Holtzapffel.org

A catalog and history of Holtzapffel lathes

History

Holtzapffel Timeline of Notable Dates

Below are some of the important historical events related to Holtzapffel & Co.

1768   John Jacob Holtzapffel born. He lives in Strasbourg (then part of France) and apprentices as a mathematical turner.
1792   John Jacob moves to London and starts a business for manufacturing various tools.
1794   John Jacob establishes Holtzapffel & Co., initially as a seven year partnership with Francis Rousset.
1795   Holtzapffel begins lathe production. First lathe delivered on June 31st, 1795.
1795   First Holtzapffel screw mandrel lathe delivered on December 20th, 1795.
1797   First Holtzapffel rose engine lathe delivered on February 17th, 1797.
1804   John George Deyerlein joins the firm in partnership with John Jacob.
1827   Charles Holtzapffel enters into firm; Deyerlein leaves.
1835   John Jacob Holtzapffel dies at age 67. His son Charles takes over. By this time, the firm has sold more than 1500 lathes.
1843   Charles publishes Volume I of Turning & Mechanical Manipulation.
1846   Charles publishes Volume II of Turning & Mechanical Manipulation.
1847   Charles Holtzapffel dies at age 41. Widow Amelia Vaux Holtzapffel takes over management of the firm.
1850   Amelia publishes unfinished Volume III of Turning & Mechanical Manipulation from Charles' writings.
1867   John Jacob Holtzapffel II becomes head of firm.
1879   John Jacob publishes Volume IV of Turning & Mechanical Manipulation. (1881 as per SOT 13:47)
1884   John Jacob publishes of Volume V of Turning & Mechanical Manipulation.
1894   John Jacob publishes revised and enlarged edition of Volume III of Turning & Mechanical Manipulation.
1896   John Jacob Holtzapffel's nephew, George William Budd, becomes head of the Holtzapffel firm and changes his last name to Holtzapffel the following year.
1897   John Jacob Holtzapffel II, grandson of the original founder, dies at age 58.
1914   The last lathe to be produced by Holtzapffel is made in between 1913 and 1914, and is later sold at the closing of the business in November 1928.
1919   John George Holtzapffel Budd, the son of G.W.H. Budd, takes an active part in running the Holtzapffel firm.
1928   The lathe business is given up, and the inventory and stock is sold off. At this point, the Holtzapffel firm becomes a common retail shop along with a sub-contracting engineering business.
1932   An associate firm conducts business as Walkers & Holtzapffel (Walker was Budd's brother-in-law) and is also known simply as Walkers during the period 1929-1931. One of that company's main activities is producing model railway equipment.
1938   The remnant business is taken over by Sharpleshall Ltd., also known as Sharples Hall Works.