Belliss And Morcom
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Belliss and Morcom is a manufacturer and supplier of oil-free
reciprocating compressor A reciprocating compressor or piston compressor is a positive-displacement compressor that uses pistons driven by a crankshaft to deliver gases at high pressure. Pressures of up to 5,000 psig are commonly produced by multistage reciprocating ...
s, technologies and services. Founded in 1852 in
Birmingham, West Midlands Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
, it is now a division of
Ingersoll Rand Ingersoll Rand Inc. is an American multinational company that provides flow creation and industrial products. The company was formed in February 2020 through the spinoff of the industrial segment of Ingersoll-Randplc (now known as Trane Technol ...
based in
Redditch Redditch is a town and non-metropolitan district with borough status in Worcestershire, England. It is located south of Birmingham, east of Bromsgrove, north-west of Alcester and north-east of Worcester. In 2021, the town had a population of ...
,
Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...
,
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
.


History

Shortly after completing his articles of
apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in a regulat ...
, in 1862 George Edward Belliss acquired the engineering business of R. Bach and Co, then located at 13-14 Broad Street, Islington, Birmingham. He then went into partnership with Joseph J. Seekings, forming the
limited partnership A limited partnership (LP) is a type of partnership with general partners, who have a right to manage the business, and limited partners, who have no right to manage the business but have only limited liability for its debts. Limited partnership ...
Belliss and Seekings. The partnership came to the end in 1866, but Belliss continued the business as G. E. Belliss and Co. In 1875, the organisation moved to larger premises at Ledsam Street, the bombed-out and derelict former works of James Archdale and Co, Ladywood. Further expansions in 1899 and 1902 involved moving manufacturing from the Ledsam Street premises to nearby Icknield Square followed by expansion on land adjacent to Rotton Park Street. In 1884, Belliss invited
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
engineer Alfred Morcom to join the firm as a partner. Previously chief engineer at
Sheerness Sheerness () is a port town and civil parish beside the mouth of the River Medway on the north-west corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 13,249, it is the second largest town on the island after the nearby ...
dockyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Compared to shipyards, which are sometimes more involve ...
, he had gained a first-class certificate in steam engineering at the Navy's training college. Up to this point, Belliss and Morcom had specialised in producing electrical generator sets, consisting of a
steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs Work (physics), mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a Cylinder (locomotive), cyl ...
paired with a conjoined
dynamo "Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, ) A dynamo is an electrical generator that creates direct current using a commutator. Dynamos employed electromagnets for self-starting by using residual magnetic field left in the iron cores ...
, to create electricity for electrical power companies, councils, hospitals, industrial premises and water and sanitation works. With the addition of Morcom, it began selling into the marine market. From 1885 onwards, the organisation received further orders from
J. Samuel White J. Samuel White was a British shipbuilding firm based in Cowes, taking its name from John Samuel White (1838–1915). It came to prominence during the Victorian era. During the 20th century it built destroyers and other naval craft for both the ...
of
Cowes Cowes () is an England, English port, seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina, facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east bank. The two towns are linked b ...
,
Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...
, for main power and generating machinery for Royal Navy
torpedo boat A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of ...
s. The companies subsequently went into a limited production partnership, with Morcom also assisting White in Royal Navy trials of early versions of the torpedo net. In 1887, the Royal Navy placed an order directly with Belliss and Morcom for a
triple-expansion engine A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure (HP) Cylinder (engine), cylinder, then ha ...
-based main power and generator set for all 13 of the ''Sharpshooter'' class torpedo gunboats, designed by White. In 1891, chief draughtsman Albert Charles Pain used a valveless oil pump and pressure to create forced lubrication. It put a constant film of oil on the bearings, reducing wear and increasing performance and reliability. In 1891, the engine was shown in the
Science Museum, London The Science Museum is a major museum on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, London. It was founded in 1857 and is one of the city's major tourist attractions, attracting 3.3 million visitors annually in 2019. Like other publicly funded ...
. In 1893, G.E. Belliss and Co incorporated as a
private limited company A private limited company is any type of business entity in Privately held company, "private" ownership used in many jurisdictions, in contrast to a Public company, publicly listed company, with some differences from country to country. Example ...
. In 1899, after opening a new factory in Icknield Square, the company changed its name to Belliss and Morcom, and issued further shares. Customers during this period included engines for the electricity supply plants for the cities of
Bury St Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as ''Bury,'' is a cathedral as well as market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk District, West Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St. Edmunds an ...
,
Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...
and Port Dundas for Glasgow Corporation Tramways. The expansion required the building of another new factory at Rotten Park Street. In 1907, the company built one experimental
double-decker bus A double-decker bus is a bus that has two storeys or decks. Double-deckers are used primarily for commuter transport, but open-top models are used as sightseeing buses for tourists, and there are coaches too for long-distance travel. They app ...
for the London General Omnibus Co. By the start of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, the company was producing a standard range of to , which could be deployed for lighting, electrical power and rotational power for
mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * Factory * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Paper mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * Sugarcane mill * Textile mill * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic ...
s. The company was also producing: condensing plants;
air compressor An air compressor is a machine that takes ambient air from the surroundings and discharges it at a higher pressure. It is an application of a gas compressor and a Pneumatics, pneumatic device that energy conversion, converts mechanical power (from ...
s; fan engines; pumping engines;
paraffin Paraffin may refer to: Substances * Paraffin wax, a white or colorless soft solid (also in liquid form) that is used as a lubricant and for other applications * Liquid paraffin (drug), a very highly refined mineral oil used in cosmetics and for med ...
engines. Having produced
internal combustion An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal comb ...
diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...
s during the war, the company developed and launched its range in 1919, which continued in production until the mid-1930s. These were again deployed in power generation. In 1922, the company were commissioned to install six ex-
Imperial German Navy The Imperial German Navy or the ''Kaiserliche Marine'' (Imperial Navy) was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for ...
submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...
diesel generators into the corporation power station in London Road,
Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in south-eastern Essex, England. It lies on the nor ...
.


Merger

The late-1960s changed the company a great deal. In 1966, the receiver of Crossley Brothers sold the Crossley-Premier Engines and Furnival and Co businesses to Belliss and Morcom. In 1968, the company agreed on a merger with W.H. Allen, Sons and Co. The new Amalgamated Power Engineering was owned 60% by Allen's and 40% by B&M shareholders. In 1981 Amalgamated Power Engineering was acquired by Northern Engineering Industries plc, based in
Gosforth Gosforth is an area of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, situated north of the Newcastle City Centre, City Centre. It constituted a separate Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland), urban district of Northumberland from 1895 until 1974 before of ...
,
Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...
.NZR Cranes
NEI itself was then acquired by
Rolls-Royce plc Rolls-Royce Holdings plc is a British multinational aerospace and defence company incorporated in February 2011. The company owns Rolls-Royce, a business established in 1904 which today designs, manufactures and distributes power systems for ...
in 1989.


Present

Belliss and Morom was acquired from Rolls-Royce by Powell Duffryn, and the company was merged with Hamworthy. This merger later resulted in the amalgamation of manufacturing in
Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...
and the final cessation of Belliss and Morcom as a Birmingham manufacturing company. In 2001,
NYSE The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...
-listed
Gardner Denver Ingersoll Rand Inc. is an American multinational company that provides flow creation and industrial products. The company was formed in February 2020 through the spinoff of the industrial segment of Ingersoll-Randplc (now known as Trane Technol ...
acquired the Hamworthy businesses, including Belliss and Morcom, from Powell Duffryn. Belliss and Morcom remained in Glouceter until around 2010 when the acquisition by
Gardner Denver Ingersoll Rand Inc. is an American multinational company that provides flow creation and industrial products. The company was formed in February 2020 through the spinoff of the industrial segment of Ingersoll-Randplc (now known as Trane Technol ...
of CompAir Compressors led to a consolidation of the two businesses at the CompAir site in
Redditch Redditch is a town and non-metropolitan district with borough status in Worcestershire, England. It is located south of Birmingham, east of Bromsgrove, north-west of Alcester and north-east of Worcester. In 2021, the town had a population of ...
. Today the company manufactures, supplies and services oil-free
reciprocating compressor A reciprocating compressor or piston compressor is a positive-displacement compressor that uses pistons driven by a crankshaft to deliver gases at high pressure. Pressures of up to 5,000 psig are commonly produced by multistage reciprocating ...
s, with a specialist division focusing on recycled
PET plastic A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive/ cute appearances, inte ...
moulding.


References


External links

{{Commons category, Belliss & Morcom engines
Belliss and MorcomBelliss and Morcom @ Gardner Denver Group
Companies established in 1852 Engineering companies of England Ladywood Ingersoll Rand Companies based in Redditch 1852 establishments in England