Waygood & Co. (formerly R Waygood & Co. and later Waygood-Otis) was a UK- based elevator company which was later merged with Otis. They made hand operated elevators, electric traction and hydraulic elevators, escalators, dumbwaiters, and cranes.
History
Waygood was founded by Richard Waygood in 1833 and in 1840s the firm moved to London. In 1865, the firm began making hand operated elevators (Hand Lifts) and subsequently they began making electric belt-driven as well as hydraulic elevators in 1868, making it the first elevator manufacturer in England to produce electric elevators. It established a factory along Falmouth Road in London, which later became Otis's head office in the United Kingdom. In 1890, Waygood opened a factory in Melbourne, Australia, and in 1892, its Australian businesses were acquired by Australian engineer Peter Johns (the founder of Johns Hydraulic & General Engineering Co.) and became Johns & Waygood[1]. In 1897, Waygood was renamed to "R. Waygood & Co.".
In 1914, Otis Elevator Company merged with Waygood and became "Waygood-Otis". Its headquarters and warehouse were located at 54-55 Fether Lane in London. In 1952, Otis bought a controlling interest in the company and in 1957 the Waygood name was dropped.
Locations
Waygood first opened their factory in Falmouth Road, London in 1863. After Otis joined Waygood and became Waygood-Otis, they opened a headquarters and a warehouse in 54-55 Fether Lane, London. Waygood-Otis had offices located:
- Liverpool
- Manchester
- Newcastle
- Nottingham
- Leeds
- Leicester
- Sheffield
- Plymouth
- Brighton
Waygood-Otis also had overseas offices and agents located in:
- Dublin, Ireland
- Johannesburg, South Africa
- Sao Paulo, Brazil
- Bombay, India
- Calcutta, India
- Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka)
- Rangoon (Yangon), Myanmar
- Singapore
- Malaysia
- Hong Kong
- Shanghai, China
- Tokyo, Japan
- Sydney, Australia
Notable installations
A number of surviving Waygood as well as Waygood-Otis installations can still be found in the United Kingdom and other countries.
United Kingdom
London
- Barts Hospital, London (1930s)
- Ognisko Restaurant, South Kensington, London
- Southbank Centre, London (modernized by Temple Lifts)
Other cities
- Old Ship Hotel, Brighton
- Blackpool Tower, Lancashire
- House of Fraser, Manchester (1930s)[2]
- University Arms Hotel, Cambridge (1927, modernized in 1972)
- Footasylum, Birmingham
- Experience Barnsley, Barnsley (modernized)
- Babbacombe Cliff Railway, Torquay, Devon (1923, modernized in 1951 by J&E Hall, 1993 and latest one was in 2005)[3]
Australia
New South Wales
- 127 Liverpool Street, Sydney, NSW
- Forbes Hotel, Sydney, NSW[4]
- AMP Building, Goulburn, NSW (1920s, modernized by Kone)
Other states
- Manchester Unity Building, Melbourne, VIC (1932, the first building in Victoria to have escalators)[5]
- Myers Centre, Adelaide, SA (1935, modernized by EPL-KONE in 1991)
- Goldsbrough House, Adelaide, SA
New Zealand
Wellington
- James Smith Building, 87 Manners Street, Wellington
- Wellesley Boutique Hotel, Wellington
- Anvil House, 140 Wakefield Street, Wellington
Auckland
- 23 Shortland Street, Auckland
- 10 O'Connell Street, Auckland
Otago
- 83 Moray Place, Dunedin
- Queens Building, Dunedin
- Consultancy House, Dunedin (modernized by Kone in the 1990's)
- Moray Chambers, Moray Place, Dunedin
Others
- Alice Building, Christchurch
- Distinction Hotel, Palmerston North (1927)
Malaysia
Penang
- Eastern & Oriental (E&O) Hotel, George Town (1920s)
- Georgetown Chambers, George Town (1923)
- CIMB Bank Lebuh Pantai (1930s,removed,call panel still retains)
Other countries
2 University Drive, Lung Fu Shan, Hong Kong, China(1951-2019, building will be demolished)[6][7]- State Theater Building, 277-291 King's Road, North Point, Hong Kong, China (1950s, abandoned manually controlled elevator)[8][9]
- Elevador de Santa Justa, Lisbon, Portugal (1902)[10][11]
- Palace Hotel, Copenhagen, Denmark
- London Sumatra (Lonsum) Building, Medan, Indonesia (1908)[12][13][14]
- RMS Queen Mary, Long Beach, CA, United States (1936, ship retired in 1967)
Trivia
- In Australia, some old Waygood Otis elevators are often contains the name Johns & Waygood, therefore they are often branded as "Johns & Waygood Otis".[15]
- Waygood once built a water balance elevator on the cliff at Folkestone, Kent known as "The Leas Lift". It was built in 1885.
- In Singapore and Malaysia, Waygood elevators were also installed by Central Engine Works Ltd. and Sime Darby Co. Ltd.
Gallery
See also
Notes and references
- ↑ Peter Johns's biography - Australian Dictionary of Biography
- ↑ 1930s Waygood Otis lifts at House of Fraser in Manchester. Some elevators have been modernized by Otis in the 1990's.
- ↑ History - Babbacombe Cliff Railway (Archived, original source from January 3, 2017, retrieved on the same date)
- ↑ Branded as "Standard Waygood". Fixtures modernized by Otis using old black buttons.
- ↑ Manchester Unity Building - Victorian Heritage Database
- ↑ 薄扶林香港大學大學道二號Waygood OTIS升降機 - YouTube
- ↑ 2 University Drive elevator - Facebook post by Abandoned HK - Facebook
- ↑ State Theater Building elevator - Facebook post by Abandoned HK - Facebook
- ↑ 【圖輯】飛拱戲院有部古董升降機 (Chinese) - The Stand News
- ↑ Elevador de Santa Justa old deadman control (from Wikimedia Commons)
- ↑ Elevador Santa Justa - Lisbon
- ↑ The first elevator installed in Medan, and also the oldest elevator still operating in Indonesia.
- ↑ Photos of a London Sumatra Building elevator article taken from Kompas newspaper (April 24th 2016) (Alternate version)
- ↑ Melihat lift tertua di Indonesia yang masih beroperasi - YouTube
- ↑ An example of Johns & Waygood Otis elevator in Sydney, Australia
External links
- Waygood Otis - The Elevator Museum
- R. Waygood & Co. timeline (provided by Hevac Heritage)
- Waygood-Otis Lifts catalog