Roberts, J W, Ltd

Sectors:

  • Non metallic mineral products manufacture Asbestos products manufacture
  • Textile production Industrial textiles production inc insulation, lagging & tyre cord

Notes:

Established 1874 by J W Roberts, 1856-94, to manufacture industrial textiles at Armley, Leeds, namely engine packings from hemp, jute and cotton. Incorporated 1895 when had 12 employees. By 1900 using asbestos in a wider product line which included asbestos cloth, asbestos rope, insulating mattresses for boilers, etc. 1920 merged with other asbestos product manufacturers led by Turner Brothers Asbestos Ltd, the new company being known as Turner & Newall Ltd, although Roberts continued to trade under its own name. The Armley plant, which was finally closed in 1959, was a major pollutant of its neighbourhood with asbestos dust, resulting in very high numbers of fatalities. The Roberts firm was finally subsumed into the T&N Group in the 1970s

Groups: