C. A. Parsons and Company was a British engineering firm which was once one of the largest employers on

Tyneside Tyneside is a built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne in northern England. Residents of the area are commonly referred to as Geordies. The whole area is surrounded by the North East Green Belt. The population of Tyneside as publishe ...

. The company became Reyrolle Parsons in 1968, merged with

Clarke Chapman Clarke Chapman is a British engineering firm based in Gateshead, which was formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange. History The company was founded in 1864 in Gateshead by William Clarke (1831–1890). In 1865 Clarke took in a partne ...

to form Northern Engineering Industries in 1977, and became part of

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

in 1989. Today the company is part of Siemens Energy.

History

The company was founded by

Charles Algernon Parsons Sir Charles Algernon Parsons, (13 June 1854 – 11 February 1931) was an Anglo-Irish engineer, best known for his invention of the compound steam turbine, and as the eponym of C. A. Parsons and Company. He worked as an engineer on d ...

in 1889 to produce steam turbines, his own invention. 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 Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

. 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 World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he was replaced by his sister,

Rachel Mary Parsons Rachel Mary Parsons (1885–1956), engineer and advocate for women's employment rights, was the founding President of the Women's Engineering Society in Britain on 23 June 1919. Early life Rachel Mary Parsons was born in 1885, to Sir Charle ...

, who was one of the first women to study engineering at

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

. During the First World War, the Parsons’ Works on Shields Road employed a large number of women on the factory floor. Following her brother's death during the war, Rachel Parsons did not resume her role as a director of the Heaton Works. Sir Claude Gibb joined the company in the 1920s and became the company's chairman and managing director by the 1940s. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

the company assisted with the war effort to equip troops. 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. In 1951 the original 1889 workshop was demolished and replaced with a six-storey office block. The company's heyday was in the 1960s, when the factory employed more than 7,000 people at its site. Parsons also patented and made novel searchlight mirrors between 1894 and 1923. Nuclear power stations using Parsons steam turbines include Bradwell, Calder Hall,

Dungeness Dungeness () is a headland on the coast of Kent, England, formed largely of a shingle beach in the form of a cuspate foreland. It shelters a large area of low-lying land, Romney Marsh. Dungeness spans Dungeness Nuclear Power Station, the hamlet ...

, Heysham 2 and Oldbury in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and Chapelcross and

Hunterston Hunterston, by the Firth of Clyde, is a coastal area in Ayrshire, Scotland. It is the seat and estate of the Hunter family. As an area of flat land adjacent to deep natural water, it has been the site of considerable actual and proposed industri ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. Parsons took over the turbine and generator factories in Errith and Witton of the General Electric Company in the 1960s. The company merged with A. Reyrolle & Company to form Reyrolle Parsons in 1968.NZR Cranes
In 1977 Reyrolle Parsons merged with

to form Northern Engineering Industries, which itself was acquired by Rolls-Royce in 1989. The company survives today as part of Siemens Energy after Siemens acquired the business from Rolls-Royce in 1997. 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 Mülheim, officially Mülheim an der Ruhr () and also described as ''"City on the River"'', is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. It is located in the Ruhr Area between Duisburg, Essen, Oberhausen and Ratingen. It is home to many compa ...

and

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

Preserved turbines

Parsons turbines are on display in several museums in the UK, and across the world. These include the

Discovery Museum The Discovery Museum is a science museum and local history museum situated in Blandford Square in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It displays many exhibits of local history, including the ship, '' Turbinia''. It is managed by Tyne & Wear Archives ...

in Newcastle, the

Science Museum A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in ...

in London, and the Electric Power and Historical Museum, in

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of T ...

, Japan.

References

Siemens Manufacturing companies established in 1889 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1997 British companies established in 1889 British companies disestablished in 1997 1889 establishments in England 1997 disestablishments in England Engine manufacturers of the United Kingdom Manufacturing companies based in Newcastle upon Tyne Marine engine manufacturers Steam turbines Steam turbine manufacturers 1989 mergers and acquisitions {{UK-company-stub

History

Preserved turbines

See also

References