R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company, Limited, usually referred to as Hawthorn Leslie, was a shipbuilder and locomotive manufacturer. The company was founded on Tyneside in 1886 and ceased building ships in 1982.

History

The company was formed by the merger of the shipbuilder A. Leslie and Company in Hebburn with the locomotive works of R and W Hawthorn at St. Peter's in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1886. The company displaced its locomotive manufacturing interests in 1937 to Robert Stephenson and Company, which became Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns Ltd. Perhaps the most famous ship built by the Company was HMS Kelly, launched in 1938 and commanded by Lord Louis Mountbatten. In 1954, the shipbuilding and marine engine activities were put into separate subsidiaries, Hawthorn Leslie (Shipbuilders) Ltd. and Hawthorn Leslie (Engineers) Ltd. In 1968 the Company's shipbuilding interests were merged with that of Swan Hunter and the Vickers Naval Yard to create Swan Hunter & Tyne Shipbuilders. The company's shipbuilding and marine engineering interests were both nationalised and subsumed with British Shipbuilders in 1977; in 1979 its engine business was merged with George Clark & NEM, which had also been nationalised, to form Clark Hawthorn. The company's main shipbuilding yard at Hebburn closed in 1982, was sold to Cammell Laird and then acquired by A&P Group in 2001 but now lies derelict. The Company itself, deprived of its main activity, diversified into telephones. In March 1993, Vodafone made a bid for the Company which by then had become a mobile phone air time reseller. The Hawthorn Leslie building still standing in Hebburn has been the target of numerous arson attacks in recent years. This, combined with the presence of asbestos in the brickwork and the ease of access to children, has led to repeated calls from Hebburn residents and councillors for the building to be demolished.

Locomotives

After the merger the locomotive side continued manufacturing for main line, light and industrial railways, including a large number built for export, usually to the designs of the Crown Agents.

Designs

The company manufactured locomotives to order for main line companies. Four locomotives were supplied to the Metropolitan Railway between 1896 and 1901. In 1915, F. G. Smith of the Highland Railway ordered six s to his own designs. However they were rejected by that railway as being too heavy, they were taken over by the Caledonian Railway. The London and North Eastern Railway ordered a batch of Great Central designed locomotives from the Company in 1925/6. In addition it built locomotives to its own designs such as a with four cylinders - two inside and two outside - connected separately to the two pairs of driving wheels. It was produced for the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 but could not produce sufficient steam to compete effectively with the American products. The company later had a number of standard designs including s and fireless locomotives. Hawthorn Leslie, in collaboration with the English Electric Company, built diesel shunting locomotives for the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in the 1930s. This design formed the basis for the later British Rail Class 08 diesel shunter. Hawthorn Leslie, and its successor Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns, built four electric locomotives for Kearsley power station between 1928 and 1946 and three of these still exist. No. 2 has been converted to battery operation and is in use at Heysham nuclear power station. Nos. 1 and 3 are preserved, see below.

Preserved locomotives

28 Hawthorn Leslie Tank Engines are in preservation today: Two of the Kearsley power station locomotives (see above) are preserved. No. 1 at the Electric Railway Museum, Warwickshire and no. 3 at the Tanfield Railway.

Shipbuilding

Ships built by Hawthorn Leslie included: Aircraft Carriers Cruisers Frigates Destroyers Royal Fleet Auxiliary Merchant ships