David Colville & Sons

Dalzell Works, opened by Colville in 1872, nationalised under British Steel in 1967 and today operated by Tata Steel Europe.

David Colville & Sons was a Scottish iron and steel company. It was founded in 1871, and in 1967 it was nationalised as part of British Steel.^[1] The company's first plant was the Dalzell Steel and Iron Works in Motherwell, which was opened in 1872,^[2] and by World War I this plant was the largest individual steel works in the country.^[3]

Colville's quickly grew into a substantial concern, and by 1900 they were the largest employers in Motherwell.^[4] During WWI the Government of the United Kingdom asked Colville's to intervene in some of the nearby struggling steel plants, and to that effect they took over the running of the Clydebridge Steel Company works in Cambuslang in 1915, and the Glengarnock works in 1916.^[5] In 1919, Colville's entered a minority share swap agreement with its principal customer, the shipbuilders Harland and Wolff of Belfast and Glasgow.

1951 saw the company taken into public ownership, under the direction of the Labour government of Clement Attlee, as part of the Iron and Steel Corporation of Great Britain. Public subsidy underwrote the start of Colville's Ravenscraig steelworks project in 1954, although Colville's was subsequently returned to private ownership by the Conservative government of Anthony Eden in 1955. In 1957 construction of the integrated Ravenscraig steelworks at Motherwell was completed at a cost of £20 million, and as a result of this, a number of older Colville furnaces were demolished.^[1]

In 1967, Colville's was renationalised by the Labour government of Harold Wilson, forming part of British Steel. British Steel itself was later privatised by the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher in 1988.

Despite the closure of Ravenscraig by British Steel in 1992, the former Colville-run Dalzell and Clydebridge works continue to operate today as part of Tata Steel Europe, producing steel plate for projects such as the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "David Colville and Sons". The Best of British Engineering 1750-1960s. Grace's Guide. http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/wiki/David_Colville_and_Sons. Retrieved 3 October 2010. 
2. ^ "David Colville: The founder of Colville's". Colville's Magazine. Clydebridge Steelworks History. January 1920. http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/steelworks/Colville's.htm. Retrieved 3 October 2010. 
3. ^ "Colville's - The Company and Its Allied Concerns". Colville's Magazine. Clydebridge Steelworks History. January 1920. http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/steelworks/Colville's.htm. Retrieved 3 October 2010. 
4. ^ "Motherwell, Park Street, Dalzell Steelworks: Offices and Workshops Fronting Park Street, Motherwell". Historic Scotland. British Listed Buildings. 10 December 2001 (date buildings listed). http://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/sc-48315-motherwell-park-street-dalzell-steelworks. Retrieved 3 October 2010. 
5. ^ "Sir John Craig 1874-1957: Sixty-Seven Years with Colvilles, 1888 - 1955". Clydebridge Steelworks History. http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/steelworks/Colville's.htm. Retrieved 4 October 2010. 

Further reading

• Payne, Peter L (1979). Colvilles and the Scottish Steel Industry. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-828278-8. 

External links

• History of steelworks in Scotland