A HISTORY OF SUFFOLK 



horses had hitherto prevailed. To the portable 

 engine they added a special fire-box for burning 

 straw and other vegetable refuse as fuel to meet 

 the need of countries where the price of wood 

 or of coal was prohibitive. Messrs. Ransome 

 have naturally taken a special pride in the 

 improvement of the plough. They claim that 

 the first balance steam-plough was invented and 

 made at the Orwell Works in connexion with 

 the late Mr. John Fowler. The development 

 of the horse-drawn plough has proceeded in two 

 different directions. On the one hand the 

 implement has been differentiated into a great 

 number of separate species, each adapted to some 

 particular function or to some peculiar variety of 

 soil ; and on the other hand the effect of a single 

 ploughing has been multiplied by adding one or 

 two additional bodies to the plough. To take 

 one or two examples : 



A plough with three bodies is now constructed 

 for paring the surface of stubble fields after 

 harvest, which instead of merely cutting off the 

 tops of weeds and twitch lifts up the roots and 

 throws them loosely over on the surface for 

 gathering by harrows. Another multiple plough 

 is made for covering seed which has previously 

 been sown broadcast, whilst a further variety is 

 fitted with a seed-box for sowing seed broadcast, 

 so that the sowing and covering is done at one 

 operation. The use of these multiple ploughs 

 has been greatly facilitated by a special lifting 

 apparatus introduced by Messrs. Ransome and 

 now very widely adopted. 



Although the connexion with agriculture, 

 which was the starting point of their develop- 

 ment, has been continuously maintained, the 

 activities of the Orwell Works began very early 

 to take a wider scope. The firm of Messrs. 

 Ransome & Sons was one of the earliest to build 

 iron bridges, and Stoke Bridge at Ipswich was 

 constructed by them in 1819. 1 On the in- 

 troduction of the railway system they became 

 very large manufacturers of railway ' chairs ' 

 and also of compressed wood-keys and tree- 

 nails for securing the chairs and rails, in which 

 connexion several patents were taken out. In 

 1869, in consequence of the rapid increase of 

 the older established business, it was found de- 

 sirable to remove this branch of the industry 

 across the Orwell to the waterside works, where 

 it has since been carried on by the separate firm 

 of Messrs. Ransome and Rapier, who have now 

 a world-wide reputation as makers of lifting ma- 

 chinery and railway-equipment material, bridges, 

 turntables, &c. The first locomotive introduced 

 into China was made at these works by Mr. Rapier. 2 



1 In 1857 they were entrusted with the mounting 

 of the equatorial and transit instruments of the Green- 

 wich Observatory, a task requiring the most perfect 

 and accurate workmanship. 



* ' Some British Engineering and Allied Industries,' 

 Sir C. McLaren, bart., in the Times Engineering 

 Supplement, 14. Feb. 1906. 



This separation, however, did nothing to im- 

 pair the growth of the engineering department of 

 the Orwell Works. This had its beginnings, as 

 has already been described, in the production of 

 engines and boilers for the propulsion of agricul- 

 tural machinery, but these are now made for all 

 kinds of industrial purposes, including steam 

 traction, mining, electric lighting, the milling of 

 corn, and the preparation of tea. The engines 

 are manufactured in every variety, vertical and 

 horizontal, simple and compound, portable, 

 semi-portable, and stationary, and Messrs. Ran- 

 some have a large plant of special machinery 

 for the construction of boilers of the Cornish, 

 Lancashire, dryback, multitubular, and vertical 

 types. 



The present Orwell Works, 3 which were 

 begun in I 849 and have since been continually 

 extended, include an immense foundry, a smith's 

 shop with (more than) a hundred forges, a plough 

 shop, several engine-erecting and boiler shops, 

 a turnery, a grindery, a threshing-machine 

 department, and a lawn-mower department. 

 They have a dock frontage of over 800 feet, 

 alongside which steamers of 1,500 tons can load, 

 and there is direct rail communication along the 

 quay. The works find employment for upwards 

 of 2,200 men and boys. Messrs. Ransome, 

 Sims, & Jefferies is now a limited company, 

 but the family of the founder is still represented 

 by Mr. E. C. Ransome and Mr. B. C. Ran- 

 some, both grandsons of the younger Robert 

 Ransome. 4 



The introduction of steam brought about as 

 great a transformation at Leiston as at Ipswich, 

 and the equally remarkable growth that ensued 

 was on similar lines to that already described. 

 Mr. Richard Garrett, the grandson of the 

 founder, took a leading part in effecting the 

 transition from horse-power to the use of steam, 

 especially in relation to the threshing-machine, 

 to the perfecting of which he may be said to 

 have devoted his life. After patient and ex- 

 haustive experiments a set of steam-threshing 

 machinery was produced and exhibited at a show 

 at Norwich. The demand soon became very great. 

 Before long Messrs. Garrett found themselves 

 obliged to specialize in threshing-machines, and 

 the making of other agricultural machinery and 

 implements fell into the background, or was 

 dropped altogether, although the numbers em- 

 ployed at Leiston and the amount of the output 

 rapidly increased. The threshing-machine as fully 

 developed separates from each other the chicken 

 corn, weed, seeds, chaff and straw, and sends 

 each to its appointed place, not only by threshing 

 out the grain, but by sifting on riddles and by 



3 Messrs. Ransome have received two gold medals 

 from the Royal Agricultural Society of England, and 

 have been awarded a very great number of medals and 

 prizes at international exhibitions. 



4 Ex inf. Messrs. Ransome, Sims, Jefferies, Ltd. 



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