Andrew Little - son of a bottlemaker..

[littlealison]

Born in Dublin 1878, because his father John Little emigrated there, Andrew was my grandfather. He served an apprenticeship in Dublin, then about 1899 left for Scotland where his grandfather was born. He worked for Alexander Findlay & Co (bridge builders & constructional engineers) in Motherwell, as a draughtsman, and was there in 1901.
I can only find little bits about Findlay's, and don't know much about what a draughtsman does.
(wish I could ask him!)..... Light on the subject, someone?

He married my Dublin typist grandmother, in Glasgow, in 1904. At some point he was working in Darlington, but came back to work with the Dalziel Bridge and Roof Co in Motherwell by 1905, as leading draughtsman. Again, I don't know much about what he - or they - did. They lived in Hamilton, as they had two of their children there by 1911.
I'd like to know about his work. - Alison.

[LesleyB]

Hi Alison

As far as I'm aware, a draughtsman made technical drawings, plans, and maybe also the sort of "what this may look like when finished" type of drawings. Obviously, these days "draughtsmen" use computers to produce the images, but back then I expect you would need various drawing tools, such as proper drawing boards, set squares and other straight edges to enable you to draw accurate angles and curves, and produce accurate and precise renderings of buildings, bridges and the like. It was quite a skilled occupation.

The term "draughtsman" also appears to cover artists, so in some cases one might also have been asked to draw people's houses or other commissions, but I suspect given where you have said your man worked, that "technical drawing" was more his line of work.

http://www.tele-design.co.uk/shipdrafy.htm
gives the following informaiton, and although more about ships' draughtsmen, it gives some idea of the tools used and the type of work:

Despite these technical advances, up to the late 1950s the tools used by the draughtsmen had changed little since the mid-nineteenth century. They consisted of drawing instruments for pencil and ink work, a range of scales from 1/16 inch to the foot, and up to one inch to the foot, and a range of curves usually made from thin boxwood or maple. These fitted the tight curves used for small detail work, and the much flatter curves of the deck sheer. In between were the curves used in drawing the cross-sectional curves of the ship’s hull - known by their shape as ‘ram’s horn’ or ‘pear’ curves. These were often acquired from retiring draughtsmen, or by making your own from thin wood or transparent plastic. A set of the most used curves was a valuable addition to the draughtsman’s tool box. In the late I 950s it became part of the apprentice draughtsman’s training to make a set of curves, as part of an eve-training exercise for a draughtsman who would spend his life dealing with the curved surfaces of ships.

Large curves such as waterlines or deck outlines were drawn with the aid of wooden battens, held in place by lead weights, and while some draughtsmen had small battens of their own, battens and weights were part of the drawing office equipment.

As drawing offices were handling arrangement plans of ships drawn usually at a scale of ¼ inch to the foot, it was not unusual to have drawings 10 feet in length. Adjustable drawing boards as used in engineering were therefore of little use in ship drawing offices, and they were equipped with flat benches up to 42 inches wide, and between 10 and 20 feet long. They were about 39 inches high and fitted with shallow plan drawers, shelves, and deep drawers. Being solidly built there was no movement to distort the accuracy of the drawings.

Plans had been drawn in ink on translucent tracing paper, or linen backed paper, until the advent of sized linen in the inter war years, and this medium continued to be used for detail or sketch work. Sized linen was a more robust material and was prepared by stretching onto the bench with drawing pins and applying a light coat of chalk, which was then dusted off. Useful additions to the draughtsman’s equipment were a small brush and dusters. Plans continued to be mapped out in pencil, and then inked-in with black Indian ink when the final details were decided.

At some time during the apprenticeship the draughtsman would have a special draughtsman’s tool box constructed in the Joiners Shop. He could then fill it with instruments, set squares, curves, scales, and all the paraphernalia of a ‘proper’ draughtsman.

Essential for calculation work was a set of mathematical tables containing trigonometric functions, logarithms, square and cube roots, in addition to a slide rule. In the mid-1950s the mechanical calculating machine was replaced by the electric-powered version. The calculation of areas and volumes, and inertia's, vital for the determination of ship stability, continued to be done manually in the Design Office using the planimeter and integrator. The technique for using these instruments in the 1950s remained the same as was set out in the well-known ‘Attwood’s’ book on naval architecture, first published in 1899.’

With a broad-based apprenticeship in design, construction, and outfitting, draughtsmen were expected, as a normal part of their duties, to liaise with foremen in other trades in ironing out design faults and production problems, and to go into the yard or aboard ship to assess problems. As they were, at times, in a supervisory role their status and salary reflected this, and most senior draughtsmen were paid more than the foremen. Responsibility and decision-making were, therefore, a feature of the job and did, as many believed, elevate them to a status recognised as being between management and manual worker.

See also
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_drawing
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engineering_drawing

Best wishes
Lesley

[littlealison]

Oh wow, what a lot of detail - fascinating! I never thought there was so much to it.
Sounds like it took an organised, tidy and almost obsessional mind to do the job. He was certainly tidy and organised, rarely ruffled, calm, humourous. Didn't care what he looked like, went around in a scruffy mac with an (army?) shoulderbag. A good man and a lovely grandfather.
I only ever saw one bit of his work, when I was quite young, and wish I could remember the details, it was about a bridge.
If he was a leading draughtsman, he'd be involved with whatever was being designed, so what did Findlay's and Dalziel's produce? Are there any sites with pictures? I have looked but have found very little.
Thank you, Lesley for this info. - Alison

[LesleyB]

http://www.scotsatwar.org.uk/AZ/dday.htm

Scotland’s contribution to D-Day also drew on her manufacturing and industrial base. It was the Clyde built paddle steamed Talisman that was the HQ ship for the Mulberry Harbours and large sections of the Mulberrys themselves were tested and made in Scotland. Trials for a floating, sectional pier and harbour system with breakwaters which could respond to the tide and enable to Allies to land on the shallow shelved beaches in France where there was no major port, first took place at Garliston in South West Scotland. Eighteen pier heads were made by Alex Findlay & Company of the Parkneuk Works in Motherwell...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opaekaa_Road_Bridge

The Opaekaa Road Bridge, also known as the ʻOpaekaʻa Road Bridge, is a steel truss bridge listed on the National Register of Historic Places located along ʻOpaekaʻa Road in the Wailua Homesteads neighborhood of Kapaʻa, Hawaiʻi, United States. The one-lane bridge spans ʻOpaekaʻa Stream. With steel beams forged in 1890 by the Alexander Findlay & Company in Motherwell, Scotland, this is touted as possibly the only British-built bridge located in the United States.

http://www.scran.ac.uk/database/record. ... chdb=scran

Alexander Findlay & Sons Co. Ltd. were a company of structural engineers based in Motherwell between the 1890s and 1970s. They specialised in constructing steel structures such as bridges and steel framed buildings.
Large steel structures were always erected temporarily in the makers' works, useg Bolts instead of rivets. The parts were then marked, and the structure dismantled ready for transporting to its final site.

Mullardoch Dam, completed 1952, is part of the Affric/Beauly Hydro-Electric Scheme built by the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board to the north west of Inverness. Water flows from the dam to a small power station at the south end of the loch, and then is channelled through a tunnel to Loch Benevean (Beinn a'Mheadhoin). From there it flows to the large power station at Fasnakyle.

This view shows part of the dam from the downstream side. Two riveted steel pipes are being embedded in the base of the dam, to allow silt to be scoured out of the bed of the loch. The pipes were made in Motherwell by Alexander Findlay and Company, structural engineers.

The Mullardoch-Fasnakyle-Affric Project was the first part of the Affric/Beauly scheme to be built. Great care was taken to minimise the impact on the fine scenery in the area. The Affric/Beauly scheme is one of eight large schemes built by the Board from the 1940s to the 1960s.

(Log in needed to see the above two items on Scran.)

[LesleyB]

I think the entries below may be the same company as the "Dalziel Bridge and Roof Co"? But I'm not sure though - it may be another company. Maybe someone else will be able to clarify...

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/95705
Dalzell Steel Works, Motherwell - picture.

http://www.coldal.org/dalziel.html

The parish of Dalziel in what is now Motherwell was once in the industrial heartland of Scotland, and the town itself was a famous steel community. The Dalziel steel works was a major employer in its time.
A plate of the old industrial landscape of Motherwell is shown below.

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/steelworks/Colville%27s.htm

February 17th, 1871. A memorable day in the history of the firm - and, indeed, in the history of the iron and steel industry of Scotland ! For on that date the first sod was cut for the foundations of the works known far and wide to-day as the Dalzell Steel and Iron Works.

Mr. David Colville, Senior, the founder of the firm, had been on the outlook for a site in Lanarkshire suitable for the construction of a malleable iron work...

...under the energetic direction and close supervision of Mr. Colville the Dalzell Works soon gained a high reputation for the quality of its manufactures. And when tragic disaster befell the Tay Bridge in the great storm of December, 1879, and the important contract for the supply of iron bars for a new bridge was secured and successfully executed by the young Motherwell firm, the corner had been fairly turned; and from that time forward its record was one of steady expansion and increasing prosperity.

[AndrewP]

I had wondered if this company was the forerunner of Motherwell Bridge, which is still live and kicking.

http://motherwellbridge.com/

All the best,

AndrewP

[littlealison]

Andrew, I don't think it's the same as Motherwell Bridge, because I found this online:
"Motherwell Bridge Ltd are one of Scotland's oldest engineering contractors which can trace their roots back to the original Motherwell Bridge Group founded in 1898."

Then I tried to connect it with Dalziel and got this, on one of those annoying sites I can't access properly:
".............Gumming, Wm. J. L., Motherwell Bridge Co. , Motherwell, ...... James, Dalziel Bridge works, Motherwell, 26 Nov., 1901..........", - something called ‘Transactions’, supposed to be the whole text and you can't read it. What is clear is they are separate works.

About Dalzell, I'm not at all sure. What I feel is that they made the steel, but the other groups made bridges etc with it. I could be wrong. Thanks for the input, though - Alison.

[Currie]

Hello Alison,

In Parliamentary Papers there’s:

1902 (352) Joint stock companies. Return of the companies registered during the year ended the 31st day of December 1901 which filed a prospectus, and to which certificates to commence business have been granted; &c., &c.
III. Alphabetical list of companies registered during the year ended the 31st December 1901 which filed a declaration that the company ‘does not issue any invitation to the public to subscribe for its shares.’

Listed is Dalziel Bridge and Roof Building Company, Limited.

1912-13 (267) Companies. Twenty-first general annual report by the Board of Trade.
IX. Alphabetical list of the companies which were dissolved or struck off the register during the year ended the 31st day of December 1911.

Listed is “Dalziel Bridge and Roof Building Company, Limited.

Here are some Edinburgh Gazette notices:
http://www.edinburgh-gazette.co.uk/issu ... /pages/988
http://www.edinburgh-gazette.co.uk/issu ... /pages/220

I can’t see anything in 19C newspapers for ‘Dalziel Bridge’ and it looks like the company was first registered in 1901 and had failed by 1908.

In the 19C newspapers there are references to the Alexander Findlay company going back to the 1880s. The works was at Parkneuk.

The Glasgow Herald, Wednesday, November 21, 1900, has a prospectus for Alexander Findlay & Company, Limited, to raise capital to acquire the “well known and extensive bridge building business of Alexander Findlay & Company”. As could be expected the company is described in great detail but is in rather fuzzy print.

All the best,
Alan

[Currie]

Back again Alison,

Here’s the Glasgow Herald, November 21, 1900, item for Alexander Findlay & Company, Limited. (in two parts because of its size).

Top
http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/ad28 ... ll-Top.jpg

Bottom
http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/ad28 ... Bottom.jpg

Alan

[littlealison]

So to go public, the (new) company has to buy out the original company, and did. Not sure the statement of profit would pass these days!
The description of the works gives a really good idea of what they were doing, making the parts for the bridges. I gather it was mostly bridges. That's better than anything else I've seen.

Seems my grandfather wanted the office job, not the hands-on stuff, no shame to him, he wasn't a physical type of man and he had a lot of brains. I wondered overnight if as a child he saw the patents for the designs of bottle glass furnaces that his father took out, that could have started an interest in design for him.
My info comes mainly from my father and uncle - I've now found a mention in the notes about 'supervising erection' for Dalziel, so he was on site for that, obviously.
And by 1909 he was working for Dorman, Long in Middlesbrough as leading draughtsman. Figures.

Thank you again for your extensive information, Alan. - Alison.