Guide to the Records of the Vickers PLC (as filmed by the AJCP)
M2587-M2590
National Library of Australia View Catalogue Record
Created: 2018
Collection Summary
- Creator
- Vickers, Sons & Company Ltd.
- Title
- Records of the Vickers PLC (as filmed by the AJCP)
- Date Range
- 1915 - 1965
- Collection Number
- M2587-M2590
- Extent
- 156 items
- Language of Materials
- English
- Repository
- Australian Joint Copying Project
- Sponsor
- The Australian Joint Copying Project (AJCP) online portal was created with the assistance of the Australian Public Service Modernisation Fund, 2017-2020. The National Library of Australia gratefully acknowledges the contribution of the other foundation AJCP partners, the State Library of New South Wales and The National Archives of the UK, and all other organisations which supported the work of the AJCP, the world's most extensive collaborative copying project, operating from 1948 to 1997.
Introduction
Scope and Contents
Reports, correspondence, notes and other papers relating to the company's operations in Australia and New Zealand.
Includes papers on directors and agencies of subsidiary companies, papers on supply of aircraft, correspondence on flights of Sir Ross and Keith Smith, and reports by directors and executives of visits to Australia and New Zealand.
Correspondents include Sir Keith Smith, Sir Robert Knox, Sir Ronald Weeks and Lord Knollys.
The correspondence originally on microfilm is mainly that of Directors whose files have been destroyed.
Conditions Governing Access
Available for Access.
Conditions Governing Use
Many of the records digitised as part of the AJCP are still in copyright. Readers wishing to publish or reproduce documents should seek permission, in the first instance, from the owner of the original material.
Preferred Citation
Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the location of the original material and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.
Items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.
Example: M Series: Journal of Capt. James Cook, 18 February 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1234)
Archival History
Material selectively filmed as part of the Australian Joint Copying Project, 1991 (AJCP Reels: M2587-M2590). Original microfilm digitised as part of the AJCP Online Delivery Project, 2017-2020.
Existence and Location of Originals
Cambridge University Library. West Road, Cambridge CB3 9DR, England.
For further information, see Vickers Ltd. at Cambridge University Library (https://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=EAD%2FGBR%2F0012%2FMS%20Vickers).
The records are those previously kept at Head Office, London; some further technical material is now in Newcastle City Archives, Sheffield City Libraries, the National Maritime Museum (Greenwich), and the Royal Air Force Museum (Hendon).
Existence and Location of Copies
The original AJCP microfilm of the records filmed from this collection is available at the National Library of Australia [https://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn2589405] as well as other institutions holding AJCP microfilm.
Related Materials
See J.D. Scott, Vickers, A History, London, 1962, and Clive Trebilcock, The Vickers Brothers, Armaments and Enterprise, 1854-1914, London, 1977.
Finding-Aid Notes
This finding aid is a revised online version of the original finding aid prepared by the Australian Joint Copying Project (AJCP), published by the National Library of Australia in 2018. The original AJCP finding aids were unpublished typescripts or photocopies available from libraries that held copies of the original microfilm.
Dates used in this finding aid refer to the date range of the records selected for filming rather than to the date range of the Series or Files.
Subjects
Aircraft; Business records; Knollys, Edward, 2nd Viscount; Knox, Sir Robert; Manufacturers; New Zealand; Smith, Sir Keith; Smith, Sir Ross; Steel industry and trade; Vickers Plc; Australia: visits to; New Zealand: visits to; Weeks, Sir Ronald
Bibliography
Originally cited in Australian Joint Copying Project Handbook. Part 8: Miscellaneous (M) Series. Third Edition, published 1998. Entry 474, p.185.
Biographical / Historical
Naylor, Hutchinson, Vickers & Company was established as a steel foundry in Sheffield in 1829 by Edward Vickers (1804-1897) and his father-in-law George Naylor. It produced steel castings and became famous for casting church bells. In 1854 Vickers's sons Thomas (1833-1915), who was a metallurgist, and Albert (1838-1919) joined the company. In 1867 Vickers, Sons & Company Limited was incorporated, with half the shares issued to Edward Vickers and his sons and half to Ernst Benzon (d. 1873), who had been the company's agent in New York. The company expanded rapidly, producing crucible steel for railway tyres, marine shafting and screw propellers. In 1888 it entered the armament industry, laying down plant for the construction of guns and armour.
In 1884 the Maxim Gun Company was formed, with Albert Vickers as the chairman, and it amalgamated with the Nordenfeldt Guns and Ammunition Company in 1888. In 1897 Vickers purchased the Naval Construction and Armaments Company at Barrow and also Maxim Nordenfeldt. It thus challenged the Tyneside company Armstrong Whitworth as the leader of the British armament industry. In 1901 it built its first submarine at Barrow and by 1906 had built 29 submarines in three series. The construction and arming of ships for the Royal Navy became Vickers's main business. By 1911 it had also entered the aircraft industry and by 1914 was producing fighting planes for the Royal Flying Corps. The Vickers Vimy, a heavy bomber aircraft, was built at the Vickers factory at Bexley in 1918. It achieved fame immediately, when in 1919 it was flown on the first trans-Atlantic flight (by John Alcock and Arthur Brown) and the first England to Australia flight (by Ross and Keith Smith). Throughout the 1920s it was the main heavy bomber aircraft of the Royal Air Force.
In 1926 Vickers faced a financial and management crisis arising from the diversity of its undertakings and the decline in demand for armaments. It disposed of a number of its subsidiary companies, combined with Cammell Laird to form the English Steel Corporation, and amalgamated with Armstrong Whitworth. The rise of Nazi Germany in the 1930s eventually led to increased orders for ships, aircraft, tanks and armaments. The production of the Spitfire at Vickers's Supermarine works commenced in 1936. Vickers played a major role in World War II, especially in aircraft production, but the demand for armaments was changing, with battleships, big guns and big gun mountings becoming a thing of the past. The output of aircraft fell drastically after the War, while the English Steel Corporation faced the prospect of nationalisation. In 1960 Vickers' aircraft interests were merged with those of three other companies to form the British Aircraft Corporation. It was nationalised in 1977, becoming part of the British Aerospace group. Vickers's steel operations were taken over by the British Steel Corporation in 1967, while the shipbuilding division was absorbed by British Shipbuilders. The remnants of the company became Vickers PLC in 1986 and was acquired by Rolls Royce in 1999.
Reference: J.D. Scott. Vickers, a history, London, 1962.
Item Descriptions
Series Docs. 57-147. Papers on the Royal Commission on the private manufacture of, and trading in, arms (15pp.), 1935 - 1939
11 itemsArchival history
Originally filmed on AJCP Reel M2587
Subseries Doc. 57. Information collated for the use of Vickers witnesses, Vol. 1
6 itemsFilmed selectively.
Subseries Doc 58. Information collated for the use of Vickers witnesses, vol. 2
1 itemsFilmed selectively.
Letter and statements submitted to Royal Commission on behalf of Vickers Ltd. and Associated Companies [In Doc 61] (3pp.) (File Folder 66)
Series Docs. 225-283. Quarterly reports: subsidiary companies and miscellaneous, 1947 - 1962
115 itemsFilmed selectively.
(750pp.)
Archival History
Originally filmed on AJCP Reel M2587
Cockatoo Docks and Engineering Co. Pty. Ltd., quarter ended, 30 August 1947 (File Doc. 226 (ii) ff. 3-11)
V.H. Pty. Ltd., quarterly ended, 31 March 1959 (File Doc. 272 (ii) (Unfol.))
Doc. 272 (ii) (Unfol) 11pp. in total
V.H. Pty. Ltd., quarter ended, 30 June 1959 (File Doc. 273 (ii) (Unfol.))
Doc. 273 (ii) (Unfol) (15pp.) in total
V.H. Pty. Ltd., quarter ended, 30 September 1959 (File Doc. 274 (ii) (Unfol.))
Doc. 274 (ii) (Unfol.) (13pp.) in total
C.D. and E. Co. Pty. Ltd., quarter ended, 31 January 1960 (File Doc. 275 (ii) (Unfol.))
Doc. 275 (ii) (Unfol.) (19pp.) in total
Aust. reports not found. Typed note on cover, 'Overseas Group (see note)' Note not found (File Doc. 276 (ii))
Vickers Australia Pty. Ltd. group, quarterly reports, April 1960 - July 1960 (File Doc. 277 ff. 28-33)
Vickers Australia Pty. Ltd. group, quarterly report, July 1960 (File Doc. 278 ff. 32-35)
[Duplicate of 277 ff. 28-30]
Series Docs. 284-450. Documents on Aviation, March 1949 - October 1949
3 itemsFilmed selectively.
Archival History
Originally filmed on AJCP Reel M2587-M2588
Correspondence and papers, 1922-1923, 1926 (File Doc. 294)
Re supply of Vulcan aircraft to QANTAS for Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Ltd., William Adams & Co. Ltd., Australia, agents for Vickers Ltd., Weybridge, England. Includes copy letters from Cpt. Godfrey Wigglesworth re his test flight in Queensland and meteorological data supplied to him for stations on air routes Geraldton to Derby in WA and Charleville to Cloncurry in Queensland (c. 160pp.)
Also includes: xerox copies of 1) Qantas Rising, Sir Hudson Fysh, pp. 122-145; 2) Early Birds, Magnificent Men of Australian Aviation between the Wars, Horace Clive Miller, pp. 100-109.
Although listed, this File was not filmed by the AJCP.
Archival History
Originally filmed on AJCP Reel M287
Series Docs. 518-916. Documents used by JD Scott, 1921 - 10 January 1964
14 itemsFilmed selectively.
Archival History
Originally filmed on AJCP Reel M2588
Certificate of resignation of Mr WJ Adams as Vickers' representative in Australia. (1p.), 30 June 1927 (File Doc. 538)
Report by Lieut. Gen. Sir Ronald Weeks on visit to Aust. and NZ., 3 January 1948 - 27 March 1948 (File Doc. 563)
Subjects include: acquisition of Charles Ruwolt Pty. Ltd., newly acquired assets at Cockatoo Island, NSW, Australian General Electric, Australian industry particularly Broken Hill Pty. Ltd., aviation in Aust. and NZ, guided weapon project in Aust., Sir Keith Smith in Aust., possible assets in NZ.
(40pp.)
Report by Sir Robert Micklem on visit to Aust., 14 December 1948 - 17 March 1949 (File Doc. 564)
Subjects include: Cockatoo Docks, Vickers Ruwolt, aviation, Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation Pty. Ltd., rocket range, Salisbury explosives factory, Broken Hill Pty. Ltd., Hoskins Engineering and Foundry Pty. Ltd.
(20pp.)
Report by Mr. J Reid Young on visit to Aust. and NZ., 23 September 1948 - 1 January 1949 (File Doc. 565)
Subjects include: Cockatoo Docks and Engineering Pty. Ltd., Vickers Ruwolt Pty. Ltd., agents and representatives in Aust. and NZ.
(49pp.)
Report by Viscount Knollys, Mr PH Muirhead and Mr WJP Cupples on visit to Australia, 4 March 1956 - 25 March 1956 (File Doc. 566)
Subjects include: purchase of Hoskins Engineering and Foundry Ltd., Vickers organisation and future of Vickers in Aust. on death of Sir Keith Smith.
(55pp.)
Correspondence of Sir Keith Smith, April 1922 - January 1931 (File Doc. 567)
Sir Keith Smith was in Australia in 1922 to be with his father, Andrew Smith, pastoralist, of Gilberton, SA, on the death of his brother, Sir Ross Smith, and there are a few letters of this date; most letters concern his appointment as Vickers' representative in Australia in 1924, and his establishment of the firm's aviation interests there.
(c. 265pp.)
Correspondence of firm's representatives in Aust., mainly Sir Robert Knox and Mr GR Taylor, 1932 - 1934 (File Doc. 568)
Re Vickers' interests in Aust. and name of registered company there. (c. 135pp.).
Notes on history of Vickers Ruwolt Pty. Ltd. c 1948, with statement, 28 Jan. 1958, from Secretary, Vickers Head Office (File Doc. 585)
Statement that Vickers Ruwolt Pty. Ltd. has purchased whole of shares of foundry, WO & B Adams Pty. Ltd., Moorabbin, Vic, and letter from J Tobias, Vickers Ruwolt Pty. Ltd., to VFG Pritchard, Vickers Ltd., London, 28 October 1959, answering questions on history of Vickers Ruwolt. (4pp.)
Notes on history of Hoskins Engineering and Foundry Pty. Ltd., Perth WA. (4pp.), 19 January 1956 and undated (File Doc. 586)
Australian press cuttings re accident, November 1957 (File Doc. 588)
To Vickers' Vimy biplane in which Sir Ross and Sir Keith Smith made first flight from Europe to Australia; the aircraft was badly damaged near Keith, SA, en route to Adelaide airport where it was to be housed as a memorial to the airmen. (6pp.).
Miscellaneous papers and letters, 1921 - 1922 (File Doc. 743)
Re proposed round the world flight of Sir Ross and Sir Keith Smith, and accident at Brooklands in which Sir Ross lost his life.
Includes:
Letter from Cecil King, Chelsea Art Club, to Vickers Ltd 17 July 1921, re the appearance of the biplane and its course across Sydney Heads, the information to be incorporated in design for memorial window. With reply, 18 July 1921.
Letter from Manager Air Dept., Vickers Ltd., 2 Sept. 1921, to WH Shiers, Bondi, NSW, enclosing photograph of Vimy machine.
Papers re accident, 13 April 1922, in which Sir Ross Smith and Lieut. Bennett were killed. Include letter, 21 May 1922, to Wm. Adams & Co., Adelaide, re firm's wreaths for funerals of Smith and Bennett. With reply, 16 June 1922.
Newspaper cutting, The Argus, 17 June 1922, re state funeral of Lieut. Bennett in Melbourne.
(c. 125pp.)
Subseries Doc.771. Short account of Vickers Ltd. Group of Companies, by VFG Pritchett, November 1959
5 itemsFilmed selectively.
Notes on Vickers' involvement with Australia, 1961 - 1962 (File Doc. 838)
Including note of British preferences in Australia. (11pp.)
Random jottings on overseas matters', AP Wickens, 10 January 1964 (File Doc. 847)
Typescript notes on the purpose of the Overseas Department, established 1962, to bring companies in Canada and Australia within parental control of Vickers Ltd. and to encourage inter-relationship between the associated companies. (14pp.)
Series Reel J49. Lord Knollys, October 1946 - January 1956
1 itemThis material was originally copied from microfilm that is mainly correspondence of Directors whose files have been destroyed.
Filmed selectively.
Archival History
Originally filmed on AJCP Reel M2589
Biographical / Historical
David Francis Dudley Knollys, 3rd Viscount 1902-
Australia, October 1946 - January 1956 (File File A/10)
Subjects include: tour of Sir Archibald Jamieson, Chairman, to Australia and New Zealand, 1947; acquisition of Cockatoo Docks and Engineering Co. Pty. Ltd.; death of High Commissioner in London, Rt. Hon. JA Beasley, 1949; visit of Sir Ronald Weeks, Chairman, Maj.-Gen. Dunphie and Col. Maxwell to rocket range, Australia, 1954; visit of Viscount Knollys to Woomera, 1955; possibility of Vickers' interest in Hadfields Steel Works, NSW, 1956.
(432 frames)
Series Reel J403. Lord Knollys, September 1949 - September 1965
1 itemThis material was originally copied from microfilm that is mainly correspondence of Directors whose files have been destroyed.
Filmed selectively.
Series Reel J404. Lord Knollys, March 1947 - January 1962
1 itemThis material was originally copied from microfilm that is mainly correspondence of Directors whose files have been destroyed.
Filmed selectively.
Broken Hill Pty. Ltd., March 1947 - January 1962 (File)
Subjects include: visit of company officers R.L. Knight and G.H. Bishop to U.K.; negotiations with Railway Tyre, Axle and Wheel Manufacturers Association re exports; visit of Prof. E.R. Hudson, Director of Canterbury Agricultural College, University of NZ, to England; coal miners' strike in NSW; development of Whyalla, SA (iron-ore).
(272 frames)
Series Reel K596. Major-Gen. C.A.L. Dunphie, January 1949 - May 1954
2 itemsThis material was originally copied from microfilm that is mainly correspondence of Directors whose files have been destroyed.
Filmed selectively.
Archival History
Originally filmed on AJCP Reel M2589
Biographical / Historical
Major-Gen. C.A.L. Dunphie. [Major Gen. Sir Charles (Anderson Lane) Dunphie]: 1902-
Cockatoo Docks & Engineering Co Pty. Ltd., January 1949 - July 1951 (File File C5)
Subjects include: personnel, labour problems; ship-building inc building and trials of HMAS destroyer, Tobruk, visit of Prof. GG McDonald, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Sydney University, to GB; arrangements for Company to take over passenger ferries from Sydney Ferry Co.; cement plant at Kandos; pastoral interests on Cockatoo Island.
(325 frames, f. 171 not filmed)
Cockatoo Docks & Engineering Co Ltd., August 1951 - May 1954 (File File C5/1)
Subjects include: monthly reports; personnel, labour problems, ship-building inc. frigates, ship repairs, cement plants inc. erection of new plant at Wilson's Portland Cement, NZ; pastoral interests inc. wool clip.
(377 frames, f. 183 not filmed)
Series Reel K845. Major-Gen. Sir Charles Dunphie, November 1948 - January 1958
2 itemsThis material was originally copied from microfilm that is mainly correspondence of Directors whose files have been destroyed.
Filmed selectively.
Archival History
Originally filmed on AJCP Reel M2590
Australia general, March 1955 - January 1958 (File File A7 (B))
Subjects include: visit of TJ Hawkins, Sec., Dept. of Navy (Australia) to London, 1955; formation of holding company in Australia, 1956; visit of JC Richards and JPG Wilson, both of Broken Hill Pty. Co. Ltd. to U.K., 1957.
(302 frames)
Australian representation, November 1948 - February 1956 (File File A7)
Subjects include: appointment of Lieut. Commander Charles WB Whitworth as agent in Sydney, 1949; request of Vice Admiral Sir John Collins for employment, 1955; replacement of Sir Keith Smith, Australian representative, 1956.
(84 frames)
Series Reel K918. Sir Robert Micklem, August 1946 - June 1947
1 itemThis material was originally copied from microfilm that is mainly correspondence of Directors whose files have been destroyed.
Filmed selectively.
Archival History
Originally filmed on AJCP Reel M2590
Biographical / Historical
Commander Sir (Edward) Robert Micklem: 1891-1952.
Series Reel K919. Sir Robert Micklem, July 1947 - January 1949
1 itemThis material was originally copied from microfilm that is mainly correspondence of Directors whose files have been destroyed.
Filmed selectively.
Archival History
Originally filmed on AJCP Reel M2590