Records of Fletcher & Stewart Ltd, sugar machine manufacturers, Derby, England

Scope and Content

  • Minutes 1979-1982
  • Company history 1972

Administrative / Biographical History

Fletcher & Stewart Ltd , sugar manufacturers, was formed in 1958  though the merger of George Fletcher & Sons Ltd , sugar machine engineers, Derby, and Duncan Stewart & Co Ltd , sugar machine manufacturers, Glasgow, Scotland.

George Fletcher & Co was founded by George Fletcher in 1830  in London, England, to produce sugar refining machine for the West Indies. The firm opened a works in 1862  in Derby by the new Derby-Birmingham railway, and later relocated the company's head office to the new site. The firm passed to George Fletcher, jnr, on his father's death and then to his 6 children following his own death in 1897. However, the company was not divided equally, with one daughter getting a two-sevenths share. She was subsequently taken to court by her sisters and the judge ruled that the company be sold. The firm was purchased by family members in 1909  and incorporated as George Fletcher & Co Ltd. In 1956  , Booker Brothers, McConnell & Co Ltd, sugar producers and merchants, London, acquired the company.

Duncan Stewart & Co was founded in Anderston, Glasgow, in the 1830s  as an engineering firm. By the 1860s the company was producing textile and sugar machinery having expanded the business by taking over a cotton mill in Bridgetown, Glasgow. One of the company's chief achievements came in 1871, when Duncan Stewart patented the hydraulic mill that allowed more juice to be extracted from sugar cane. When Stewart died in 1902, the company was taken over by his brother-in-law, William Beardmore, and the company moved into steel plant manufacture. In 1939, the company was acquired by Davy & United Engineering Co Ltd and the company concentrated on steel production. In 1958  , the sugar side of the business was sold to Booker Brothers, McConnell & Co Ltd.

Booker Brothers, McConnell & Co Ltd merged the two companies to form Fletcher & Stewart Ltd in 1958. In c1988 Fletcher & Stewart Ltd acquired Smith Mirrlees, sugar machinery manufacturers, Glasgow, and changed its name to Fletcher Smith Ltd in 1990  . In 2002, Fletcher Smith Ltd was still trading as architectural and technical consultants.

Arrangement

This material is arranged into series, which consists of numbers of items related by format and/or function. Within series, the items are generally arranged chronologically

Access Information

Access to all records dating within the past 50 years must be cleared with the company. Apply in the first instance to the University Archivist

Acquisition Information

Smith Mirrlees : Eglinton Works, Cook Street, Glasgow, G5 8JW : 1972

Smith Mirrlees : Eglinton Works, Cook Street, Glasgow, G5 8JW : 1976 (Additional deposit)

Smith Mirrlees : Eglinton Works, Cook Street, Glasgow, G5 8JW : c1982 (Additional deposit)

Fletcher & Stewart Ltd : c1988 (Additional deposit)

Other Finding Aids

Digital file level list available in searchroom as part of the Smith Mirrlees finding aid (UGD 118)

Manual file level list available at the National Registers of Archives in Edinburgh (NRA(S)3119) and London (NRA14656)

Alternative Form Available

No known copies

Conditions Governing Use

Applications for permission to quote should be sent to the University Archivist

Reproduction subject to usual conditions: educational use & condition of documents

Appraisal Information

This material has been appraised in line with standard GB 248 procedures

Custodial History

Acquired directly from creators

Accruals

None expected

Related Material

GB 248 UGD 055 Records of Duncan Stewart & Co Ltd

GB 248 UGD 062 Records of The Mirrlees Watson Co Ltd

GB 248 UGD 116 and UGD 118/6 Records of Blairs Ltd

GB 248 UGD 116/1 Records of A & W Smith & Co Ltd

GB 248 UGD 118/2 Records of Mirrlees Watson & Co Ltd

GB 248 UGD 118/3 Records of Pott, Cassels & Williamson

GB 248 UGD 118/4 Records of W & W McOnie

GB 248 UGD 118/5 Records of John McNeil & Co Ltd

GB 248 UGD 118/7 Records of R G Ross & Sons Ltd

GB 248 UGD 118/9 International Sugar Bulletin

See source list on Sugar available via Glasgow University Archive Services homepage at http://www.archives.gla.ac.uk

Material in other repositories: no material associated by provenance

Bibliography

No known publications using this material

Additional Information

This material is original

No alterations made to date