Siemens Brothers

Siemens Brothers and Company Limited was an electrical engineering business based in London, England. It started in 1858 as a branch of the famous German company Siemens & Halske. The main factory was in Woolwich, where they made cables and electrical equipment from 1863 until 1968. Some of the old buildings there are still important today.

During World War I, the company was bought by a group of British investors because many of its owners were considered enemies. Later, in 1955, it became part of Associated Electrical Industries. At that time, the company made many things, including cables for underwater and land use, telephone lines, and equipment for radio and signaling at sea. They also made lamps and other electrical tools and signals for trains.

The Siemens family

The Siemens brothers came from a well-educated family in Germany, though they didn’t have much money. Their father worked on a farm they rented. The older brothers were born in the Kingdom of Hanover. In 1823, when William (Wilhelm) was born, the family moved closer to the Baltic coast, near Lübeck. Both of William’s parents had passed away by the time he was 17.

Some notable members of the family include:

• Sir William Siemens (1823–1883), who was interested in electric telegraphs and lighting and started Siemens Brothers in the UK.
• Ernst Werner von Siemens (1816–1892), William’s older brother, who founded Siemens & Halske.
• Carl Heinrich von Siemens (1829–1906), another brother who first opened an office in Saint Petersburg in 1853, then later joined William in London in 1869.
• Alexander Siemens (1847–1928), a distant cousin who joined William in Woolwich in 1867. He was adopted by William and became a British citizen. He served as managing director from 1889 to 1899 and stayed on the board until 1918.

Siemens & Halske, 1858-1865

On October 1, 1858, the German company Siemens & Halske started an English branch called Siemens & Halske & Company. This branch was a partnership between William Siemens, a cable maker named R S Newall from Gateshead, and the main Siemens & Halske company in Berlin. Their goal was to help lay Newall’s new submarine communications cable. The London branch was led by William Siemens, who later became known as Sir William Siemens. He was originally named Carl Wilhelm Siemens and was born in Hanover. He moved to England in 1843 to sell a patent he shared with his brother Werner. He worked in Birmingham with engineers Fox, Henderson & Co and became a British citizen in 1859. That same day, he married the daughter of a lawyer from Edinburgh, whose brother, Lewis Gordon, was a business partner of R S Newall. During the 1850s, Sir William created the Siemens regenerative furnace.

After some problems with Newall’s cables, the partnership with them ended late in 1860. In 1865, Johann Georg Halske, a partner in Siemens & Halske, left the English branch because of issues with the London branch’s work. At that point, the branch became known as Siemens Brothers.

Siemens Brothers Telegraph Works

Siemens Brothers Telegraph Works started a new cable factory in Woolwich, London in 1863. The factory grew to cover more than 6 acres and employed over 2,000 people. In 1869, the London and Berlin teams worked together to create and lay a telegraph line from Prussia to Teheran, which was a key part of the direct line from England to India, stretching 2,750 miles. Some important cables made and laid by Siemens Brothers between 1873 and 1883 include:

• In 1874-5, the London team alone finished the first direct Atlantic cable to the USA.
• In 1876, a direct cable between Paris and New York was planned in France. In March 1879, Siemens Brothers received the order from banker Pouyer-Quertier. They completed making the PQ cable at Woolwich by mid-June, and the Faraday ship began laying it under Ludwig Loeffler's control. The main cable was given to the owners in just over four months. At that time, neither France nor the USA had their own cable-making factories.
• In 1881, a cable was laid from Western Union England to Nova Scotia in the north.
• In 1882, another cable was laid from Western Union England to Nova Scotia in the south.

The making and laying of cables was the main work of the company until Sir William died in 1883. After his death, shares were offered to keep the London manager Johann Carl Ludwig Loeffler (1831–1906) working there. He increased his share to 25%, but there were disagreements about how the company was run. Alexander Siemens, William's adopted son, took over from Loeffler in 1888. Werner bought Loeffler's shares. Loeffler passed away 18 years later, leaving behind an estate worth over £1.5 million, and he was a big investor in mines in West Australia.

The invention of the dynamo in 1867 caused a shift from Siemens' earlier focus on light-current products to heavy-current products and processes. The world's first modern high-voltage power station opened in 1891 at Deptford East. It was designed in 1887 by 23-year-old former Siemens apprentice Sebastian de Ferranti and built by the London Electricity Supply Corporation on the banks of the Thames at Deptford Creek, about two and a half miles west of Siemens' Woolwich site. Berlin wanted the London business to move away from relying on submarine cable work. However, the London County Council did not support that kind of development, so Stafford was chosen instead. In 1900, 500 acres of land were bought there, and building started in 1901.

After the invention of the arc lamps, Siemens Brothers began making them as well.

In December 1880, a limited liability company was created to own the firm, named Siemens Brothers and Company Limited. There were only seven shareholders, the legal minimum. All except Loeffler were family members. William was chairman, and Loeffler was managing director.

In 1899, the Siemens family bought back all shares that were not owned by family members.

By 1900, Siemens Brothers had built and laid seven North Atlantic cables.

Stafford and Dalston sites

In 1903, Siemens Brothers joined with a company from Nuremberg to create a new business for heavy electrical work. They built a new factory in Stafford for this purpose. By 1906, the factory was operated by a new company named Siemens Brothers Dynamo Works Limited.

Later, in 1908, Siemens Brothers opened a factory in Dalston, London, to make special light bulbs. By 1919, the factory could make 2.5 million bulbs each year. However, new technology made these bulbs old-fashioned, and the Dalston factory closed in 1923.

Around World War I

In 1911, the company was growing and built several new structures at its Woolwich location. One large five-story building made rubber-coated copper-wire cables, and a new office building was constructed in the same simple brick style. Just before World War I, Siemens had more workers in Britain than in Germany, with about 10,000 employees.

Because of rules during the war, ownership of the company changed hands. In 1917, a group of investors led by Charles Birch Crisp bought the company. By 1920, the Woolwich site covered about seventeen and a half acres.

The company made many types of cables and equipment, including power lines, telephone cables, and various electrical devices.

Spin-offs

• Siemens and English Electric Lamp Company Limited From 1923, this joint company took over factories making electric lamps and handled sales for wires, cables, and other electrical products.
• Siemens and General Electric Railway Signal Company Limited In 1926, Siemens and GEC joined forces to create this company for railway signaling.
• Submarine Cables Limited In 1935, Siemens combined its submarine cable division with another company to form Submarine Cables Ltd.

World War II

During World War II, Siemens Brothers helped make many important supplies, including cables and special equipment for ships. Their factory in Woolwich faced many challenges during the war, with many buildings damaged by bombing.

One important project was called PLUTO, which helped bring fuel to the Allied forces in France. Siemens Brothers used their skills to create special cables that could carry fuel under the ocean. This work was vital for supporting the war effort.

Post-war period

New owners

Associated Electrical Industries Limited bought part of Siemens Brothers in 1951 and later offered to buy the rest. Most shareholders agreed, and by January 1955, they owned the company. In 1957, it was renamed Siemens Edison Swan Limited. Then in 1967, the General Electric Company took over.

Closure

The old factory in Woolwich could not keep up with new ways of making things. After making telephone systems for years, the factory closed in 1968. This caused many people to lose their jobs, leading to hard times for the area.

Legacy

Siemens Brothers made several important firsts in technology. In 1914, they created the first automatic trunk telephone exchange at King's College Hospital in London. In 1927, they built a short-wave marine radio for the ship Carinthia. In 1934, they developed an electrically operated train arrival indicator at Paddington Station in London. In 1937, they helped with the first television outside broadcast for the Coronation and laid the cable used. In 1956, they were part of making the transatlantic telephone cable, producing 9/10ths of the cable that stretched 4,200 nautical miles.

The company's main site was in Woolwich, covering thirty-five acres. Many buildings there show a rich industrial past. Some were damaged during World War II, but others from the 1870s to the 1940s still stand. Some of these buildings are now used as artists' studios. Near the Thames Barrier, there is a marine radio school from 1946, which was a joint effort with another company to train people in using radar and radio equipment.