Maxim-Nordenfeldt Factory, Erith - Cassier's 1895-04

The Maxim-Nordenfelt Guns and Ammunition Company was the result of a takeover by Hiram Maxim of

Thorsten Nordenfelt Thorsten Nordenfelt (1 March 1842 – 8 February 1920), was a Swedish inventor and industrialist. Career Nordenfelt was born in Örby outside Kinna, Sweden, the son of a colonel. The surname was and is often spelled Nordenfeldt, though Thorsten ...

's Nordenfelt Guns and Ammunition Company in 1888.

Rothschild Rothschild () is a name derived from the German ''zum rothen Schild'' (with the old spelling "th"), meaning "with the red sign", in reference to the houses where these family members lived or had lived. At the time, houses were designated by sign ...

issued £1.9 million of shares to finance the merger. Nathan Rothschild retained a substantial shareholding in the new Maxim-Nordenfelt combine and ‘exerted a direct influence over its management’.

History

The company produced a range of light artillery, machine guns and ammunition. It was the subject of one of history's most famous court cases in 1894, Nordenfelt v Maxim, Nordenfelt Guns and Ammunition Co, in which Nordenfelt successfully claimed that the takeover condition preventing him from competing with Maxim for 25 years "in any way" was an unreasonable restraint of trade, but failed to overturn the main condition preventing Nordenfelt from competing with Maxim in the guns and ammunition trade for 25 years. The company competed against the Armstrong subsidiary

Elswick Ordnance Company The Elswick Ordnance Company (sometimes referred to as Elswick Ordnance Works, but usually as "EOC") was a British armaments manufacturing company of the late 19th and early 20th century History Originally created in 1859 to separate William A ...

's range of armaments, which included Hotchkiss guns made under licence. The company became part of the Barrow Shipbuilding Company, which was taken over by Vickers, Sons and Company in 1897 to form Vickers, Sons & Maxim. This gave Vickers a complete naval shipbuilding, engineering and armaments capability, an advantage Armstrongs had held for many years, and eventually allowed Vickers to take over Armstrongs. During the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the So ...

, the British used Maxim machine guns, and the Boers used the QF 1-pounder, a modified Maxim, a belt-fed, water-cooled machine gun that fired explosive rounds (smokeless ammunition) at 450 rounds per minute, which became known as the "pom-pom".http://www.smallarmsreview.com/display.article.cfm?idarticles=2490, SOUTH AFRICA’S NATIONAL MUSEUM OF MILITARY HISTORY

References

External links

NSW Law Reform Commission. Working Paper 4 (1969) - Covenants in Restraint of Trade
* ttp://production.investis.com/heritage/nonflash/lineage/land/1888_the_maxim_nordenfelt_guns_a/ BAE Systems Heritage {{DEFAULTSORT:Maxim Nordenfelt Guns And Ammunition Company Defunct manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom Defence companies of the United Kingdom Manufacturing companies established in 1888 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1897 1897 mergers and acquisitions 1888 establishments in England 1897 disestablishments in England British companies disestablished in 1897 British companies established in 1888

History

See also

References

External links