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

Tyneside Tyneside is a List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne, England, River Tyne in Northern England. The population of Tyneside as published in the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 774,891 ...

. The company became Reyrolle Parsons in 1968, merged with Clarke Chapman 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 Siemens Energy AG is a German publicly-traded energy corporation formed through the spin-off of the former Gas and Power division of Siemens, and it includes full ownership of Siemens Gamesa. Christian Bruch is the CEO, and the former CEO of S ...

History

The company was founded by

Charles Algernon Parsons Sir Charles Algernon Parsons (13 June 1854 – 11 February 1931) was an Anglo-Irish mechanical engineer and inventor who designed the modern steam turbine in 1884. His invention revolutionised marine propulsion, and he was also the founder of C ...

in 1889 to produce

steam turbine A steam turbine or steam turbine engine is a machine or heat engine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work utilising a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Par ...

s, 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, 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 ...

. 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 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 ...

, he was replaced by his sister,

Rachel Mary Parsons Rachel Mary Parsons (25 January 1885 2 July 1956) was an English engineer and advocate for women's employment rights, who was the founding President of the Women's Engineering Society in 1919. Early life 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 university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. 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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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 ham ...

, Heysham 2 and Oldbury in

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 ...

and Chapelcross and Hunterston in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Parsons took over the turbine and generator factories in Erith and Witton of the

General Electric Company The General Electric Company (GEC) was a major British industrial conglomerate involved in consumer and Arms industry, defence electronics, communications, and engineering. It was originally founded in 1886 as G. Binswanger and Company as an e ...

in the 1960s. The company merged with A. Reyrolle & Company to form Reyrolle Parsons in 1968.NZR Cranes
Following the appointment of James Woodeson as chairman in 1974, Reyrolle Parsons merged with Clarke Chapman to form Northern Engineering Industries in 1977. Northern Engineering Industries was acquired by Rolls-Royce in 1989. The company survives today as part of

after

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the positi ...

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 western Germany. It is located in the Ruhr Area between Duisburg, Essen, Oberhausen and Ratingen. It is ho ...

and

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

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 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 (manufacturing), industry and Outline of industrial ...

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

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

, Japan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parsons, C.A. 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

History

Preserved turbines

See also

References