Siemens Brothers and Company Limited was an

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

design and manufacturing business in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

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 ...

. It was first established as a branchThe company started with a small factory at 12 Millbank Row, Westminster SW1, London, near the site of Lambeth Bridge in 1858 by a brother of the founder of the German electrical engineering firm Siemens & Halske. The principal works were at

Woolwich Woolwich () is a town in South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was mainta ...

where cables and light-current electrical apparatus were produced from 1863 until 1968. The site between the Thames Barrier and

Woolwich Dockyard Woolwich Dockyard (formally H.M. Dockyard, Woolwich, also known as The King's Yard, Woolwich) was an English Royal Navy Dockyard, naval dockyard along the river Thames at Woolwich - originally in north-west Kent, now in southeast London - whe ...

has retained several buildings of historic interest.Saint & Guillery, ''The Survey of London vol. 48: Woolwich'', Yale, 2012
online PDF
pp. 44-53). New works were built at

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, England. It is located about south of Stoke-on-Trent, north of Wolverhampton, and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 71,673 at the 2021–2022 United Kingd ...

in 1903 and

Dalston Dalston () is an area of East London, in the London Borough of Hackney. It is northeast of Charing Cross. Dalston began as a hamlet on either side of Dalston Lane, and as the area urbanised the term also came to apply to surrounding areas i ...

in 1908. During

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 ...

Siemens Brothers was bought by a British

consortium A consortium () is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations, or governments (or any combination of these entities) with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for achieving a ...

because most of its ownership was in the hands of

enemy alien In customary international law, an enemy alien is any alien native, citizen, denizen or subject of any foreign nation or government with which a domestic nation or government is in conflict and who is liable to be apprehended, restrained, secur ...

s; see ''Graces Guide to British Industrial History''. Siemens Brothers and Company Limited was bought by

Associated Electrical Industries Associated Electrical Industries (AEI) was a British holding company formed in 1928 through the merger of British Thomson-Houston (BTH) and Metropolitan-Vickers electrical engineering companies. In 1967 AEI was acquired by GEC, to create the UK ...

in 1955. At that time its business was described as follows: manufacture sale and installation of submarine and land cables, overhead telegraph, telephone and power transmission lines, public and private telephone exchanges and carrier transmission equipment for telephone lines and marine radio and signalling equipment. Through subsidiaries it was engaged in the manufacture of lamps of all kinds, miscellaneous electrical equipment and electrical railway signals. CS Faraday

The Siemens family

The German Siemens brothers came from a highly educated upper-middle-class family in relatively humble economic circumstances. Their father farmed a leased estate. The elder brothers of the family were born in the

Kingdom of Hanover The Kingdom of Hanover () was established in October 1814 by the Congress of Vienna, with the restoration of George III to his Hanoverian territories after the Napoleonic Wars, Napoleonic era. It succeeded the former Electorate of Hanover, and j ...

. In 1823, the year William (Wilhelm) was born, the family moved to the Baltic coast, near

Lübeck Lübeck (; or ; Latin: ), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Lübeck (), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 220,000 inhabitants, it is the second-largest city on the German Baltic Sea, Baltic coast and the second-larg ...

. Both parents had died by the time William was 17.Christian Ferdinand Siemens (1787-1840), known as Ferdinand, born in

Wasserleben Wasserleben is a village and a former municipality in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the municipality Nordharz Nordharz (, literally "North Harz") is a municipality in the district of Harz ...

, married Eleonore Deichmann (1793-1839). Their children were: Ludwig Siemens (1812–1871), Matilde (1814–1878; married to Carl Himly, professor of chemistry at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

), Werner Siemens (1815–1815),

Ernst Werner von Siemens Ernst Werner Siemens (von Siemens from 1888; ; ; 13 December 1816 – 6 December 1892) was a German electrical engineer, inventor and industrialist. Siemens's name has been adopted as the SI unit of electrical conductance, the siemens. He fou ...

(1816–1892), Hans Dietrich Siemens (1818–1867; ran the Dresden glassworks), Ferdinand Julius Siemens (1820–1893; farmed a large estate in

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...

), Sophie Henriette (1821–1821), William Siemens (1823–1883), Friedrich August Siemens (1826–1904; “The Dresden Siemens” who revolutionised the industry and became Europe's largest glass manufacturer),

Carl Heinrich von Siemens Carl Heinrich von Siemens (often just Carl von Siemens) (3 March 1829 – 21 March 1906) was a German entrepreneur. He was born in Menzendorf, Mecklenburg, one of the fourteen children of a tenant farmer of the Siemens family, an old family o ...

(1829–1906), Franz Siemens (1831–1840), Walter Siemens (1832–1868; Prussian consul at

Tiflis Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

, laying the Indo-European cable), Sophie Siemens (1834–1922; married to Dr Carl Crome of

), and Otto Siemens (1836–1871; North German consul at Tiflis). William Pole: ''The Life of Sir William Siemens'', Murray, London 1888. * Sir William Siemens (1823–1883), the fourth of eight surviving sons in the family, his primary interests were in electric telegraphing and lighting; founder of Siemens Brothers in the UK *

(1816–1892), Sir William's elder brother; founder of Siemens & Halske *

(1829–1906) was another brother who opened a branch office in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

in 1853, then joined William in London in 1869 but in the 1880s returned first to Russia then Berlin to become the head of Siemens & Halske after the death of Ernst Werner Siemens * Alexander Siemens (1847–1928) was a distant cousin who joined William in Woolwich in 1867. He was adopted by the childless Sir William and his wife and he too became a naturalised British subject. Managing director from 1889 to 1899 he remained on the board until he retired in 1918, aged 70. File:Werner-von-Siemens.png, Werner File:Wilhelm Siemens.jpg, Sir William File:1900ca Carl-von-Siemens.jpg, Carl Profit distribution between the brothers, it reflects contribution not just ownership.

Siemens & Halske, 1858-1865

On 1 October 1858, the German firm Siemens & Halske established an English firm, Siemens & Halske & Company, a partnership of William Siemens, cable manufacturer R S Newall of

Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...

and Siemens & Halske of Berlin. Its purpose was to help lay Newall's newly developed

submarine communications cable A submarine communications cable is a cable laid on the seabed between land-based stations to carry telecommunication signals across stretches of ocean and sea. The first submarine communications cables were laid beginning in the 1850s and car ...

. The London branch was under the control of William, later Sir William Siemens, formerly known as Carl Wilhelm Siemens (1823–1883). Hanover-born Sir William went to England in 1843 The

was in personal union with 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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

until 1837 and a link remained until annexation by Prussia in 1866 to sell a patent he shared with his brother Werner. He found employment in Birmingham with engineers Fox, Henderson & Co and became a naturalised British subject in 1859, the same day as he married the daughter of an Edinburgh lawyer. Her brother was Lewis Gordon business partner of R S Newall. During the 1850s Sir William developed the Siemens regenerative furnace.H. T. Wood, ‘Siemens, Sir (Charles) William (1823–1883)’, rev. Brian Bowers, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004 Following various failures in Newall's installed cables the link with them was dropped at the end of 1860.Christina Lubinski, Jeffrey Fear, Paloma Fernández Pérez (editors) ''Family Multinationals: Entrepreneurship, Governance, and Pathways to Internationalization'', Routledge, 2013. In 1865 Johann Georg Halske, partner in Siemens & Halske, withdrew from the English branch following failures in the London firm's work so then it became Siemens Brothers.

Siemens Brothers Telegraph Works

Submarine cables

Siemens Brothers Telegraph Works opened as a new cable factory in

, London in 1863. It expanded to cover over 6 acres and employed more than 2,000 people. In 1869 the London and Berlin firms jointly made and laid a telegraph line from Prussia to Teheran which formed a principal part of the direct line from England to India, 2,750 miles. Principal cables made and laid by Siemens Brothers between 1873 and 1883: * In 1874-5 the London firm alone completed the first direct Atlantic cable, known as the DUS (Direct United States Cable Company), to USA. * In 1876 a direct Paris-New York cable was discussed in France. In March 1879 Siemens Brothers was given the order by banker Pouyer-Quertier. They finished making the PQ cable at Woolwich in the middle of June when the ''Faraday'' set out to do the laying under the control of Ludwig Loeffler. The main cable was handed over to the owners in little more than four months. Neither France nor USA had a cable-making factory. * 1881 Western Union England to Nova Scotia north cable * 1882 Western Union England to Nova Scotia south cable The construction and laying of cables remained the firm's main occupation until Sir William's death in 1883.J D Scott, ''Siemens Brothers 1858–1958'', Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1958The principal rivals were: * Telegraph Construction & Maintenance Company Limited * India-Rubber, Gutta-Percha & Telegraph Works Company Limited * W T Henley's Telegraph Works Company Limited * Hooper's Telegraph Works Company Limited J D Scott, ''Siemens Brothers 1858–1958'', Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1958 Following his death shares were offered, somewhat unwillingly, to London manager Johann Carl Ludwig Loeffler (1831–1906) to retain his services. He managed to increase his holding to 25% but there were disagreements as to how the firm was run and Alexander Siemens, William's adopted son, replaced Loeffler in 1888. Werner bought Loeffler's shareholding. Loeffler died in the Tyrol 18 years later leaving an estate in excess of £1.5 million, he was a prominent investor in West Australian mines.

Heavy-current products

The invention of the dynamo in 1867 led to a switch from Siemens' previous strength in light-current products to heavy-current products and processes. The world's first modern high-voltage power station was opened in 1891, Deptford East. Designed in 1887 by 23-year-old former Siemens' apprentice Sebastian de Ferranti it was erected by the London Electricity Supply Corporation on the Thames bank at Deptford Creek, two and a half miles west of Siemens' Woolwich site. Berlin was anxious that the London business should break its reliance on the submarine cable business. The London County Council discouraged that kind of development and after considering other locations Stafford was settled on. 500 acres of freehold land were purchased there in 1900 and building began in 1901. Following the invention of the arc lamps, their manufacture was taken up by Siemens Brothers.

Reorganisations

In December 1880 a limited liability company was formed to own the firm and it was named Siemens Brothers and Company Limited. There were just seven shareholders, the legal minimum. All except Loeffler were family members. William was chairman and Loeffler managing director. In 1899, the Siemens family bought back all shares not held by family members. By 1900 Siemens Brothers had constructed and laid seven North Atlantic cablesCharles Bright, ''Submarine Telegraphs'', London, Crosby Lockwood, 1898

Stafford and Dalston sites

In 1903, with

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

's Elektrizitäts-Aktiengesellschaft vormals Schuckert & Co or E.-AG, they formed a new entity,

Siemens-Schuckertwerke Siemens-Schuckert (or Siemens-Schuckertwerke) was a German electrical engineering company headquartered in Berlin, Erlangen and Nuremberg that was incorporated into the Siemens AG in 1966. Siemens Schuckert was founded in 1903 when Siemens & H ...

, to hold all their jointly-owned heavy-current operations. The first step in England was to build a new factory in

for heavy-current business. In 1906 Siemens-Schuckertwerke leased the Stafford factory, formed a company to operate it and called the company Siemens Brothers Dynamo Works Limited. In November 1919 it was announced by

English Electric The English Electric Company Limited (EE) was a British industrial manufacturer formed after World War I by amalgamating five businesses which, during the war, made munitions, armaments and aeroplanes. It initially specialised in industrial el ...

that they had bought the Siemens works at Stafford (Siemens Brothers Dynamo Works Limited and its attendant sales and engineering organisation) and had entered into "a working agreement with Siemens Brothers and Co for the preferential exchange of the special products of each company".City News in Brief. ''The Times'', Saturday, November 15, 1919; pg. 19; Issue 42258 In 1908, Siemens Brothers Dynamo Works Limited opened a metal filament lamp factory in rented premises at Tyssen Street,

, London. In 1919 its capacity was 2.5 million lamps per annum but advances in technology left its products unwanted and the Dalston factory closed in 1923.

Around World War I

In 1911 the company was doing well and several new buildings went up at the Woolwich site. An L-shaped five-storey building, used for making rubber-coated copper-wire cable, was among the largest factories in London when built. Also in 1911, a new office building went up in the same plain brick style. Just before World War I, Siemens had more employees in Britain than in Germany (around 10,000). Under the

Trading with the Enemy Act 1914 The Trading with the Enemy Act 1914 ( 4 & 5 Geo. 5. c. 87) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that prescribed an offence of conducting business with any person of "enemy character". It was enacted soon after the United Kingdom ...

foreign ownership was transferred to UK's Public Trustee. Following a 1916 amendment to that act tenders were called for. The amendment required enemy assets to be sold and the proceeds held by the same trustee until the end of hostilities. Siemens Brothers and Company was bought by Messrs C Birch Crisp and Co on 14 December 1917. Financier Charles Birch Crisp was leading a consortium of investors who were not connected with the electrical engineering industry. In 1920 it was reported the land and buildings at Woolwich now covered about seventeen and a half acres.Siemens Brothers & Co., Limited. ''The Times'', Wednesday, November 17, 1920; pg. 20; Issue 42570 :Activities: Cables manufactured—the catalogue grew to include underground super-tension power mains, telegraph trunk lines and underground telephone cables, overhead lines and electric light cables. Apparatus manufactured—grew from telegraph apparatus to include: marine and mine signalling apparatus, measuring and scientific instruments, wireless telegraphy, telephone exchanges (manual and automatic) and apparatus, wet and dry batteries, landlines, ebonite, cable accessories and joint boxes

Spin-offs

* Siemens and English Electric Lamp Company Limited Previously known as English Electric and Siemens Supplies Limited from 1 January 1923 this jointly owned company took over the electric lamp factories at Dalton and Preston. It also controlled the sale of the lamps it manufactured and provided the sales organisation for Siemens' and English Electric's wires and cables, house-wiring systems and accessories, Zed fuses, wireless apparatus, telephones, instruments etc.Electric Lamp Trade Consolidation. ''The Times'', Monday, January 8, 1923; pg. 18; Issue 43233 * Siemens and General Electric Railway Signal Company Limited In 1926, Siemens Brothers and GEC, combined their railway signaling activities to form the Siemens and General Electric Railway Signal Co. * Submarine Cables Limited In 1935, Siemens Brothers merged its submarine cables division with the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company to form Submarine Cables Ltd.

World War II

A 15% shareholding belonging to Siemens & Halske was transferred to the Custodian of Enemy Property. Siemens Brothers coverage of the whole field of telecommunications meant the volume and range of their wartime supply of cables and apparatus was enormous extending to the manufacture of

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

equipment. The Woolwich factory was severely bombed (27 air raids were aimed at the plant) and many buildings were destroyed or damaged. Shortly before the war, the workforce numbered over 9,000. During the war it fell to around 7,000. After the war Siemens Brothers joined with Metropolitan-Vickers Electrical Company to further develop radar for ships.

PLUTO

One of the many critical components of

World War II 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 ...

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful liberation of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The ope ...

was to ensure a steady supply of fuel to the Allied forces.

Operation Pluto Operation Pluto (Pipeline Under the Ocean or Pipeline Underwater Transportation of Oil, also written Operation PLUTO) was an operation by British engineers, oil companies and the British Armed Forces to build oil Pipeline transport, pipelin ...

(PipeLine Under The Ocean) was facilitated by Mr A C Hartley, chief engineer of the

Anglo-Iranian Oil Company The Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC; ) was a British company founded in 1909 following the discovery of a large oil field in Masjed Soleiman, Persia (Iran). The British government purchased 51% of the company in 1914, gaining a controlling numbe ...

, who suggested to Siemens Brothers that a submarine cable might be modified to carry petrol below the channel to France. Siemens Brothers' experience with gas pressure cables lead to their design manufacture and trial (under the Thames) of what became PLUTO. PLUTO delivered more than a million gallons of petrol from England to France each day. The sheer size of the structure required the involvement of many other companies in manufacture of individual lengths. One of PLUTO's two pipeline styles was named HAIS—Hartley, Anglo-Iranian, Siemens.Company Meeting. ''The Times'', Tuesday, June 19, 1945; pg. 8; Issue 50172

Post-war period

New owners

* AEI, Associated Electrical Industries Limited, in 1951 purchased from the custodian of enemy property the formerly Siemens & Halske-owned 15% of Siemens Brothers capital issued to them in June 1929.Siemens Brothers & Co. ''The Times'', Wednesday, June 12, 1929; pg. 25; Issue 45227 It had been issued in respect of certain licensing arrangements with Siemens Brothers and agreements for technical exchange and in exchange for a holding of equal value in their company. :Associated Electrical Industries Limited offered to buy the rest of Siemens Brothers in December 1954 offering their own shares in exchange for Siemens Brothers shares. Their offer was accepted by more than 90% of shareholders and so it became unconditional on 25 January 1955. :*Siemens Edison Swan Limited 1957 * GEC,

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 1967 took over AEI.

Closure

Despite rationalization and further investment, the layout and age of the Woolwich works stood in the way of new production methods. After the AEI take-over, the Woolwich factory principally produced Strowger telephone exchanges for the

General Post Office The General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Established in England in the 17th century, the GPO was a state monopoly covering the dispatch of items from a specific ...

. After these became more and more obsolete, GEC's chairman Sir Arnold Weinstock was unwilling to invest in modernisation of the Woolwich plant. Early in 1968 the Woolwich works, where at the time 6,000 were employed, closed. This happened one year after the closure of the Royal Ordnance Factory in the

Royal Arsenal The Royal Arsenal, Woolwich is an establishment on the south bank of the River Thames in Woolwich in south-east London, England, that was used for the manufacture of armaments and ammunition, proof test, proofing, and explosives research for ...

, by far the largest employer in Woolwich. Losing both the ordnance factory and the Siemens plant at roughly the same time caused large-scale unemployment in the area and decades of economic and social hardship.

Legacy

Some Siemens Brothers Firsts

* Automatic trunk telephone exchange, 1914, King's College Hospital, London * Short-wave marine radio, 1927, s.s. ''Carinthia'' * (electrically operated) Train arrival indicator, 1934, Paddington Station, London * Television outside broadcast, 1937 Coronation, made and laid the cable used * Transatlantic telephone cable, 1956, 9/10ths of the cable, 4,200 nautical miles, cable was made by Submarine CablesDisplay advertisement—AEI—Siemens Edison Swan Ltd. ''The Times'', Monday, July 1, 1957; pg. 5; Issue 53881

Industrial heritage

At the Woolwich site, which once covered thirty-five acres, several buildings testify of a rich

industrial heritage Industrial heritage refers to the physical and intangible legacy of industrialisation, including buildings, machinery, workshops, sites, and landscapes of historical and technological significance. Stefan Berger and Steven High define industrial h ...

. Several buildings were destroyed or severely damaged by bombs in World War II, including the oldest building of 1863-65. A range of two- and three-storey buildings from the 1870s, 80s and 90s stands on the north side of Bowater Road. The western section of 1871 and 1873 is largely derelict. The central section was rebuilt after war damage, the eastern section has been renovated. The latter sections are now part of London's largest complex of artists'

studio A studio is a space set aside for creative work of any kind, including art, dance, music and theater. The word ''studio'' is derived from the , from , from ''studere'', meaning to study or zeal. Types Art The studio of any artist, esp ...

s, Thames-Side Studios. On the other side of Bowater Road several five-storey brick buildings of 1911, 1926 and 1942 have survived, along with a largely concrete building of 1937. Near the Thames Barrier is the 1946 marine radio school, a joint venture by Siemens Brothers with Metropolitan Vickers Electrical Co. Ltd., providing training in the use of radar and radio equipment. File:Woolwich, former Siemens Brothers site 12.jpg, Oldest Woolwich buildings, 1871–73 File:2018 Woolwich, Warspite Road, Thames-Side Studios 06.jpg, 1890s range, now artists' studios File:Woolwich, former Siemens Brothers site 28.jpg, L-shaped building, 1911 File:Woolwich, former Siemens Brothers site 10.jpg, Main office, 1911 File:Woolwich, former Siemens Brothers site 31.jpg, Cable shop, 1937 File:Woolwich, former Siemens Brothers site 24 (cropped).jpg, Marine radio school, 1947

Notes

External links

Film about the Dalston plant

References

{{Authority control Electrical engineering companies of the United Kingdom Former defence companies of the United Kingdom Manufacturing companies based in London Cable manufacture in London 1865 establishments in England 1968 disestablishments in England Engineering companies of England Design companies established in 1865 Associated Electrical Industries Woolwich Defunct telecommunications companies of the United Kingdom