Catalogue description THE RECORDS OF R.W. MUNRO LTD.

This collection includes wages records, order books, financial records, drawings and photographs

R W Munro Ltd, 1916-, scientific instrument makers

R W Munro and Co, 1864-1916, scientific instrument makers

R.W. Munro Ltd. can trace its origins to 1783 when James Munro was apprenticed to a mathematical instrument maker in Wapping. His son, also called James, carried on the business, as did two of the younger James' sons. The partnership between the brothers was amicably dissolved in 1864 when Robert W. Munro set up on his own account as an instrument manufacturer, and thereby founded the present company. The firm quickly gained a considerable reputation in the fields of mathematical, optical, meteorological and banking equipment, fields in which it is still prominent. It supplied components for the construction of H.P. Babbage's 'Mill', a connection which was renewed in 1956 when the company was commissioned by I.B.M. to construct a copy of the original. R.W. Munro & Co. worked on the development of the Dines anemometer (a design which has remained basically unchanged to the present day), and provided instruments for the Scott and Shackleton Antarctic expeditions. The company was also involved at an early stage in the production of hydrological and experimental tank equipment, and was a pioneer in the field of aeronautical instruments. It has also manufactured photographic equipment (including aerial cameras and cinema projectors), as well as a very wide range of other machinery and instruments; fruit-graders, carburettors, gramophones, racket formers, wire cutters.

R.W. Munro Ltd. was incorporated in 1916, and the Munro family is still involved with the firm. It has undergone several removals in its 115 year history. From the original premises in Clerkenwell it moved in 1870 to a larger works nearby, in 1876 to Kings Cross, and in 1938 to the present site.

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