Title
Collection of Machine Tool Trade Literature
Reference
2023-583
Production date
01-01-1925 - 31-12-1994
Creator
- Cunliffe & Croom LtdBiographyBiography
Cunliffe and Croom of Manchester were machine tool makers. Although the business was advertised as being located in Manchester, they were actually located in Salford, at Broughton Iron Works on Edward Street, Broughton. They were makers of lathes, boring machines, milling machines, planing machines, and shaping machines.
By 1953 the company is known to have been a wholly-owned subsidiary of James Archdale and Co Ltd. In that year, the business was acquired by Staveley Coal and Iron Co as part of its acquisition of James Archdale and Co Ltd.
- Craven Brothers LtdBiographyBiography
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.
- Kearns-Richards LtdBiographyBiography
Machine tools manufacturer formed in 1967 when Staveley Industries bought H. W. Kearns and Co. Ltd and merged it with George Richards and Co, key companies in the Broadheath machine tool manufacturing industry. It became part of Staveley Machine Tools.
Scope and Content
Collection of trade literature from companies including Cunliffe & Croom, Craven Brothers and Kearns-Richards, c 1930-c 1989.
The Cunliffe & Croom catalogue of machine tools dates from the 1930s, and includes descriptions of planing machines and horizontal milling machines, amongst other machine tools manufactured by the company.
The Craven Brothers brochure documents the range of machine tools manufactured in the 1960s, at a time when the company had already begun to reduce its operations.
The Kearns-Richards brochures date from the 1970s and 1980s and provide evidence of the type of machine tools in production in this period.
Extent
4 items
Physical description
The condition of the archive is fair to good. There is some surface damage to the bookcloth of the Craven catalogue, with scuffing visible and possible rust accretions to the bookcloth surface. The first brochure held in the binder has significant surface dirt. Brochures further into the binder seem clean with evidence of wear to page edges and corners. The newer material is in a good condition.
Archival history
This collection of Trade Literature was compiled by Norman Middlemiss, who worked for Cunliffe & Croom and Kearns-Richards in the 1960s before moving to the Wirral to work for Victory Kidder in 1968. Following redundancy from Simon VK, as Victory Kidder became known, Middlemiss was offered work at Kearns-Richards again in 1981, where he worked until his retirement in 1993.
Level of description
TOP
Repository name
Science and Industry Museum
Conditions governing access
Open access.
Conditions governing Reproduction
Copies may be supplied in accordance with current copyright legislation and Science Museum Group terms and conditions.
Related object
- Business archive for Craven Brothers Ltd, machine tool makers.NotesNotes
Business archive for Craven Brothers Ltd, machine tool makers.
- Records relating to Kearns Richards LimitedNotesNotes
Records relating to Kearns Richards Limited
- Boring Machines and Machining CentresNotesNotes
Brochures of machine tools from Kearns-Richards Ltd, c 1988.
Related items
Y1974.39
Y1976.21.1