Collection of business records and ephemera relating to Crossley Brothers Limited

Crossley Brothers Ltd was the successor company to Crossley Brothers. Following early success with the Otto engines, Crossley Brothers expanded and was registered as a limited company in 1881. In 1882, the company moved to new premises in Pottery Lane, Openshaw, Manchester. In 1891 the company began producing oil fuelled engines and in 1896, the company acquired rights to manufacture engines on the diesel system, producing their first diesel engine in 1898. By the beginning of the 20th century, some petrol engines had been introduced, along with production line technology, and from 1901 petrol engines were being supplied for road vehicles. This led to the establishment of a second company, Crossley Motors Ltd, in 1906. This company had operated from 1904 as the vehicle manufacturing arm of Crossley Brothers based at the Pottery Lane factory.

Crossley Brothers Ltd began to expand nationally following the First World War, beginning in 1919 with the acquisition of Premier Gas Engines of Sandiacre, Nottingham and H P Saunderson & Co of Elstow Works, Bradford in 1924. Both new subsidiaries retained their own names. Manufacture of diesel and petrol engines at Crossley Brothers Ltd remained steady until the 1960s, when sales began to fall. To improve on designs that were over 40 years old, Crossley Brothers Ltd entered into an agreement to manufacture the French Pielstick design of diesel engine in 1962. Production was initially carried out at Nottingham based subsidiary Crossley Premier Engines Ltd but failed to save the company. In 1965, the receivers were called in and the company was restructured, with subsidiaries including Crossley Premier Engines Ltd sold off. In 1968, Crossley Brothers Ltd was acquired by the Amalgamated Power Engineering Group and was renamed APE-Crossley.