News

News feeds |

Bright idea goes worldwide

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the introduction of street lighting in Newark and the first gas lights to be set up in the town.

One name that is particularly associated with gas in Newark is that of Cornelius Britiffe Tully who, for many years, made the equipment to produce gas from coke.

Now, two members of the Tully family, James Tully from Canada and his cousin Tony Metcalf from Surrey, are interested in learning more about the people involved and employed by the Tully company.

Gas manufactured from the carbonisation of coal was first used for street lighting in the early 19th Century, but the luminosity (or candle power equivalent) which could be obtained was relatively low, particularly before the introduction of gas mantles in 1886.

t was an invention by C. B. Tully in the way gas could be produced from coal which helped to revolutionise the industry and facilitate the great advances which were made in gas applications - in cooking and heating - prior to the introduction of natural (methane) gas from the North Sea in the Sixties.

Cornelius Britiffe Tully was born in London in 1861 and began his working life alongside his father (Thomas Dominick Tully) who was a distribution engineer with the London Gas Co.

Cornelius acted as assistant to his father, taking charge of all the main laying works for the company, including the putting down of some of the first 48in gas mains in London's streets.

He subsequently became a foreman with the Liverpool Gas Company and afterwards, (during the 1880s) secretary and manager at the Sligo Gas Undertaking in Ireland - a position he held for 18 years.

It was during his time in Ireland that the so called Tully Water Gas process was first developed, and following his return to London, Cornelius, seized the opportunity to erect his first operational plant at the Swindon works of the Great Western Railway Co. in 1906.

Tully's process was innovatory in so far as it succeeded in extending the traditional carbonisation process to produce an additional quantity of gas from the same amount of coal.

Put simply, Tully's Water Gas was produced by the controlled injection of steam across the red hot coke which was left over from the initial gas manufacturing process.

This had the effect of releasing an additional quantity of gas - the Water Gas - which would otherwise have been lost. A later refinement pioneered by Tully's - and one which proved particularly important - was the incorporation of an electrically driven carburettor to automatically control the steam injection.

A still further enhancement came with Tully's development of units for the "complete gasification of coal" which combined the traditional method of carbonisation and the creation of Water Gas within a single facility.

This did away with the generation of coke as a by-product and, at the same time, allowed the use of lower grade coals which would hitherto have been unsuitable for gas production.

"Gasify everything that cannot be coked" Mr Tully was once quoted as saying. "Gasify slack, rubbish etc. This gas can be converted into power and from power to electricity, and from electricity to other products which require high temperatures for their production."

Following the successful demonstration of his process with the Great Western Railway, orders for Tully gas plants began to flow in and on 29 May, 1919 a company was formed under the title of Bale and Hardy Ltd, to become 'sole makers of Tully's patent carburetted Hydrogen plants and Tar dehydrating plants.'

With registered premises at 39 Victoria Street, in the City of Westminster, Bale and Hardy's owner is listed as Cornelius Britiffe Tully, although exactly why his name is not included in the title remains unclear: The identity of Messrs Bale and Hardy is not known.

Shortly after its formation, Bale and Hardy relocated its production plant to Newark, the town being selected for its central location and excellent communication links. Premises were taken on Millgate in a former maltkiln and yard behind the White Hart public house.

Here Tully began to manufacture his gas producing plant and equipment, and on February 1, 1921 the old company of Bale and Hardy was wound up and taken over by Tully Gas Plants Ltd which, among its directors, numbered Colonel Thorpe of Coddington Hall.

The Millgate works continued as the centre of operations, and a description published at this time states that the business consisted of "a foundry, a well-equipped machine shop, erecting sheds (where the plants were erected prior to being dispatched), stores and new and commodious offices."

The works, says the description, was employing around 250 people with Tully equipment already having been purchased by 130 gas companies as far afield as Jersey and Guernsey, Carmathen, Wick, Alderney and Enniskillen -not to mention plants at Newark's own Gas Works on Parker Street. Orders in hand, meanwhile, included commissions for Spain, Italy and South Africa.

In subsequent years, indeed, Tully equipment was to become well known in France, Germany, Canada, the USA and even Japan, being the subject of over 20 patents worldwide.

Next week I will look at the later history of the Tully factory in Newark, including its diversification into steel- framed building construction and eventual closure in May 1984.

In compiling this article I am indebted to Mr C. J. Bullock of Stockton-on-Tees, a former employee of the Newark Corporation Gas Department in the Forties.

ABOVE: Cornelius Britiffe Tully (1861-1930), founder of the Newark firm of Tully Gas Plants Ltd.

<Back