| Administrative History | The Chesterfield Tube Company was incorporated in 1906, successor to the Universal Tube Company located at Derby Road, Chesterfield; and with the benefit of patents acquired from the Cornhill Contract Corporation. The company prospered: a new pattern and tool store were built in 1913 and further workshops in 1916. With orders from the Admiralty the workforce in 1916 expanded to over 1,000. It was claimed that the firm drew more tubes and made more steam pipes for marine engines durng the First World War than any other firm in Great Britain. The firm also made air bottles for submarines, oxygen cylinders for the armed forces and aeroplane tubines.
A new company registration was made in 1920. The 1922 annual meeting was told of reduced demand, but some recovery was reported in subsequent years. Experiments were undertaken with corrosion-resistant tubes. In 1929 a majority of company shares was purchased by Tube Investments Ltd. In the 1930s the company was involved in promoting the use of coal gas as a fuel for motor vehicles and the company supplied steam pipes for the steamship Queen Mary. The company's works were extended in 1937-1938. In July 1945 the works were visited by the Duchess of Kent. In 1960 the firm was said to be the largest manufacturer in Europe of seamless pressure vessels and gas bottles. The Tube Works are understood to have closed in 2005. |
| Custodial History | This is an artificial collection of documents relating to the Chesterfield Tube Company. The first item (D256/BZ/1) was deposited in Derbyshire Record Office in February 1964. The transcript was donated in January 2021, via Chesterfield Library. |