Old Hyde

Old Hyde
Pole Bank 1910 ----------------------------------------------------------Town Hall 1937 --------------------------------------------- Cenotaph 1990

Tuesday 23 October 2012

Daniel Adamson: Uncle and Nephew

DANIEL ADAMSON 1820 -1890


photo from Transport Archive attributed to Elliot & Fry (circa 1880).

Daniel Adamson was born in Shildon, Co. Durham.

In 1852 he set up the Newton Moor Iron Works at the junction of Talbot Road and Ashton Road. In 1874 due to lack of space he re-established his business on a new site about a quarter mile to the north west, at Johnsonbrook Rd.

He specialised in engine and boiler making, initially following designs created by Hackworth, making and exporting the renowned "Manchester Boilers". Adamson was able to experiment with the new found wealth from the worldwide export of these boilers and due to his remarkable capability in engineering was able to design the collapsible valve known as the Adamson Flange Seal. He was also one of the pioneers of explosive forming used in the foundry process.

He lived at various address in Hyde, including
  • Goodier House, Back Lane (now Victoria Street), Newton - see Hyde Cheshire.
  • Newton Hall, Muslin Street (now Talbot Road), Newton
  • Oakland Hall, Godley - see Hyde Daily Photo.

Adamson was a champion of the Manchester Ship Canal project. He arranged a meeting The Towers, his Didsbury home, on 27 June 1882, attended by 68 people including the mayors of Manchester and surrounding towns, leaders of commerce and industry, bankers and financiers. Adamson was elected chairman of the provisional committee promoting the Ship Canal, and was at the forefront in pushing the scheme through Parliament in the face of intense opposition from railway companies and port interests in Liverpool. The requisite Act of Parliament enabling the canal was finally passed on 6 August 1885, after which Adamson became the first chairman of the board of directors of the Manchester Ship Canal Company – a post he held until February 1887 when he resigned due to his disagreement with the financial restructuring of the company, although he still ardently maintained his support for the project throughout the rest of his life.

Daniel Adamson died at his home, the Towers, Didsbury, on the 13th January 1890. He left his wife Mary and two daughters, Alice Ann and Lavinia. Newton Moor Iron Works was passed to his daughter Lavinia who had married William Parkyn, an engineer, in April 1873.

A portrait of Daniel Adamson by Philip Richard Morris can be viewed at Manchester City Art Gallery.

For a timeline of events in his life see Geoff Royle's website.

DR DANIEL ADAMSON (1869-1930)

© 2010 Institution of Mechanical Engineers and used here with permission.

The town of Hyde had the benefit of another firm of boilermakers, Joseph Adamson & Co. Ltd. Joseph also grew up in Shildon and was the son of Daniel's elder brother John, an N.E.R. engine driver. Joseph's son Dr. Daniel Adamson, became a President of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers.

Dr Daniel Adamson was born in Hyde in 1869. He began an apprenticeship at the age of 16, attending evening classes at the Manchester School of Technology at the same time. His apprenticeship was divided between the works of Scott and Hodgson of Guide Bridge and Joseph Adamson and Company of Hyde, which had been founded by his father in 1874.

In 1893 he was promoted to works manager, and in 1904 he and his brother Harold entered into partnership with their father. In 1925 Daniel became sole proprietor of the firm.

Adamson was a pioneer in the development of the electric crane. After a visit to the United States in 1893, the firm commenced the building of electric cranes by constructing one of the first three-motor overhead cranes in the country.

He was President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1929. He died in 1930.

3 comments:

  1. Hi Gerald

    It's been a while:(

    When I was doing a little research regarding Longlands House I received the following information:

    "In the 1927 Electoral Register for Godley (the first we have) Longlands is owned by a Daniel Adamson, Adamsons are yet another wealthy mill family of Hyde and they seemed to be there up until the 2nd World War. There are no electoral registers for Hyde during the war years and after that the house must be empty"

    I know Lt. Daniel Adamson died in 1919, his name appears on the War Memorial at Godley.

    I'm not sure which Daniel owned Longlands, perhaps Dr. Daniel Adamson?

    Great post.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Longlands served as an annex for Hyde Grammar School in the late 1950s -early 1960s. The surge in the birth rate when servicemen returned home after the Second World War resulted in a yearly intake at Hyde Grammar of nine forms by the late 1950s, instead of the usual five. I spent my third year at Hyde Grammar rotating between the Main School and Longlands. Four or five forms were sent there. I spent mornings there, other forms spent their afternoons at Longlands.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hallo there
    can anyone tell me something about the takeover of The Horsehay Steelworks from the Simpsons by Adamson Alliance &etc?
    My grandfather was Joseph Simpson, a Director and his cousin Alfred Henry Simpson (1890-1978) was MD & later Chairman of Horsehay.
    Thanks
    Ben Simpson

    ReplyDelete

Sorry about having to keep captchas on my blogs but I took them off and got inundated with spam - I appreciate your efforts to comment despite the hurdle.

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