CASE STUDY
Pilkington Bros
The four founders of this famous Lancashire firm were all related. The first two, William ‘Roby’ Pilkington and Thomas Pilkington, were the sons of William Pilkington (1800–1872). William senior’s brother, Richard Pilkington (1795–1869) also had two sons in the business, Colonel William Windle Pilkington and Richard (1841–1908).
Pilkington originated as St Helens Crown Glass Company (1826). Two of its partners included William Pilkington senior and his brother-in-law Peter Greenall (1796–1845) of the famous brewing family.
Greenall & Pilkingtons (later Pilkington Brothers) invested in a new method of making high quality cylinder glass perfected in Europe. In 1837 the firm also began casting plate glass at another St Helens site. The firm’s fortunes were boosted by the repeal of excise duty on glass in 1845, and within a few years it was manufacturing over 80 tons of glass each week. Pilkington’s first continuous glassmaking furnace in 1887, patented by the Siemens brothers, speeded up production, revolutionising the glass-making industry.
Yet another new era dawned when Alastair Pilkington (no relation to the family) invented ‘float glass’ in the 1950s. Molten glass was ‘floated’ over a layer of molten tin to create high quality glass. Huge profits were made, and by the 1960s Pilkingtons were a world leader in the industry.
Sadly Pilkington (now called Nippon Sheet Glass) is no longer family- owned ( bit.ly/ pilkingtonglass).
Pilkington Group Archives and Records Service, St Helens, holds records for the British Plate Glass Co 1802– 61 (minutes and accounts), and Pilkington Brothers Ltd 1826–20th century ( bit.ly/pilkingtonGA).