C. A. Parsons and Company

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C. A. Parsons and Company - Wikipedia

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C. A. Parsons and Company

Company type	Public
Industry	Engineering
Founded	1889 (1889)
Founder	Charles Algernon Parsons
Defunct	1997 (1997)
Fate	Acquired
Successor	Siemens Energy
Headquarters	Newcastle upon Tyne , England
Key people	Rachel Mary Parsons Claude Gibb
Products	Power generation equipment
Number of employees	7000 (1960s)

C. A. Parsons and Company was a British engineering firm which was once one of the largest employers on Tyneside. The company became Reyrolle Parsons in 1968, merged with Clarke Chapman to form Northern Engineering Industries in 1977, and became part of Rolls-Royce in 1989. Today the company is part of Siemens Energy.

History

The company was founded by Charles Algernon Parsons in 1889 to produce steam turbines, his own invention.^[1] At the beginning of the 20th century, the company was producing up to 50 turbines a year at its factory in Heaton in Newcastle upon Tyne.^[2]

Charles Algernon Parsons' son Algernon George "Tommy" Parsons joined the company as a director, but when he was called up for military service in the First World War, he was replaced by his sister, Rachel Mary Parsons, who was one of the first women to study engineering at University of Cambridge.^[3] During the First World War, the Parsons’ Works on Shields Road employed a large number of women on the factory floor.^[4] Following her brother's death during the war, Rachel Parsons did not resume her role as a director of the Heaton Works.^[3]

Sir Claude Gibb joined the company in the 1920s and became the company's chairman and managing director by the 1940s.^[5] During the Second World War the company assisted with the war effort to equip troops.^[6] Between 1945 and 1960 the company grew in size three-fold and large parts of the company's works at Heaton, Walkergate and Longbenton Works were rebuilt and expanded.^[6] In 1951 the original 1889 workshop was demolished and replaced with a six-storey office block.^[6] The company's heyday was in the 1960s, when the factory employed more than 7,000 people at its 100 acres (40 ha) site.^[2]

Parsons also patented and made novel searchlight mirrors between 1894 and 1923.^[7]

Nuclear power stations using Parsons steam turbines include Bradwell, Calder Hall, Dungeness, Heysham 2 and Oldbury in England^[8] and Chapelcross and Hunterston in Scotland.^[9]

Parsons took over the turbine and generator factories in Erith and Witton of the General Electric Company in the 1960s.^[10] The company merged with A. Reyrolle & Company to form Reyrolle Parsons in 1968.^[11] In 1977 Reyrolle Parsons merged with Clarke Chapman to form Northern Engineering Industries, which itself was acquired by Rolls-Royce in 1989.^[11]

The company survives today as part of Siemens Energy after Siemens acquired the business from Rolls-Royce in 1997.^[12] The Heaton Works site was renamed as the CA Parsons Works in honour of its founder. In the 2000s the operations at the Heaton works were severely cut to focus mainly on the servicing side of the business, concentrating manufacturing operations at the company's factories in Mülheim and Budapest.^[2]

Preserved turbines

Parsons turbines are on display in several museums in the UK, and across the world. These include the Discovery Museum in Newcastle, the Science Museum in London, and the Electric Power and Historical Museum, in Yokohama, Japan.^[2]

References

^ "Chronology of Charles Parsons". Birr Castle Demesne. Archived from the original on 25 December 2008.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Young, Peter (6 May 2003). "Generating a big demand". Evening Chronicle. Archived from the original on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
^ ^a ^b Raphael, E. L. "Rachel Parsons 1885–1956, woman engineer". Archived from the original on 19 June 2019. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
^ "Parsons' 'Women Labourers' photograph album, taken at Parsons' Works on Shields Road during the First World War". Tyne and Wear Museums and Archives.
^ "Fitter Who Became Managing Director". The Advertiser (Adelaide). Vol. 97, no. 29, 938. South Australia. 27 September 1954. p. 11. Retrieved 21 May 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
^ ^a ^b ^c Warburton, Dan (19 April 2009). "Focus on the famous Parsons factory in Heaton". ChronicleLive. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
^ Scaife, W.G.S (1 January 1999). "From Galaxies to Turbines: Science, Technology and the Parsons Family". CRC Press. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
^ "Nuclear Power Plants in the UK – England". Archived from the original on 19 July 2009. Retrieved 16 March 2008.
^ "Nuclear Power Plants in the UK – Scotland". Archived from the original on 19 July 2009. Retrieved 16 March 2008.
^ "GEC: Electricity Generation and Transmission". Graces Guide. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
^ ^a ^b NZR Cranes Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
^ Ward, David (29 August 2002). "Violence mars Leeds Festival". The Guardian. London.

Siemens

Divisions and
subsidiaries

Current

Former &
defunct

C. A. Parsons and Company¹
Dispolok²
Duewag¹
Helios²
Infineon Technologies²
Mentor Graphics¹
Osram²
Roke Manor Research²
ROLM¹
Siemens Communications¹
Siemens Dematic²
Siemens Home & Office Communication Devices²
Siemens Hearing Instruments²
Siemens IT Solutions & Services²
Siemens Mobile²
Siemens VAI¹
Siemens Nixdorf²
Siemens Plessey²
Siemens VDO²
Wincor Nixdorf²
Siemens Energy²
- Energy Sector
- Siemens Gamesa

Joint ventures &
investments

Current	Atos (15%)
Former & defunct	A2SEA (49%) Areva NP (34%) BiiN BSH Bosch & Siemens Home Appliances Gaggenau NEFF Eurotrain Fujitsu Siemens Computers KraussMaffei Nokia Siemens Networks (49.9%) PolyGram² (50%) Siemens Matsushita Components Unify (49%) Primetals Technologies² German Shanghai Metro Group

Predecessors

Products,
services &
projects

Current	FINEX Locomotives Multiple units Siemens Modular Metro Siemens Inspiro Siemens Desiro Siemens SP260D Siemens SP90G Siemens Velaro Simatic Software products Tram vehicles Mobility projects
Defunct	Elektrische Viktoria Mobile phones SIMpad

People

Places

Other

Phoebus cartel
Siemens Competition
Siemens Foundation
Siemens Open
Siemens scandals
- Japan, 1914
- Greece, 2008
Siemens and unions
Werner von Siemens Ring
List of Siemens products

¹Now integrated into other Siemens divisions or business groupings
²Sold

Category
Commons

Electricity generation in North East England

Generating
sites

Biomass

Active	Biomass Energy Centre Lynemouth Wilton 10
Proposed	BEI-Teesside Billingham North Blyth Tees Tyne REP

Coal

Closed	Berwick upon Tweed Blyth Carville Chopwell Colliery Close Consett Darlington Derwenthaugh Coke Works Dunston Forth Banks Horden Colliery Lemington Lynemouth Mainsforth Colliery Manors Neptune Bank Newburn Steelworks North Tees Pandon Dene Philadelphia South Shore Road South Shields Stella Sunderland Whinfield
Cancelled	Blyth Clean Coal Eston Grange Kepier

Gas

Active	Seal Sands Wilton
Closed	Teesside
Proposed	Thor Cogeneration Whitetail Clean Energy Wilton
Cancelled	Newburn

Hydro

Active	Derwent Kielder
Closed	Cragside

Nuclear

Active	Hartlepool
Cancelled	Druridge Bay

Oil

Active	Wilton

Waste

Active	Teesside Wilton 11
Closed	Blaydon Burn Derwenthaugh Coke Works Newburn Steelworks Portrack Whinfield
Proposed	North Eastern Energy Recovery Centre
Cancelled	Blyth

Wind

Active	Blyth Harbour Blyth Offshore Great Eppleton Holmside Hall Langley Park North Steads Teesside Trimdon Grange West Durham
Proposed	Kielder

Organisations
and personnel

History

Preserved turbines

See also

References