria Square, outside the town's magnificent town hall. The statue was sculpted by John Cassidy (1860?1939) and was unveiled on 17 February 1900 in the presence of 20,000 spectators. It bore the inscription ?erected by public subscription to commemorate a useful life and service to the town of Bolton?. The statue was never moved from its site, unlike the statue of John Platt erected in Oldham in 1878.
QUELLE[Farnie: Sir B. A. Dobson (Internet)]