Ransomes, Sims & Jefferies
Encyclopedia
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
agricultural machinery maker producing a wide range of products including traction engine
Traction engine
A traction engine is a self-propelled steam engine used to move heavy loads on roads, plough ground or to provide power at a chosen location. The name derives from the Latin tractus, meaning 'drawn', since the prime function of any traction engine is to draw a load behind it...
s, ploughs, lawn mowers, combine harvesters and other tilling equipment. They also manufactured aeroplanes during the First World War. Their railway equipment business was continued by Ransomes & Rapier after 1869. The company was based in Ipswich
Ipswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...
.
History
The company was founded, as Ransomes, in 1789 by Robert Ransome, an iron-founder in NorwichNorwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
before moving to Ipswich where he started casting ploughshares in a disused malting at St Margaret's Ditches in Ipswich
Ipswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...
, with capital of £200 and one employee.
As a result of a mishap in his foundry, a broken mould caused molten metal to come into contact with cold metal, making the metal surface extremely hard – chilled casting
Cast iron
Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...
– which he advertised as 'self sharpening' ploughs, and received patents for his discovery.
Ransomes produced the 'Automaton' hand-powered lawn mower in 1867.
Prior to 1869 the company changed its name to Ransomes, Sims & Head.
In 1869 four engineers, J.A. Ransome, R.J. Ransome, R.C. Rapier and A.A. Bennett, left the company by agreement to establish 'Ransomes & Rapier', also based in Ipswich to continue the business of railway equipment and other heavy works.
In 1902 Ransomes produced the first commercially available powered lawn mower
Lawn mower
A lawn mower is a machine that uses a revolving blade or blades to cut a lawn at an even length.Lawn mowers employing a blade that rotates about a vertical axis are known as rotary mowers, while those employing a blade assembly that rotates about a horizontal axis are known as cylinder or reel...
, driven by an internal combustion gasoline engine.
Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2
The Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2 was a two-seat pusher biplane that was operated as a day and night bomber and as a fighter aircraft by the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War...
fighters. While the Director was responsible for the design of the modern trench mortar.
In 1989 the whole of the agricultural implement business was sold to Electrolux
Electrolux
The Electrolux Group is a Swedish appliance maker.As of 2010 the 2nd largest home appliance manufacturer in the world after Whirlpool, its products sell under a variety of brand names including its own and are primarily major appliances and vacuum cleaners...
and merged with their subsidiary Overum
Överum
Överum is a locality situated in Västervik Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden with 1,270 inhabitants in 2005....
.
This left Ransomes solely as a manufacturer of lawn mowers, with the Westwood and Mountfield mower brands. The company accepted a take-over offer from Textron Inc., USA, and their independent existence ended early in 1998.
The history of company is the subject of an exhibition at the Museum of East Anglian Life
Museum of East Anglian Life
The Museum of East Anglian Life is a Museum located in Stowmarket Suffolk, it specialises in presenting the agricultural history of East Anglia through a mixture of exhibits and living history demonstrations. It has recently taken to abbreviating itself as 'MEAL'.-History of the Museum:The site of...
in Stowmarket
Stowmarket
-See also:* Stowmarket Town F.C.* Stowmarket High School-External links:* * * * *...
, Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
and they are also represented in Ipswich Transport Museum
Ipswich Transport Museum
The Ipswich Transport Museum is a museum in Ipswich, Suffolk, England devoted principally to the history of road vehicles as represented by those used or built in its local area....
.
Ransomes & Rapier
Ransomes & Rapier was formed in 1869 when four engineers, J.A. Ransome, R.J. Ransome, R.C. Rapier and A.A. Bennett, left the parent company by agreement to establish a new company on a site on the River OrwellRiver Orwell
The River Orwell flows through the county of Suffolk in England. Its source river, above the tidal limit at Stoke Bridge, is known as the River Gipping. It broadens into an estuary at Ipswich where the Ipswich dock has operated since the 7th century and then flows into the North Sea at Felixstowe...
to continue the business of railway equipment and other heavy works.
The company built the locomotives for the Woosung Road (or Woosung Railway) which was the first railway in China. The railway opened in 1876 but was demolished the following year.
During the First World War they produced shells, guns and tank turrets.
The company merged with Newton, Chambers & Company
Newton, Chambers & Company
It was in 1789 that George Newton and Thomas Chambers entered into a partnership that would result in the founding of one of England's largest industrial companies of that era, Newton, Chambers & Co.-History:...
of Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
s and formed the NCK
NCK
NCK , started as a subsidiary of Newton, Chambers & Company, a large engineering company based in Sheffield, England. They produced the range of NCK agricultural equipment, skimmers, excavators, cranes and draglines that were renowned for high quality and long life, typically over 20 years...
excavator division to form NCK-Rapier who built walking draglines
Dragline excavator
A dragline excavator is a piece of heavy equipment used in civil engineering and surface mining.In civil engineering the smaller types are used for road, port construction, and as pile driving rigs. The larger types are used in strip-mining operations to move overburden above coal, and for...
used in opencast
Opencast
Opencast is a term to describe audio and video content, primarily in an academic context. It combines the terms "Open" for Open Source and/or Open Access and "Broadcast"...
mining.
Ransomes and Rapier built the model W1400 walking dragline called Sundew
Sundew (dragline)
Sundew was a large electrically powered dragline excavator used in mining operations in Rutland and Northamptonshire in the United Kingdom.Built by Ransomes & Rapier and named after the winning horse of the 1957 Grand National , it began work in a Rutland iron ore quarry belonging to Stewarts &...
for The United Steel Company iron ore quarry at Exton Park, Rutland, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. At the time it was built in 1951, it was the largest in the world, weighing in at 1880 tons.
Ransomes & Rapier sold the right to their walking dragline technology and patents to Bucyrus International
Bucyrus International
Bucyrus International, Inc. , was an American surface and underground mining equipment company. Founded as Bucyrus Foundry and Manufacturing Company in Bucyrus, Ohio, in 1880, Bucyrus moved company headquarters to South Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1893. In its early history, Bucyrus produced steam...
in 1988.
The turntable used to turn the revolving restaurant on the BT Tower
BT Tower
The BT Tower is a tall cylindrical building in London, United Kingdom, located at 60 Cleveland Street, Fitzrovia W1T 4JZ, London Borough of Camden. It has been previously known as the Post Office Tower, the London Telecom Tower and the British Telecom Tower. The main structure is tall, with a...
was also built by Ransome & Rapier.
Ransomes and Rapier closed in 1987.
Publications
- "Good Ploughing" by E.J. Roworth, published by Ransomes Sims & Jefferies Ltd. 1973?
See also
- Francis Goold Morony StoneyFrancis Goold Morony StoneyFrancis Goold Morony Stoney was a Victorian era Irish engineer, noted for his work on sluice design.-Early life and education:Francis Goold Morony Stoney was born on 5 April 1837 at Arran Hill , County Tipperary, the son of Thomas G. Stoney, a Justice of the peace...
- Sir Richard Rapier StokesRichard StokesMajor Sir Richard Rapier Stokes MC was a British Labour politician who served briefly as Lord Privy Seal in 1951....
(1897–1957) – who became Chairman and Managing Director of Ransomes & Rapier. - NCKNCKNCK , started as a subsidiary of Newton, Chambers & Company, a large engineering company based in Sheffield, England. They produced the range of NCK agricultural equipment, skimmers, excavators, cranes and draglines that were renowned for high quality and long life, typically over 20 years...