Kelvin & Hughes Ltd (scientific instrument manufacturers: 1947-1966: Glasgow, Scotland and London, England)

In 1947 , the scientific instrument manufacturing firms of Henry Hughes & Son Ltd , London, England, and Kelvin Bottomley & Baird Ltd , Glasgow, Scotland, came together to form Kelvin & Hughes Ltd .

The origins of the company lie in the highly successful, if strictly informal, relationship between William Thomson ( 1824-1907 ), Professor of Natural Philosophy at Glasgow University from 1846-1899 and James White, a Glasgow optical maker. James White ( 1824-1884 ) founded the firm of James White , optical instrument maker in Glasgow in 1850 and was involved in supplying and mending apparatus for Thomson's university laboratory and working with him on experimental constructions. By 1854 , White was already producing electrical instruments - electrometers and electrical balances - from Thomson's designs. In 1857 , White entered into a short-lived partnership, White & Barr , with John Barr which lasted until 1860 when it was dissolved and White reverted to his previous company name of James White. White was actually declared bankrupt in August 1861 , and then discharged four months later.

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