This company was established in 1783. The following link is from pages of a booklet given to me,
and written by, Mr. E.F. Horton, in 1983. It consists of some historical background to early magnet
manufacture in Sheffield, as well as, the history of the Shaw family.
Read excerpts from
"Magnets and Memories" by E.F. Horton
An Acrobat Reader file. For full view set page at 125% and the zoom to desired size for easy reading.
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2.) James Neill & Co.
James Neill & Co was established in 1889. They were primarily a steel manufacturer, and through the expertise of James Neill, developed a specialized form of steel-faced iron, known as "composite" steel, used in tool and blade manufacture, and out of the steel making for blades and machine knives grew the world renowned "Eclipse" brand, registered in 1909. During the years of the First World War, a need for special steels and magnets provided the impetus toward magnet manufacture -- the renowned range of Eclipse Magnets, and thereafter to the first Eclipse magnetic chuck in 1934.
The company became ever increasingly involved in tool and blade manufacture as well as magnets, being known as James Neill ( Napier Street ) Ltd., as well as "Neill Tools", incorporating many well known tool brands ( Spear & Jackson, Moore & Wright, Britool, to name a few ) under the umbrella of "James Neill Holdings plc". The name "Eclipse" was taken from the name of a famous racehorse which in 1764, was never ever beaten, and 75% of subsequent Derby winners were descendants of this horse, which led to the catch phrase " Eclipse first ... the rest nowhere", which was used in advertisements.
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