Richard Thomas and Baldwins Ltd (RTB) was a major iron, steel and

tinplate Tinplate consists of sheets of steel coated with a thin layer of tin to impede rusting. Before the advent of cheap milled steel, the backing metal was wrought iron. While once more widely used, the primary use of tinplate now is the manufacture ...

producer, primarily based in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

and formed in 1948 by the merger of Richard Thomas & Co Ltd with Baldwins Ltd. It was absorbed into

British Steel Corporation British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

in 1967. The business now forms part of Corus, a subsidiary of Tata Steel.

Richard Thomas & Co

Richard Thomas & Co Ltd was an iron, steel and tinplate producer and colliery proprietor. The founder,

Richard Thomas Richard Thomas or Dick Thomas may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Dick Thomas (singer) (1915–2003), American singing cowboy and actor * Richard Thomas (actor) (born 1951), American actor * Richard Thomas (author) (born 1967), American ...

(died 1916), leased two tinplate works in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of ...

Lydbrook Lydbrook is a civil parish in the Forest of Dean, a local government district in the English county of Gloucestershire and is located in the Wye Valley. It is on the north west edge of the Forest of Dean's present legal boundary proper. It compr ...

in 1871 and

Lydney Lydney is a town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is on the west bank of the River Severn in the Forest of Dean District, and is 16 miles (25 km) southwest of Gloucester. The town has been bypassed by the A48 road since 199 ...

in 1876. He went on to acquire local collieries and, in 1888, the

Melingriffith Tin Plate Works The Melingriffith Tin Plate Works (alternate: Melingriffith Tin and Iron Works; Welsh, ''Melingruffydd''; translation, "Griffith's Mill") were post medieval tin and iron works located on Tŷ-mawr Road, in Whitchurch, Cardiff, Wales. Founded s ...

near

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

. Richard Thomas & Co, in which Thomas was succeeded as managing director by his son, Richard Beaumont Thomas, in 1888, became one of the principal tinplate manufacturers in the UK. The Ebbw Vale Steel Iron and Coal Company was taken over by Richard Thomas & Co in 1936, and a new steel plant and strip mill was erected in the town.

Baldwins

Baldwins Ltd began as EP&W Baldwin, ironfounders of

Stourport Stourport-on-Severn, often shortened to Stourport, is a town and civil parish in the Wyre Forest District of North Worcestershire, England, a few miles to the south of Kidderminster and downstream on the River Severn from Bewdley. At the 2011 ...

. In 1870,

Alfred Baldwin Alfred Baldwin may refer to: * Alfred Baldwin (politician) (1841–1908), English businessman and Conservative MP, father of Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin * Alfred C. Baldwin III (1936–2020), "shadow man" in the 1972 Watergate break-in *Alfr ...

bought out his relatives to become the sole proprietor of the firm, but continued to trade under the old name. In 1888, he brought his 21-year-old son Stanley, afterwards Prime Minister of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

, into the business. The firm was incorporated as EP&W Baldwin Ltd in 1898, and gradually acquired a number of tinplate works, mainly in South

Richard Thomas & Baldwins

In 1948 RTB introduced the first continuous tinning line at its Ebbw Vale tinplate works.South West Wales Eisteddfod – The Old Steelworks
bbc.co.uk. Accessed 9 November 2022. In 1951, RTB was

nationalised Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to p ...

and placed under the

Iron and Steel Corporation of Great Britain The Iron and Steel Corporation of Great Britain was a nationalised industry, set up in 1949 by Clement Attlee's Labour government. The Iron & Steel Act 1949 took effect on 15 February 1951, the Corporation becoming the sole shareholder of 80 of ...

. Under

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

rule in 1953 it passed to the Iron and Steel Holding and Realisation Agency in readiness for privatisation. However, its size – it was the UK's largest steel company – inhibited its sale. It was still in public ownership when the industry was re-nationalised under

in 1967. The major event during public ownership as a separate company was the official opening in 1962 of the Spencer Steelworks at

Llanwern Llanwern is a community in the eastern part of the City of Newport, South East Wales. Llanwern is bounded by the M4 and Langstone to the north, Ringland, Lliswerry and the River Usk to the west, the River Severn to the south and the city bo ...

, a wholly new plant on a greenfield site to the east of Newport. This was named after H F Spencer, managing director of RTB at the time construction of the works was announced in 1956.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Steel companies of the United Kingdom Defunct manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom Former nationalised industries of the United Kingdom Manufacturing companies established in 1948 Companies disestablished in 1967 1948 establishments in the United Kingdom 1967 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange