| Description | The great majority of this collection consists of the "Allan C Baker & TD Allen Civil WG Bagnall Limited Archive Collection" (D6963). A few additional items have been added from private sources, such as from former employees. Please note that much of this collection is uncatalogued so please ask for guidance as to the contents of the collection.
WG Bagnall Limited of the Castle Engine Works in Stafford was established by William Gordon Bagnall, trading as WG Bagnall in 1875. The Company became one with Limited Liability in 1887 and continued to trade as locomotive builders and railway engineers until 1961. Locomotives and rolling stock were built at Stafford for railways and industrial concerns all over the world, making Stafford a household name in many parts.
The collection of archive material deposited at the Staffordshire Record Office under accession reference D6963, and relating almost exclusively to WG Bagnall Limited, came from GEC Traction Limited as successors to WG Bagnall Limited. GEC Traction was itself a successor to the English Electric Company Limited, which acquired WG Bagnall Limited in 1961 by its acquisition of WH Dorman & Company Limited, the Bagnall shareholder. Dormans acquired Bagnall in 1959 from Heenan & Froude Limited of Worcester. Heenans acquired the Company in 1947 from the Cadman family and the widow of William Sydney Edwards, the managing director until his death in late 1946. As a result of the English Electric takeover, the Company ceased to exist as a separate entity and the building of locomotives at Stafford, as well as other railway related activities, ceased after 86 years.
The depositors of D6963, Allan Baker and Allen Civil (died 2013), were engaged in researching the history of the Company for almost fifty years when the deposit was made in 2009. However, having published four books on the Company and its products, as well as writing numerous articles in various magazines and journals, they felt it was time to make the archive more easily accessible to the general public. The bulk of the collection was placed in the custody of Allan Baker and Allen Civil by GEC Traction Limited on the understanding that at some stage it would be placed on public deposit and it was felt that Staffordshire Record Office was the most appropriate repository.
The collection is by no means complete as a lot of material was lost when English Electric took over and the Works was turned over to alternative work. Such material as survived suffered further reductions during house-keeping in its movement first to the Robert Stephenson & Hawthorn works at Darlington, then to the Vulcan Foundry at Newton-le-Willows and lastly to the GEC Traction HQ at Trafford Park. However, a significant amount remains, although largely concerned with the locomotives the firm built. There are but a few items relating to the more general history of the Company.
As well as the material that came from GEC Traction Limited, the collection contains other items of official material collected over the years from all number of sources. In particular the late Horace E S Lorton, who worked in the cost office from 1920 until 1938 and Ivor C A Farr, a designer and draughtsman with the firm in the later 1920s and early 1930s. Allan Baker has also made provision that at some stage other material in his personal collections relating to the Company will be deposited at Staffordshire Record Office. That of the late Allen Civil has already since been deposited (see note below).
The overall collection here also contains a number of items that had already been deposited over the years at Staffordshire Record Office, mainly small quantities of items from private sources such as former staff members, but also a private ledger acquired by the Stafford accountants Dean & Son.
The Industrial Railway Society has deposited on loan a series of early drawings of locomotives (part of D5857). These have been separately catalogued as records belonging to that society.
In addition, the collection of the late AHV (Vic) Betteley, one time Production Manager of the firm, has also been deposited by his family (2 boxes, accession reference 7086). This contains a number of original archive items including catalogues, sales cards and photographs, that will be included in this overall catalogue at a later stage.
Allen Civil's collection (deposited in 2013) was added to this catalogue because although technically this is a personal collection not created by Bagnall's firm, it is integral to the understanding of the whole, and also contains many items that fit gaps in the main collection. Allen Civil was a Bagnalls draughtsman.
Contact can be made with Allan Baker through Staffordshire Record Office if any help is required by those researching the firm, and should the Record Office staff think this appropriate. Copies of the four books relating to the history of the firm and its products are available for study in The William Salt Library.
[The majority of this text was supplied by Allan C Baker & TD Allen Civil, November 2009. Last updated November 2013.]
Summary guide to accessing the collection:
Most enquiries about locomotives will be based upon knowledge of at least one of the following elements: engine number, client, and date.
The three Drawing Registers are arranged by engine number with a client index. These are complete from 1892-1948. The fourth drawing register is held at the National Railway Museum at York. A copy is available at Staffordshire Record Office on request. Copies of individual drawings can be supplied once drawing numbers are identified in the drawing registers. Please contact staffordshire.record.office@staffordshire.gov.uk.
The "progressive" drawing registers are complete to 1962, but they are arranged by drawing number, and so it would take some time to search through to identify all the drawings for a particular engine.
The casting registers are complete between approximately 1890s and the early 1950s. They are arranged by engine number, and give the drawing numbers for specified parts.
The pattern register (1910-1961) uses a different sequence of numbers for the patterns and is less useful for identifying engine numbers or drawings. |