The firm was first established in St John's Street, London, in 1815 by Wiliam Russell, a pupil of Joseph Bramah, to produce hydraulic presses, water closets and soda water machines. In 1835 William Russell died and the business was taken over by Hayward Tyler, in 1837, and moved to premises in Whitecross Street.
In the middle of the 19th century the firm was expanding further - one job taken on was that of manufacturing the machinery to make aerated bread, for example. A new workshop was built. However much of the land was held on relatively short leases and there was little or no scope for expansion, so in 1872 land near the Great Northern Railway in Luton was bought and a new factory built. Various employees also seem to have invested money in the firm. Among the buildings erected at this time was a chapel.
In 1900 the
company produce the first automobile in Luton, but a fire occured at the site
and the car’s prototype was destroyed along with £50,000 worth of plant
machinery. Unfortunately the loss was not covered by insurance and as the car
was an early prototype, the project was discontinued.
Today’s ghost
sign is the same as that featured in TG Hobb’s “Luton and Neighbourhood” series
of photographs from 1908.
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