| The illustration above
shows the workforce at J & A Taylor's Townhead Works, Ayr, probably
towards the close of the 19th Century (see also the map below -
taken from the first Ordnance Survey (1857), 1:2500). It was submitted
to us by Jan Munachen, of Perth, Western Australia, who is interested
in learning more about the company. It is probable that one of the
men in the photograph is a Munachen.
The Townhead Works were in Smith Street, Ayr. Land here was first
acquired by John and Andrew Taylor in 1847, from the Ayr merchant
banker James Morris, and the Taylor brothers acquired additional
land in 1854 (from James Potter) and in 1856 (again from James Morris).
They also disposed of land, in 1856 and 1869, to G & J Muir,
whose Kyle Foundry was built adjacent to the Townhead Works. The
1857 1:500 OS Map shows a 'machine shop' behind the original Smith's
Institution, accessed from the lane (still in existence) which runs
behind and parallel to Kyle Street on the north-east side: this
is presumably the first workshop of J & A Taylor. The other
buildings, both of the Taylors and the Muirs, postdate the survey
of this map, which shows the site between Smith's Institution and
the old Fever Hospital as a disused freestone quarry, with a ruined
engine house.
An extensive note on the business is found in Ayrshire Historical
Commercial & Descriptive, published in 1894:
'One of the firms engaged in the engineering and millwrighting industries
of Ayrshire is that of Messrs J & A Taylor, of Townhead Works,
Ayr. This notable and thoroughly representative house was founded
in 1847 under the auspices of its present proprietors. The business
has its headquarters in premises covering a large area of ground,
and comprising spacious buildings and sheds laid out upon a convenient
scale and plan, and admirably adapted to all the purposes of the
engineering industry and the commercial operations associated with
the same. All the various departments of the Townhead works are
equipped with the most improved and powerful machinery for the class
of work carried on, and the whole establishment affords an exposition
of that remarkable industry of making machinery by machinery. Messrs
J & A Taylor have a very good equipment of lathes, planning
and drilling machines, boring, slotting and shaping machines, punching
and shearing machines, &c., &c., all constantly at work
on their premises, in the production of those goods for which the
house has gained a national renown. A considerable number of hands
are employed, and the industry is carried on throughout with a degree
of vigour and active progress in its several stages that speaks
well for the perfect organisation, development and effective value
of all its working resources. Messrs J & A Taylor have exceptional
productive facilities, and they are consequently in a position to
produce first-class work on the shortest possible notice. Their
manufactures in all the modern designs and types of cranes, wheels,
hauling machines for slip-dock purposes, dock gates for harbours,
stationary engines, shafting, pulleys, &c., &c., are highly
esteemed both at home and abroad for soundness of materials, excellence
of constructive detail, and faultless workmanship. The engineering
output of the firm represents careful accuracy and finish, as well
as the highest condition of efficiency in action and effect, and
in all their parts and details these productions exemplify a care
that ensures the finest finish and quality that can be secured in
any class of mechanical apparatus of the several kinds. Repairs
are undertaken and executed with precision and despatch. We may
mention, as indicating what the firm is capable of achieving, a
few of the more noteworthy contracts that have recently been carried
into effect by Messrs J & A Taylor. Among these may be classed
two twenty-ton cranes for the Harbour Trustees of Ayr; engines,
boilers and shafting for the extensive boot manufactories of Messrs
John Gray & Co., Maybole; T A Gray, Maybole; James Ramsay, Maybole;
John Lees & Co., Maybole; R Dobbie & Co., Ayr; A Cuthbert
& Son, Ayr; William Alexander & Sons' sawmill; hauling engines
and gearing for Ayr Slip Dock; hauling engines for George Taylor
& Co., Annbank; coal-screening machinery for the Dalmellington
Iron Co.; William Baird & Co. Ltd; the Garrockhill and Duchray
Coal Co.; engines for Messrs Templeton & Sons' mill, Ayr; and
Wyllie & Co., manure manufacturers, Ayr; two powerful disintegrators
for the Carron Iron Co., Falkirk; and one disintegrator for Messrs
William Baird & Co. Ltd., Lugar. It is not using language of
too laudatory a character to say that the firm's entire business
is conducted with energy and enterprise. Messrs J & A Taylor
are constantly extending the scope of their operations and adding
new features to a long list of notable productions; and by the merits
of their engineering and millwrighting output, and the honourable
straightforwardness of the firm's commercial dealings, they have
won the confidence of a far-reaching connection, and have established
upon a sound basis a trade whose volume and influence are constantly
increasing throughout the length and breadth of the county. (Anon,
Ayrshire Historical Commercial and Descriptive, London, 1894, 39-40)
© Rob Close 2003
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