Petters Limited (known as JB Petter & Sons of Yeovil until 1910), were a maker of stationary petrol and diesel engines from 1896 onwards. Year 1910 ( MCMX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting A stationary engine is an engine whose framework does not move
In 1915 Petter founded Westland Aircraft Works (renamed "Westland Aircraft" in 1935). Westland Aircraft was a British Aircraft manufacturer located in Yeovil in Somerset.
In 1986 Petters Limited merged with one-time rivals companies RA Lister & Company to form Lister Petter. Lister-Petter is a British company that manufactures Internal combustion engines for Industry.
History
James Bazeley Petter, an agricultural engineer and iron founder, had premises in the Borough, Yeovil. Yeovil (ˈjovɪl is a town in south Somerset, England, on the A30 and A37. It was there that Ernest and Percival, his twin sons, designed and built a self propelled oil engine in 1892. Year 1892 ( MDCCCXCII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year Three years later they designed the first internal combustion engined motor car to be made in the United Kingdom. Year 1895 ( MDCCCXCV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the Combustion of Fuel and an Oxidizer (typically air occurs in a confined space called a The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The car, using a converted four-wheel horse-drawn phaeton and a 3 hp (2 kW) horizontal oil engine, had a top speed of 12 miles per hour (19 km/h). In Greek mythology, Phaëton or Phaethon (ˈfeɪətn or /ˈfeɪəθən/ (Φαέθων "shining" was the son of Helios ( Phoebus The vehicle was constructed at the Park Road carriage works of Hill and Boll. It weighed 9 cwt (457 kg) including the 120 lb (55 kg) of the Petter engine with its flywheel and side bars.
A contemporary report said:
- The carriage is intended for two persons, with which a speed of ten miles an hour [16 km/h] is obtained on level road. It will mount the hills of the neighbourhood with two persons, but larger power would be used for four persons … The exhaust is, we are informed, quite invisible, and the engine almost noiseless'. The removable handle (indicated in the plan drawing) was used to start the engine 'in the first place, and an arrangement is made so that the handle, when put in position, automatically opens the exhaust valve which closes instantly when, a good impulse being given, the handle is withdrawn and the engine starts … Tube ignition is adopted, and a small heating lamp is used … The engine starts in ten minutes and runs, we are told, without attention. ' The larger road wheels of the vehicle were 42 in (1. 07 m. ) in diameter.
The twins continued to develop vehicles, the twelfth of which they entered to a competition at Crystal Palace in 1897, without success. The Crystal Palace was a cast-iron and Glass building originally erected in Hyde Park, London, England, to house the Year 1897 ( MDCCCXCVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common Failing to achieve the commercial success that they hoped, they adapted the engines for agricultural and industrial use. In 1902 they produced the first agricultural tractor, powered by a 30 horsepower (22 kW) horizontal oil engine. Year 1902 ( MCMII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting
The first engines made by Petter were Petter Standard oil engines which were horizontal open crank engines made to very high standards.
With commercial production under way, the family launched a private company called J. B. Petter & Co. Ltd. in 1902. Year 1902 ( MCMII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting
Around 1903 cheap American imports, including the "Jack of all Trades" manufactured by the Fairbanks Morse Company, threatened the English stationary engine industry, and unlike most companies at the time Petter decided to produce a cheaper engine of their own to combat the threat. This engine was called the Petter Handyman which was sold around 20% lower in price than the 'Petter Standard' and was sold in batches of 50 or more.
In 1912 the company went public and began engine production in a new factory named the Nautilus Works (after the fire grates that had made James Petter's fortune) in Reckleford. Year 1912 ( MCMXII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year starting Its workforce of 500 men produced 1500 engines a year.
From 1920s onwards Petters made two-stroke and four-stroke engines. The 1920s is sometimes referred to as the " Jazz Age " or the " Roaring Twenties " when speaking about the United States and Canada Such models as the M-type and the A-type were highly successful and were competitors for Listers D-Type.
In the 1930s the company manufactured mechanical calculators. The 1930s were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression. A calculator is device for performing mathematical calculations distinguished from a Computer by having a limited problem solving ability and an interface optimized for interactive The company obtained a patent on calculator technology in 1923 and two more in 1930. Year 1923 ( MCMXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1930 ( MCMXXX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Guy Bazeley Petter then took out equivalent US patents and assigned the rights to the company. The company subsequently sold its calculator designs to the Bell Punch company.
After the second world war, Petters took over the old Lagonda works in Egham Hythe near Staines, Middlesex, employing over 1000 people at its peak. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Lagonda was a British car manufacturer founded as a company in 1906 in Staines, Middlesex by the American Wilbur Gunn (1859-1920 Egham Hythe is a place between Egham and Staines in Surrey, England, extending south of the River Thames towards Thorpe Lea ( Staines is a Thames -side town in the Spelthorne borough of Surrey and part of the London Commuter Belt of South East England,
References
- Stationary and Marine Oil Engines (Yeovil: Petters, 1932)
- Lukins, A. H. The Book of Westland Aircraft (Leiceser: Harborough, 1944)
- Petter, Percival. The Story of Petters Limited (Westbury: David Edgington, 1989)
- St Paul's, Egham Hythe (see history page)
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