Horwood Bagshaw and Associated Companies
Bagshaw & Son Plaque - pre Horwood takeover (5" x 4", Cast Iron)
Plaque seen on a winnower c early 1920's.
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Horwood Bagshaw Company Logo (Copyright HB)
Table of Contents
Introduction
Bagshaw Bio
Bagshaw, John Stokes (1808 - 1888) ), manufacturer of
agricultural machinery, was born at Chetwynd, Shropshire, England. At
an early age he showed mechanical aptitude and was apprenticed to a millwright
and engineer. He first settled south of Adelaide and helped to build flour-mills
at Noarlunga, Port Noarlunga and Encounter Bay. He then joined the small
number of mechanics who established workshops in country centres to cater
for farmers' mechanical needs. At this time agriculture was just beginning
in South Australia; favoured by climate, soil and geographical position,
the area under wheat soon extended but when immigration stopped in 1841,
the shortage of agricultural labourers became serious and resulted in
several harvesting crises. Farmers were anxiously searching for mechanical
labour-saving devices, and Bagshaw was one of the resourceful men who
were able to meet their needs. By 1839 he had established an agricultural
implement workshop at Elizabeth Street in Adelaide, later extending it
to Crowther Street. He manufactured horse-ploughs, chaffcutters and corncrushers.
He won public recognition by building for John Ridley
the first harvesting machine; it could strip six acres (2.4 ha) of wheat
a day. He then designed and produced the first winnowing machine in Australia.
It became his speciality and he produced more than two hundred. They each
sold for £17 under the trade mark of 'Champion'. Machinery for flour-mills,
pumping and drilling was gradually added to his firm's activities and
in 1870 the name of J. S. Bagshaw & Sons was changed to the Pioneer
Works. His eldest son, John Augustus, was also a skilful engineer and
inventor; he entered the business at an early age and was later joined
by his younger brother, Thomas Henry. William, the third son, spent only
a short time with the firm and settled on land at Christies Beach. Bagshaw
left a well-established business to his family. In 1912 the company bought
a site at Mile End and in 1924, when J. H. Horwood joined the firm, it
became known as Horwood Bagshaw Ltd..
Horwood Bio
Horwood, Joseph Henry founded J.H. Horwood & Co., machinery merchants in Adelaide. A limited company formed in 1912. J.S. Bagshaw & Sons Ltd was acquired in 1924 and the business became Horwood Bagshaw Australia Limited.
Horwood Hagshaw Company
The Horwood Bagshaw Company went on to take over a large part of Australia's agricultural manufacturing concerns.
Some other Companies that went into the final mix that was Horwood Bagshaw either directly or indirectly were: May Bros, TR & Co, Nicholson & Morrow, Mitchell & Co, David Shearer, Cliff & Bunting, Hugh Lennon, Baltic Simplex, J Todd & Sons and no doubt several others.
The company had financial troubles in the 1990's but managed to survive that and it still exists to this day
Refs:
Australian Dictionary of Biography
Melbourne University Archives
State Library of Victoria
National Archives of Australia
Bagshaw Engines by Jeff Holly 1991
Horwood Hagshaw Company Spanners
There are many spanners and wrenches listed in Horwood Bagshaw implement and machinery parts lists, but I have not been able to find any with the Horwood Bagshaw name on them. I have two marked HB, see pic below. I would be interested to recieve pictures of other examples that could be attributed to this company
Horwood "S" Shaped Spanner
Horwood Bagshaw DOE Spanners
Horwood Bagshaw Makers Plate, see also next pic (courtesy Ian Ploenges), note Jeff Holly dates this to around 1881.
Horwood Bagshaw Makers Plate on an early Winnower, (pic courtesy Ian Ploenges), note Jeff Holly dates this to around 1881.
Horwood Bagshaw Tank Stand
Horwood Bagshaw Water Boring Plant
Horwood Bagshaw Water Boring Tools
Horwood Bagshaw Sand Screen for well pump inlets
Horwood Bagshaw Windmill
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