A History of Wilson Cammell of Dronfield

Charles Cammell was born in Hull in 1810, the son of a wealthy ship owner. His first job was that of an apprentice ironmonger and he became a traveller for Ibbotson Brothers of Sheffield. With Henry and Thomas Johnson he eventually formed Johnson Cammell and Co. in Sheffield. By 1852 business was doing so well that he was able to buy Norton Hall.

In 1860 his workers presented him with a silver plate worth £500 for his 50^th birthday and a party was thrown for 3000 people. By 1854 the company had offices in London and America.

In 1870 Wilson Cammell & Co opened their factory in Dronfield at Calleywhite Lane which made steel wheels for the railway. The factory, however, was unsuccessful so the company moved its rail-making plant from Sheffield to Dronfield in order to make rails more quickly. (This attracted a number of industrial spies from Barrow who were refused entry to the works. They had to make do with watching through binoculars from nearby hills.) The factory, which became one of the largest steel works in the world, was now a great success and brought much employment and prosperity to Dronfield.

As a result of this increased prosperity, Dronfield’s population was steadily growing and many children attended the newly-built Cross Lane school (now Dronfield Junior School). Alas, it was not to last; most of the rails produced by the factory were sent for export and the cost of transporting them to the ports from which they were sent abroad was very high. Consequently, the factory was closed and a new one opened in Workington on the coast in 1882. This had a very great detrimental effect on Dronfield; some families moved with the factory, but as a direct result of the closure there were some 334 houses in Dronfield standing empty. It would take the town a long time to recover.

Wilson Cammell threw a farewell party for a thousand people. It was catered by a Mrs Rudge in two sittings in schoolrooms at the Independent Free Church and the Baptist Chapel. A concert was held in the Town Hall and singers Mrs Clark, Miss Meek, Mr Allen, Mr Unwin, Mr Watson and Mr Hawley were accompanied by Mr H Brown. A Ball held at Cross Lane Schools required the use of two large rooms for dancers. Music was provided by the British Workman String Band and dancing continued until 11 o’clock at night.