Figure 2 and Table 2, derived from a rare map of electricity undertakings in the British Isles, provide a snapshot of the development of public supply areas over the previous three decades.
The eight local authorities were clear examples of local initiative in developing electric lighting and power. Early development in Taunton, Bath and Exeter began with short-term contracts for street lighting with H.G. Massingham, a Taunton entrepreneur.[11] After operating for about seven years, each system was taken over and expanded by the municipality. Bristol Corporation, while early in securing an Electric Lighting Order, was cautious in actual implementation and investment. Plymouth was equally cautious but was an early innovator in combining lighting and tramway supply in a single generating station.
Most of the places in the South West with an electricity supply were served by companies, operating under an Electric Lighting Order which had been approved by the local authority. In seven cases, the operators were non-statutory companies with arrangements for overhead wire service outside the constraints of the Electric Lighting Acts.
Table 2 South West England: Electricity Supply Undertakings c1912
| Undertakings Local authorities |
County | Supply Began2 |
| Barnstaple | Devon | 1903 |
| Bath | Somerset | 1889 |
| Bristol | Gloucester | 1893 |
| Devonport1 | Devon | 1902 |
| Exeter | Devon | 1889 |
| Plymouth | Devon | 1899 |
| Taunton | Somerset | 1886 |
| Torquay | Devon | 1898 |
| Companies | ||
| Braunton N/S | Devon | 1909 |
| Bridgwater | Somerset | 1904 |
| Bude | Cornwall | 1908 |
| Camborne | Cornwall | 1902 |
| Chagford N/S | Devon | 1891 |
| Dartmouth | Devon | 1902 |
| Dawlish | Devon | 1911 |
| Dulverton N/S | Somerset | 1904 |
| Exmouth | Devon | 1905 |
| Falmouth | Cornwall | 1906 |
| Frome | Somerset | 1904 |
| Holsworthy | Devon | 1910 |
| Ilfracombe | Devon | 1903 |
| Illogan | Cornwall | 1903 |
| Keynsham | Somerset | 1889 |
| Lyme Regis N/S | Dorset | 1908 |
| Lynton & Lynmouth N/S | Devon | 1890 |
| Mevagissey N/S | Cornwall | 1896 |
| Minehead | Somerset | 1902 |
| Newquay | Cornwall | 1906 |
| Newton Abbot3 | Devon | 1902 |
| Paignton | Devon | 1909 |
| Penzance | Cornwall | 1911? |
| Redruth | Cornwall | 1902 |
| St Austell | Cornwall | 1890 |
| Topsham4 N/S | Devon | 1904 |
| Totnes | Devon | 1904 |
| Wedmore N/S | Somerset | 1908 |
| Weston Super Mare | Somerset | 1901 |
| Power Company | ||
| Cornwall Electric Power | Cornwall | 1911 |
N/S non-statutory undertaking (outside 1882/1888 Acts). Not in Electricity Commissioners publications.
Notes: 1 Also supplied East Stonehouse UD. Both were amalgamated with Plymouth in 1914.
2 Most dates from Histelec Chronology. www.wpehs.org.uk
3 Acquired by Torquay Corporation in 1923.
4 To Exeter Corporation in 1924.Topsham remained a parish in St Thomas RD until 1966 when transferred to Exeter.
Source: “Map showing Electric Lighting, Power and Traction Undertakings in Operation.” Supplement to Garcke’s Manual of Electrical Undertakings. Undated but c 1912. [Copy from National Library of Scotland]
Non-statutory companies were significant in rural areas from the 1880s until the late 1920s when larger undertakings began expanding beyond town boundaries. A few non-statutory operations in remote areas continued until 1948.[12]
About half the companies were wholly local in management; the others were subsidiaries of larger national businesses. In the “electricity boom” from the mid-1890s several contracting firms began to develop and operate complete local systems. The largest was Edmundson’s Electricity Corporation Ltd which by 1910 was operating 46 systems from Inverness to Guernsey. There were seven systems in the South West–Camborne, Dartmouth, Frome, Ilfracombe, Illogan, Newton Abbot and Redruth. Some of these were operated by the Urban Electric Supply Co, an Edmundson’s subsidiary. Other contractor-operated companies in the region included the Electric Supply Corporation Ltd (Dawlish, Exmouth, Falmouth and Totnes) and Christy Brothers (Bude and Holsworthy). The British Electric Traction Co. developed and operated the combined electricity and tramway system in Weston-super-Mare.
The Cornwall Electric Power Company was the only example of a power company in the region. An Act of 1902 gave the company rights to supply power to mines, factories, railways etc throughout the county except for the northern extremity of the county (Stratton Rural District and Bude). The company could also deliver electricity “in bulk” to local distributors such as Penzance. Unlike other electricity companies, power companies could operate in perpetuity, not being subject to the 42-year franchise concession. The Cornwall Electric Power Co. was unable to raise capital and was acquired by Edmundson’s in 1907. With new capital support, the company built a generating station at Hayle and began operations in 1910/11.[13]
Six additional companies developed local electricity supplies around 1912. The Brixham Gas Co. (established 1838) added electric lighting in 1911. Launceston & District began local service in 1912. Burnham & District began in 1914, and the Mid-Somerset Co. during 1915. The Clevedon & District Electric Supply Co. (a Christy Brothers subsidiary) opened in 1913, was the most significant of the newcomers. Wartime growth in the Bristol area created new demand especially for the Portbury National Shipyard. Instead of expanding its own small generating facilities, the company began to take a bulk supply from Bristol Corporation. This wartime growth formed the basis of territorial expansion after the war, under the new name of North Somerset Electric Supply Co.
Electrification in the South Western region around 1912 was still incomplete and mostly confined to major towns and some smaller places where local enterprise had developed a system. Significant towns without an electricity service included Yeovil (population 14,487 in 1911), Truro (11,235), Midsomer Norton & Radstock (10,989), Tiverton (10,205) and Wellington (7,633). There was no interconnection even between adjacent systems such as the three undertakings around Torbay. Only a very small part of the South Western region was covered by Electric Lighting Orders: most of the territory was still unclaimed.
Lighting was the dominant use for electricity until the late 1890s. The most profitable demand was in shops, offices, hotels, theatres (and later cinemas) and public buildings. Residential sales were more limited—by the expense of installation and the high retail prices. With lighting, much of the load on generating equipment was confined to the evening hours, a feature that also contributed to the high prices. Diversification of the load to other uses, especially in the daytime, was essential if electricity was to become a viable alternative to gas. Such diversification began with the electrification of tramways and the substitution of electric motors for small steam engines and manual power.
The 1912 map does not cover private generation which was very important at the time, not only in isolated establishments but also in urban centres where there was already a public supply. Some examples are outlined here to give a sense of the scale and scope of private generation otherwise absent in many accounts of electrification.
C & J Clark’s shoe factory in Street, Somerset Wwas a typical case of an expanding industrial firm generating electricity first for lighting then powering machines, and later providing a supply to the town. The Royal Navy dockyard in Devonport was much larger with its own power station (3,400kW capacity in 1910) comparable in size to the local municipal stations in Devonport and Plymouth.[14] Retreating from Glasgow to the Bristol area in 1913, Carson’s Ltd had to build a substantial power house for their new chocolate factory since the land near Mangotsfield was far from any public supply.[15] A decade later, however, when Fry’s began consolidating manufacturing at Somerdale, well beyond the city boundary, the company was able to draw its electricity from the extended Corporation mains.
In Cornwall, Marconi’s wireless telegraph station at Poldhu generated its own power from 1901. The Great Western Railway when modernising the transhipment of china clay at Fowey built a small power station at the harbour.[16] Advertisements in Bradshaw’s Railway Guide of 1910 emphasized electric lighting as one of the amenities of a high-class modern hotel.[17] Isolated hotels such as King Arthur’s Hotel at Tintagel and Tregarthen’s Hotel, St Mary’s in the Scilly Isles, featured electric lights as well as the scenic views. Other large institutions of a different type were also replacing lamps or gas with electric lighting. The Devon County Asylum at Exminster converted in 1896 and later institutions such as the Tone Valley Hospital near Taunton had generating facilities from the beginning. Throughout the region country houses, estates and larger farms added electricity as small oil and petrol generating sets became available from manufacturers such as Petters Ltd of Yeovil and R.A. Lister & Co, Dursley, Gloucs.
Private generation gradually retreated in significance as public supply networks were extended and retail prices for power were reduced. One late private power station was built at Puriton (1939-41) as part of the Royal Ordnance Factory, Bridgewater. Electric tramways provided fast, efficient and cheap urban transport and were very profitable before 1914. Motor bus competition after the war quickly eroded the viability of the smaller systems.
[11] Peter Lamb, “Massingham family in the Bristol area”, Histelec article No S20, Western Power Electricity Historical Society website wpehs.org.uk. See also David Gledhilll and Peter Lamb, Electricity in Taunton 1809-1948 (Somerset Industrial Archaeological Society, SIAS Survey No. 3, 1986).
[12] A small system at Ashreigney, Devon, opened in 1934 in the Exe Valley Company’s territory, was one of the last to be established. In 1947, 41 consumers were being served by a 5kw generator (Garcke’s Manual 1947-48, p.73). The prevalence of non-statutory companies in the South West deserves a special study of this type of electricity supply.
[13] Eric Edmonds, “Electricity in Cornwall” Pts 1 & 2, Histelec articles No S22 and S23.
[14] Ted Luscombe, “Centenary of Plymouth Electricity” Histelec S12, 1999.
[15] “A new chocolate factory building,” The Engineer, vol 117, 1914, pp.35-39.
[16] The Engineer, vol 137, 1924, pp.195-196.
[17] Bradshaw’s April 1910 Railway Guide (reprinted Newton Abbot: David & Charles, 1968), pp. 1007-1189. Includes hotel advertisements from Aberdeen to York.
