View source for Thos. W. Ward

{{For|the American politician|Thomas W. Ward}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2019}}
[[File:The Bailey Bridge (geograph 3669971).jpg|300px|thumb|Bailey Bridge, erected in 2006 at the rear of Albion Works, Sheffield|alt=]]
[[File:Field with power lines, Ketton, Rutland - geograph.org.uk - 1074132.jpg|thumb|Cement kiln 8, Ketton, Rutland]]
[[File:Early_Thos._W._Ward_Steel_Girder.jpg|thumb|Early Thos. W. Ward Steel Girder]]
'''Thos. W. Ward Ltd''' was a [[Sheffield]], Yorkshire, steel, engineering and cement business, which began as coal and coke merchants. It expanded into recycling metal for Sheffield's steel industry, and then the supply and manufacture of machinery.
In 1894, as part of the scrap metal operation, Ward began to set up substantial [[Ship breaking|shipbreaking]] yards in different parts of England, and in Scotland and Wales. By 1953, Thos. W. Ward employed 11,500 people.
Ward's business was reorganised at the end of the 1970s, when it moved from being an engineering group with a motley assortment of subsidiaries to being principally dependent on [[cement]]. In 1982, it was bought by [[Rio Tinto Group|Rio Tinto Zinc]].
==History==
This business was founded by [[Thomas William Ward (industrialist)|Thomas William Ward]] in 1878 with the name Thos. W. Ward. Ward's provided coal and coke, and very soon recycling or scrap metal services. It added dealing in new and used machinery related to the iron, steel, coal, engineering and allied industries, and manufacturing that machinery.<ref name=TT44870>Thos. W. Ward, Limited. ''The Times'', Wednesday, 18 April 1928; pg. 23; Issue 44870</ref>
Ward's Constructional Engineering Department manufactured and erected steel-framed buildings, bridges, collieries, steel works equipment and furnaces. The Rail Department supplied light and heavy rails, sleepers, switches and crossings, and equipped complete sidings. [[De Lank Quarries]] produced the [[granite]] for [[Tower Bridge]] and [[Blackfriars Bridge]], as well as major lighthouses and prestige buildings in London and elsewhere.<ref>Thos. W. Ward Limited Albion Works. Sheffield. ''The Times'', Wednesday, 9 May 1928; pg. 22; Issue 44888</ref>
In 1894, Ward's moved into shipbreaking at many different locations. On 19 May 1904, a limited liability company was formed and registered, to manage all the businesses operating under the name Thos. W. Ward.<ref name=TT46915>Thos. W. Ward Limited, Albion Works, Sheffield. ''The Times'', Monday, 19 November 1934; pg. 20; Issue 46915</ref> By 1920, when raising further capital from the public, the prospectus claimed these notable aspects of Thos. W. Ward: "Premier shipbreaking firm in the world, largest stockholders to the iron, steel and machinery trades, constructional engineers, merchants, etc."<ref name=TT42314>Thos. W. Ward Limited. ''The Times'', Thursday, 22 January 1920; pg. 19; Issue 42314</ref>
===Portland cement===
New capital was raised from the public in 1928 to establish a new [[greenfield project|greenfield]] [[Portland cement]] business at Ketton in [[Rutland]], on 1,170 acres of freehold land, containing [[oolite|oolitic]] [[limestone]] and clays suitable for the production of the highest quality, rapid-hardening Portland cement. It was a particular project of new chairman Joseph Ward (1865–1941), brother of Thomas Ward (1853–1926).<ref name=TT44870/> [[Ketton Cement Works]] became the core activity of Ward's in the late 1970s.
After 55 years, in 1934, when the employees numbered in excess of 4,000 people, the principal businesses were:
*Construction, mechanical and electrical engineering manufacturers
*Coal coke iron steel metal and machinery factors and merchants
*Ship and works dismantlers, owners and brokers
*Wharf owners
*Machinery and plant valuers
*Nut and bolt manufacturers
*Horn handle manufacturers for cutlery
*Brick manufacturers
*Dry slag and tar macadam manufacturers
*Quarrying
[[File:Albion Works reflection (geograph 3669975).jpg|thumb|Albion Works 2013]]
Freehold Premises:
:Albion Works, [[Tinsley, South Yorkshire|Tinsley]] and [[Millhouses]], [[Sheffield]]
:and at [[Silvertown]], [[Grays, Essex|Grays]] (Essex), [[Inverkeithing]], [[Scotstoun|Glasgow]], [[Wishaw]], [[Birmingham]], [[Briton Ferry]], [[Milford Haven]], [[Lelant]], [[Silverdale, Lancashire|Silverdale]], [[Low Moor Ironworks|Low Moor (Bradford)]], Albion ([[Mansfield]]) sand quarries etc and Brickworks at [[Longton, Lancashire#Places of interest|Longton]], [[Newark-on-Trent|Newark]] and [[Apedale]]<ref name=TT46915/>
Leasehold Premises:
:Charlton Works and Effingham Road, Sheffield
:Liverpool, Dublin, [[De Lank Quarries|Cornish Granite Quarries (De Lank)]], [[Denny, Falkirk|Denny]], Preston, Barrow-in-Furness, Pembroke Dock, [[Hayle]] and [[Scunthorpe]].<ref name=TT46915/>
Subsidiaries:
*Milford Haven Dock & Railway Company, [[Low Moor Ironworks|Low Moor Best Yorkshire Iron]], The Midland Iron Co, Pengwern and Gwydir Quarries, The Drybrook Quarries, North Lonsdale Tar Macadam.
*The [[Ketton Cement Works|Ketton Portland Cement Co]] (controlling interest)<ref name=TT46915/>
===W. S. Laycock===
This old-established business was bought in 1934. Laycock's made railway carriage and steamship fittings, underframes for locomotives and railway coaches, and automobile axles, gearboxes, propeller shafts and Laycock's own Layrub flexible drive joints.<ref name=TT46915/> Two years later, [[Laycock Engineering]] was sold to some investors.<ref name=TT47266>The Laycock Engineering Company, Limited. ''The Times'', Wednesday, 8 January 1936; pg. 16; Issue 47266.</ref>
===1970s===
By 1969, the Ward group was believed to be primarily in metal supply, particularly from ship breaking, but also producing cement, supplying roadstone, constructing rail sidings, and building new industrial works and equipping them with the necessary plant and machinery.<ref>Tools to finish all jobs. ''The Times'', Monday, 10 November 1969; pg. V; Issue 57713.</ref>
==Division==
In October 1981, Thos. W. Ward's was split into three:
*Thos. W. Ward (Raw Materials) the former iron and steel division active in processing and merchanting carbon scrap, special steel scrap, non-ferrous scrap metals and steel stockholding.
*Thos. W. Ward (Industrial Supplies)
*Thos. W. Ward (Industrial Dismantling)<ref>Reorganization at Thos. W. Ward. ''The Times'', Saturday, 26 September 1981; pg. 24; Issue 61043</ref>
Within a short time, [[Rio Tinto Group|Rio Tinto Zinc]] (RTZ) began to buy a substantial shareholding and the takeover was completed in early 1982.<ref>''The Times'', Saturday, 23 January 1982; pg. 15; Issue 61139</ref> RTZ amalgamated the Ward cement operation with that of Tunnel Holdings, and named the combination RTZ Cement, which then had about one quarter of the UK cement market.<ref>Cement cartel resists a shake-up. ''The Times'', Thursday, 16 June 1983; pg. 19; Issue 61560</ref> The Railway Engineers department of Thos. W Ward was bought by [[Henry Boot plc|Henry Boot]].<ref>''The Times'', Thursday, 15 March 1984; pg. 19; Issue 61782</ref> RTZ sold Thos. W. Ward (Roadstone) to [[RMC Group|Ready Mixed Concrete]] in June 1988.<ref>RTZ in £33m sale of aggregates firm. '' The Times'', Wednesday, 29 June 1988; pg. 26; Issue 63120</ref>
==Dismantling==
Works dismantled before 1926: Abbott's Works, Gateshead; Bowling Ironworks; Kelham Rolling Mills, Sheffield; Derwent Rolling Mills, Workington; Dearne & Dove Works; West Cumberland Whittington Works, Crawshay's Cyfarthfa Works, Bessemer's Works, Bolton; Mars Ironworks, Wolverhampton; Effingham Nut and Bolt Works, Sheffield.<ref>Obituary, Mr. T. W. Ward. ''The Times'', Wednesday, 10 February 1926; pg. 16; Issue 44192</ref> Thos W. Ward. also dismantled [[the Crystal Palace]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://digital.lib.umd.edu/worldsfairs/result/id/umd:768?query=sheffield|title=Dismantling by Thos. W. Ward Ltd., Sheffield & London {{!}} World's Fair Treasury|website=digital.lib.umd.edu|access-date=23 August 2019}}</ref>
*[[HMS Wellington (1816)|HMS ''Akbar'']]
*{{HMS|Benbow|1885|6}}
*{{HMS|Boadicea|1875|6}}
*{{HMS|Centurion|1892|6}}
*{{HMS|Colossus|1882|6}}
*{{HMS|Devastation|1871|6}}
*{{HMS|Edinburgh|1882|6}}
*{{HMS|Narcissus|1886|6}}
*{{HMS|Nile|1888|6}}
*{{HMS|Prince Albert|1864|6}}
*{{HMS|Sans Pareil|1887|6}}
*{{HMS|Warspite|1884|6}}
*{{SS|Adriatic|1871|6}}
*{{SS|Alaska|1881|6}}
*{{SS|Arabic|1881|6}}
*{{SS|Britannia|1887|6}}
*{{SS|Cleopatra|????|6}}
*''[[Cordoba (ship)|Cordoba]]''
*{{RMS|Etruria}}
*{{SS|Furnessia|1880|6}}
*{{SS|Leviathan}}
*{{RMS|Lucania}}
*{{SS|Majestic|1890|6}}
*{{SS|Munchen|1889|6}}
*{{SS|Servia}}
*{{SS|Syrian}}
*''[[Terec]]''
*{{SS|Vancouver}}<ref name=TT42314/>
*{{RMS|Saragossa}}<ref name=TT39479>A review of Lloyd's Register, ''The Times'', Wednesday, 11 January 1911; pg. 21; Issue 39479</ref>
*{{RMS|Cherbourg}}<ref name=TT39479/>
==Shipbreaking==
===At Inverkeithing===
[[File:Mauretania 2 at the breakers yard.jpg|thumb|right|The [[RMS Mauretania (1938)|RMS ''Mauretania'']] arrives at Inverkeithing ready to be broken for scrap, 1965]]
*{{HMS|Magnificent|1894|6}} (1922)
*{{HMS|Dreadnought|1906|6}} (1923)
*{{HMS|Mars|1848|6}} (1929)
*{{SS|Zeeland|1901|6}} (1930)
*{{HMS|Tiger|1913|6}} (1932)
*{{RMS|Cedric}} (1932)
*{{RMS|Olympic}} (Hull only during 1937 — the superstructure was removed at [[Jarrow]] between 1935 and 1937)
*[[RMS Majestic (1914)|HMS ''Caledonia'']] (1943)
*{{HMS|Otway}} (September 1945)
*{{HMS|Uproar|P31|6}} (February 1946)
*{{HMS|Unruly|P49|6}} (February 1946)
*{{HMS|Unsparing|P55|6}} (14 February 1946)
*{{HMS|Revenge|06|6}} (1948)
*{{HMS|Royal Sovereign|05|6}} (1948)
*{{HMS|Nelson|28|6}} (1949)
*{{HMS|Rodney|29|6}} (1949)
*{{RMS|Empress of Australia|1919|6}} (1952)<ref>Ship Modelling Mailing List (SMML): [http://smmlonline.com/articles/empressaustralia/empressaustralia.html ''Empress of Australia'']</ref>
*{{HMS|Formidable|67|6}} (1953)
*{{SS|Mulbera}} (1954)
*{{RMS|Maloja}} (1954)
*{{HMS|Implacable|R86|6}} (1955)
*{{RMS|Scythia}} (1958)
*{{HMS|Glory|R62|6}} (1961)
*{{MV|Britannic|1929|6}} (1961)
*{{HMS|Thule|P325|6}} (14 September 1962)
*{{HMS|Concord|R63|}} (22 October 1962)
*{{RMS|Mauretania|1938|6}} (1965) ([[Cunard Line|Cunard]]'s ''second Mauretania'')
*{{ship|MT|Haakon Hauan}} (1960)
*{{SS|Ambrose}} (1946)
*[[HMS Hilary (1940)|SS ''Hilary'']] (1959)
*{{HMS|Howe|32|6}}, June 1958 → 1960/61
*{{HMS|Armada|D14|6}} (1965)
*{{HMS|Alaric|P441|6}} (July 1971)
*{{HMS|Ambush|P418|6}} (July 1971)
*{{HMS|Anchorite|P439|6}} (July 1971)
*{{HMS|Aisne|D22|6}} (1970)
*{{HMS|Maidstone|1937|6}} (May 1978)
*{{HMS|Roberts|F40|6}}(1965)
*{{MV|Robert Ley}} (1947)
*{{HMS|Lion|C34|6}}(1975)
===At Briton Ferry===
*{{HMS|Adventure|M23|6}}
*{{HMS|Bellona|63|6}}
*{{HMS|Bermuda|52|6}}
*{{HMS|Cambrian|R85|6}}
*{{HMS|Croome|L62|6}}
*{{HMS|Crossbow|D96|6}}
*{{HMS|Cumberland|1902|6}}
*{{HMS|Dee|1903|6}}
*{{HMS|Druid|1911|6}}
* ''El Inca'' (1979)
*{{HMS|Fury|H76|6}}
*{{HMS|Gloucester|1909|6}}
*{{HMS|Hardy|1912|6}}
*{{HMS|Howe|1885|6}}
*{{HMS|Loch Dunvegan|K425|6}}
* ''Marrakech'' (1979)
*{{HMS|Mutine|1900|6}}
*{{HMS|Revenge|1892|6}}
*{{HMS|Rother|1904|6}}
*{{HMS|Royal Oak|1892|6}}
*{{HMS|Shakespeare|P221|6}}
*{{HMS|Taciturn|P334|6}}
*{{HMS|Tally-Ho|P317|6}}
*{{HMS|Tempest|H71|6}}
*{{HMS|Tenby|F65|6}}
*{{HMS|Thrasher|N37|6}}
*{{HMS|Tonbridge|1918|6}}
*{{HMS|Tuna|N94|6}}
*{{HMS|Venus|R50|6}}
*{{HMS|Zambesi|R66|6}}
*{{ship|RFA|Salvestor|A499|6}}
*{{SS|Empire Rest}}
*{{ship|ST|Sea Alarm}}
*{{HMCS|Nene|K270|6}}
*{{HMS|Hampshire|D06|6}}<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/63467374@N04/5775808797/in/album-72157626716500339/ |title=HMS Hampshire |website=flickr.com |date=30 May 2011 |access-date=15 April 2018}}</ref>
*{{HMAS|Brisbane|1915|6}}
*{{HMAS|Napier|G97|6}}
===At Grays===
*{{HMS|Ark Royal|1914|6}}
*{{HMS|Sapphire|1904}}
*{{HMS|Berkeley Castle|K387|6}}
*{{HMS|Bicester|L34|6}}
*{{HMS|Carstairs|1919|6}}
*{{HMS|Contest|R12|6}}
*{{HMS|Foylebank}}
*{{HMS|Hydra|J275|6}}
*{{HMS|L2}}
*{{HMS|Lance|G87|6}}
*{{HMS|Laverock|1913|6}}
*{{HMS|Liffey|1904|6}}
*{{HMS|Spirit|P245|6}}
*{{HMS|Tiverton|1918|6}}
*{{HMS|Walpole|D41|6}}
*{{MV|Sand Star}}
*{{ship|RFA|Robert Dundas|A204|6}}
*{{ship|RFA|Sea Salvor|A503|6}}
*{{SS|Holdernith}}
*{{ship||Cutty Sark|yacht|2}}
===At Preston===
*{{HMS|Dominion|1903|6}}
*{{RMS|Etruria}}
*{{HMS|Hind|1911|6}}
*{{HMS|Hindustan|1903|6}}
*{{HMS|Holderness|L48|6}}
*{{HMS|Jed|1904|6}}
*{{HMS|Nith|1905|6}}
*{{HMS|Ribble|1904|6}}
*{{HMS|Skirmisher|1905|6}}
*{{HMS|Starfish|1895|6}}
*{{HMS|Sutlej|1899|6}}
*{{HMS|Swale|1905|6}}
*{{HMS|Welland|1904|6}}
*{{SS|Aleppo}}
*{{SS|Staveley|1891|6}}
*{{HMS|Exe|1956|6}}
===At Barrow-in-Furness===
*{{HMS|Blencathra|L24|6}}
*{{HMS|Dido|37|6}}
*{{HMS|Garth|L20|6}}
*{{HMS|Meteorite}}
*{{HMS|Scylla|98|6}}
*{{HMS|Southdown|L25|6}}
*{{HMS|Whitehall}}
*{{ship|RFA|Abbeydale|A109|6}}
*{{SS|Baxtergate}}
*{{ship|TSS|Duke of Clarence}}
*{{HMS|Explorer|submarine|6}}
*{{HMS|Excalibur}}
*{{HMS|London|69|6}}
*{{HMAS|Australia|D84|6}}
*{{RMS|Empress of Russia}}
*{{SS|Bendigo}}
*{{ship|HMT|Dongola}}
===At Morecambe===
*{{HMS|Diadem|1896|6}}
*{{HMS|Glasgow|1909|6}}
*{{HMS|Imperieuse|1883|6}}
*{{HMS|Northampton|1876|6}}
*{{HMS|Orlando|1886|6}}
*{{HMS|Raleigh|1873|6}}
*{{HMS|Repulse|1892|6}}
*{{RMS|Majestic|1889|6}}
*{{SS|Ben-my-Chree|1875|6}}
*{{SS|Ionic|1883|6}}
===At Pembroke Dock===
*{{HMS|Birmingham|1913|6}}
*{{HMS|Chatham|1911|6}}
*{{HMS|Leamington|1918|6}}
*{{HMS|Southampton|1912|6}}
*{{ship|HMT|Richard Bacon}}
*{{ship|RFA|Salvestor|A499|6}}
*{{RMS|Victorian}}
===At Milford Haven===
*{{HMS|Kangaroo|1900|6}}
*{{HMS|Opportune|G80|6}}
*{{HMS|Prince of Wales|1902|6}}
*{{HMS|Tetcott|L99|6}}
*{{HMS|Watchman|D26|6}}
===At Lelant or Hayle===
*{{HMS|Aberdeen|L97|6}}
*{{HMS|Acasta|1912|6}}
*{{HMS|Bellona|1909|6}}
*{{HMS|Bristol|1910|6}}
*{{HMS|Chelmer|1904|6}}
*{{HMS|Cockatrice|1912|6}}
*{{HMS|Fareham|J89|6}}
*{{HMS|Newcastle|1909|6}}
*{{HMS|Tartar|1907|6}}
*{{SS|Lyonesse|1889|6}}
==Lizzie the elephant==
At the outbreak of World War I, 1,235 people were on the payroll of Thomas Ward's company and a thousand tons of scrap metal per day was being fed to the country's steel makers. With demand so high, and many of the horses Ward had previously used to transport his goods around Sheffield requisitioned by the military, he had an increasingly difficult time to match supply with demand. Lizzie the Elephant was brought in as a solution to the problem.<ref name="shef.ac.uk">{{cite web|url=http://www.nfa.dept.shef.ac.uk/jungle/index4d3.htmll|title=University of Sheffield project page|website=shef.ac.uk|access-date=15 April 2018}}</ref>
After work horses from Thomas Ward's were sent or requisitioned to the front in [[World War I]], Lizzie the Elephant was drafted in from Sedgwick's Menagerie, a travelling circus run by William Sedgwick (1841–1927). The elephant was said to be able to do the work of three of Ward's horses and soon got herself the name "Tommy Ward's Elephant" as she became a familiar sight carrying or hauling goods around [[Sheffield]], controlled by her trainer Richard Sedgwick (1875–1931) (son of the circus ringleader William Sedgwick).<ref name="shef.ac.uk"/> Lizzie was said to have inspired other Sheffield firms to creative means with their wartime transport, and a company in the [[The Wicker|Wicker]] area of the city was said to have used camels, also from Sedgwick's Menagerie, in place of their own horses.<ref>''[[Daily Telegraph]]'' Tuesday 18 February 2914, page 6</ref>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==Publications==
*{{colledge}}
*{{cite book |first=John M |last=Ormston |title=The Final Berth: Columbia Wharf: Shipbreaking at Thos. W. Ward Limited, Grays |place=Grays |publisher=JM Ormston |year=1998 |isbn=0953304701}}
==External links==
{{Commons category|Thos W Ward Limited}}
*[http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Thomas_W._Ward Gracesguide.co.uk: Information on Thos W Ward yard]
*[http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime/exhibitions/muck/ Liverpoolmuseums.org: Information on Thos W Ward company]
*[http://www.nfa.dept.shef.ac.uk/jungle/index4d3.html Sheffield Educated - Lizzie the Elephant]
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/making_history/makhist10_prog13d.shtml Information on the elephant]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Thos W}}
[[Category:Ship breaking]]
[[Category:Defunct companies based in Sheffield]]
[[Category:British companies established in 1873]]
[[Category:Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1982]]
[[Category:Energy companies established in 1873]]
[[Category:Waste management companies of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:1982 mergers and acquisitions]]
[[Category:1982 disestablishments in England]]
[[Category:British companies disestablished in 1982]]