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Ruston & Hornsby Limited

1918-

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Ruston & Hornsby Ltd was formed on 11th September 1918 as a merger of R Hornsby & Sons and Ruston & Proctor & Co. The new company offered Ruston high compression oil engines alongside Hornsby safety paraffin engines. The company diversified into car production in 1920 but could not compete with more specialised motor manufacturers: production ended in 1925, approximately 1300 cars having been made. Following the cessation of motor production Rustons concentrated mainly on offering a wide range of engines in all sizes and capabilities. There was one obvious gap - the smaller vertical high-speed diesel. As Listers were probably the leaders in this field, the two companies got together and produced a joint engine, the 'JP'. Rustons produced the larger components such as the crankcase, and Listers produced the smaller elements. Rustons learned quickly, and very soon afterwards they were producing high-speed diesels of wholly Ruston design. A wide range was made available, and these engines became one of the company's main products. Ruston & Hornsby Ltd was taken over by the English Electric Co in November 1966. Two years later, English Electric was taken over by the GEC Group. This caused the complete break-up of the Lincoln company. The large diesels joined up with the English Electric Vulcan Works at Newton-le-Willows, to become Ruston Diesels Ltd, while the small diesels moved to Stafford to become part of Dorman Diesels Ltd.