Ottiwell Aaron Partington was born in Reddish, Stockport, on 24 April 1889. He was educated at Reddish School and was apprenticed at Furnivals and Company Limited in May 1903. He began engineering studies at Gorton Evening Technical School in 1908, studying applied mathematics, heat engines and machine design, entropy and steam theory, hydrostatics, pneumatics, hydraulics and chemistry. He completed his studies in 1913. He began work at Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth and Company Limited in 1914 as a jig, gtool and gauge fitter and began work on tooling a gauging naval gun mountings for the Admiralty. He worked on Admiralty contracts throughout the First World War. He married Nora Brown on 11 September 1915. From 1927, Partington worked on tooling contracts for Armstrong Siddeley Motors and the Ford Motor Company. At the same time he was appointed as Works Senior Foreman at Armstrong Whitworth, in charge of the machine and fitting shops and the jig and tool department. He continued to work for the company after it amalgamated with Vickers Limited to become Vickers Armstrong Limited in 1928. Partington was made redundant in 1930, when the English Steel Corporation closed the Openshaw Works, which they had taken over from Vickers Armstrong in 1929. He was unemployed for a short period before joining Ferranti Limited as a fitter in 1931. Following a short contract, he gained employment with Ferguson Pailin Limited before moving to Craven Brothers to take up the role of Inspector in the gear cutting department. He left Craven Brothers in 1942 to join Flying Needle Frames Limited of Gloucester, moving with the company to their Burton on Trent works in 1946. At FNF Limited, he worked on the development of warp knitting machines. He retired in April 1954 to the village of Stretton. He died in July 1964.

Sir W.G. Armstrong, Whitworth and Company Ltd was formed in 1897 by the merger of Joseph Whitworth and Company with Armstrong Mitchell and Company, which itself had been formed by the merging of W.G. Armstrong and Co with Charles Mitchell and Co in 1882. This new company manufactured a wide range of products including hydraulic equipment, bridges, armaments and ships. Its shipyards produced many merchant vessels such as freighters, tankers, dredgers and icebreaking train ferries for Lake Baikal. They also constructed warships for the Royal Navy, Imperial Russian Navy, Imperial Japanese Navy and United States Navy, including the first polar icebreaker ‘Yermak’, which was constructed for the Russian Navy and launched in 1898. Initially the new company was headed by William George Armstrong but following his death in 1900 Andrew Noble was appointed as chairman. Also, at this time production of cars and truck would begin, in order to diversify production following the end of the Boer War and the resultant drop in the demand for artillery. Initially these were designed by other companies, but this would switch to inhouse designs later on. In 1913 an aerial department was formed to begin production of aeroplane and airships. This department produced a number of different designs during the First World War and in 1920 it became a subsidiary under the name Sir W.G. Whitworth Aircraft Ltd. Following the end of the First World War the company again recognised a need to diversify due to a greatly reduced demand for munitions. As part of this it formed a subsidiary under the name Armstrong Whitworth Development Company. This acquired Siddeley-Deasy, which became known as Armstrong Siddeley Motors, as well as a controlling interests in Crompton and Co and A and J Main and Co. The Scotswood Works would also be repurposed to build railway locomotives. This proved successful due to the modern machinery that had been installed and would produce 1,464 locomotives until 1937 when it was converted back to armament manufacturing. In addition to the steam locomotives common at the time this figure also included diesel locomotives and railcars due to a licence acquired for Sulzer. 1920 not only saw the aerial department’s reorganisation into the Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft Company but also the purchasing of a controlling interest in Pearson and Knowles Coal and Iron Co, along with its subsidiary Partington Steel and Iron Co. Later, in 1922, the company would also form the Newfoundland Power and Paper Utilities Corporation in order to finance a paper mill and in 1925 Boving Engineering Co was purchased. By 1926 the company was suffering financially. Due to the Newfoundland company going over budget and not achieving its productions goals the company was suffering from a greatly reduced cash flow. In the first 11 months of 1926 its losses amounted to £625,767 and by 1927 the decision had been take to merge the defence and engineering businesses with that of Vickers in order to create a new subsidiary of Vickers Armstrong. The ownership of this would be split so that Vickers held 2/3 and Armstrong-Whitworth held 1/3. The Armstrong Whitworth Development Company would also be sold, and it became the Armstrong Siddeley Development Company following its acquisition by J.D. Siddeley, although Armstrong-Whitworth still held a substantial shareholding and also retained the Pearson and Knowles Coal and Iron Company. Despite these actions heavy financial losses continued and, although they were offset by the sale of the company’s shares in the Armstrong Siddeley Development Company, they still resulted in a serious reduction in capital. As a result, the decision was taken to form two new companies to take over the activities of the original one. These were Sir W.G. Armstrong Whitworth and Company (Engineers) Ltd, which took over the general engineering business, and Sir W.G. Armstrong Whitworth and Company (Shipbuilders) Ltd, which took over the Devon, Walker and Tyne shipyards. A holding company was also formed to manage these, Armstrong Whitworth Securities Company Ltd. In 1930 a third company was added to the group, Sir W.G. Armstrong Whitworth and Company (Ironfounders) Ltd. Beyond this the 1930s saw a winding down of the Armstrong-Whitworth group’s activities. In 1935 Vickers bought the remaining shares of Vickers-Armstrong and in 1937 Sir John Jarvis acquired Sir W.G. Armstrong Whitworth and Co (Ironfounders) Ltd to relieve unemployment on Tyneside. By 1937 the group had also ended production of locomotives and only the engineering subsidiary remained. This was sold in 1943 and the group was liquidated.

1853-1967, machine tool maker and crane manufacturer, Salford. Craven Brothers was formed in 1853, at Dawson Croft Mill, Salford by brothers Greenwood and William Craven. Their primary function was to make machinary tools for locomotives but they soon branched out into other machinary areas particularly armaments. In 1900, the company moved to a 25 acre-site in Reddish, near Stockport, called the Vauxhall Works. By the early 20th century they had become best known for their cranes, but also made planing machines, radial drills and slotting machines. During the World Wars, the company came under governmental control and after the depression of the First World War the company managed to stay open because of its good export business particularly with Russia. In 1928, Craven Brothers merged with Sir W. G. Armstrong Whitworth & Co. Ltd, Joshua Buckton & Co. Ltd and Thomas Shanks & Co. Ltd however the factories of these comapnies closed and all moved to the Reddish factory of the Craven brothers. In 1961 the Denton branch works were sold. In 1967 the company was bought by Staveley Industries Ltd and the Reddish factory closed in 1970.