Fawcett, Preston Engineering Company Ltd

The firm known in its heyday as Fawcett, Preston Engineering, was founded in 1758, by George Perry, as the Liverpool branch of the Coalbrookdale Foundry at Ironbridge. It became an independent Liverpool company and built up an international reputation, particularly for sugar machinery. Its marine engines too were, in the early days, world famous, and these included those of the first Mersey steam ferry, Etna in 1817 and the President, the largest ship in the world in 1840. It was also a noted supplier of guns and ammunitions. It supplied engines for Liverpool built ships for the Confederacy as well as arms and munitions. In 1935 it moved away from its site at 177 Lydia Ann Street, Liverpool, to Bromborough and in 1947 became part of the Metal Industries Group. The records reflect its range of products up to the end of the Bromborough factory. Its bi-centenary history “Fossets” (White, H., “Fossets”, A record of two centuries of engineering, Bromborough, 1958) was written in 1958. Regrettably, some of the documents used could not be found when the archives were acquired, however, photographs of some have survived. Expamet International PLC acquired the firm in 1986. For further details see the attached catalogue or contact The Archives Centre for a copy of the catalogue.