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Original Text (Annotation: EPW050450 / 677901)
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Joseph Sankey and Sons Ltd
Archives: The GKN business records from the Hadley Castle site were deposited at Shropshire Records Research in 1985. System Reference: X4898.
The first works was at Bilston.
Joseph Sankey founded the business in 1854.
In 1902 the firm was turned into a limited company with J.W. Sankey as chairman.
Prior to 1910 the Hadley Castle works manufactured tram bodies eg by Metropolitan Amalgamated Carriage & Wagon Co. Ltd
In 1910 Joseph Sankey and Sons Ltd acquired the Castle Works, Hadley, Telford and switched all automotive related production to this site. It was here that the company also developed Sankey-Sheldon office furniture and produced agricultural implements.
By 1919 the family business operated from four sites: Albert Street, Dudley which manufactured tin trays and hollow ware domestic items; The Bankfield Works, Bilston which produced steel electrical laminations; Hadley Castle Works, Wellington which produced components for the motor industry and Manor Rolling Mills, Ettingshall, Wolverhampton which produced steel sheets for the Bankfield Works.
In 1929 the company was taken over by, and became a subsidiary of, John Lysaght Ltd., which was shortly afterwards acquired by G. K. N.. But Sankeys maintained its original name.
The Hadley Castle Works specialized in motor vehicle wheels and bodies and expanded with the British motor industry. After the First World War additional products included chassis frames, office furniture, and washing machines. There were c. 1,500 employees in 1939.
The works grew in the years 1948-60, becoming Europe's biggest manufacturer of motor vehicle wheels. From the early 1970s the wheel division suffered from falling demand and in the late 1970s the works entered a sudden decline. In January 1978 the workforce, 6,250, was the largest of any Telford firm. Four years later it had been cut to 2,550.
Image is 1936 advert for Sankey wheels made at this site.
Image is from Graces Guide and is licenced under GnuFDL 1.2, compatible with CC-BY-SA 3, Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike Licence (UK) Vn 3 '