Tréfileries et Laminoirs du Havre
 Workers in the company's Le Havre mills after World War II | |
| Industry | Copper |
|---|---|
| Founded | 7 July 1883 |
| Defunct | 1962 |
| Fate | Merged |
| Successor | Tréfimétaux |
| Headquarters | Paris , France |
The Tréfileries et Laminoirs du Havre (TLH: Le Havre Wire-Drawing and Rolling Mills) was an enterprise based in Le Havre, France, that manufactured copper wire, other copper products and products of other metals including bronze and aluminum. It was founded to serve the rapidly growing market for electrical power transmission and for telegraph and telephone cables. It grew into a massive industrial empire with factories in many French cities and abroad.
Founder
The company was created by Lazare Weiller (1858–1928), who was born in the small town of Sélestat in Alsace on 20 July 1858. He studied in Angoulème and Paris, and then in Trinity College, Oxford. He returned to Angoulème to work in his cousin's factory, which produced metal sheets for use by the paper industry. He became interested in the problem of drawing copper wires, for which there was growing demand, adapted the process of hot rolling rods to make steel wire for use with copper and launched his own company in Angoulème to make copper wire in this way. He developed a bronze alloy that combined the conductivity of copper with the strength to remain stretched between poles 50 metres (160 ft) apart, of great value to telecommunications companies, and obtained several patents in France and other countries.[1]
In 1880 at the age of 22 Weiller created what would become the Tréfileries et Laminoirs du Havre. Weiller joined the board of the Société des téléphones, which was both a customer and an investor in his company. Weiller remained interested in research and explored transmission of images over electrical wires, colour photography and flying. He was elected a deputy in 1914, and held office through World War I, then was a senator from 1920 until his death in 1928.[1]
Early years
Weiller created the Société Lazare Weiller in 1883, with the first factory in Angoulème, and was the main owner of the enterprise.[2] The company was incorporated on 7 July 1883.[3] Weiller acquired land along the railway from Le Havre to Paris and the new Tancarville canal in 1895, and in 1896 he built a larger factory at Graville(fr) in the Le Havre region. The choice of location was to take advantage of Le Havre as a port of entry for copper and a port from which to export products to England and the United States.[2] In 1898 the Le Havre factory had 14 steam engines with 8,300 horsepower and 114 electric machines. The factory avoided employing great numbers of workers, but in 1897 had 900 employees, rising to almost 2,000 in 1913. It covered about 20 hectares (49 acres) of which half was roofed. It included forges, foundries, rolling mills and wireworks and processed copper, steel, aluminum, brass, bronze and nickel. The bulk of the output was for electrical equipment and construction of telephone and telegraph lines.[4]
In 1901 the company became the Compagnie des Tréfileries et Laminoirs du Havre (TLH). Weiller became associated with Swiss banks, and from 1907 started to acquire facilities and companies to become a huge industrial complex.[4] The company, now a société anonyme, increased market share through purchase of the Société coorperative des fonderies, laminoirs et tréfileries de Rugies in 1907. In 1911 TLH further increased its production of electrical wires and cables by merging with the Canalisation électrique company, giving it a dominant position in the industry, reducing competition and opening new markets in Paris streetcars, the PTT and other ministries, railways and so on. The new president of the company, Eugène Étienne, was also president of the Compagnie générale des omnibus de Paris, an important customer.[5]
Members of the board of TLH were also involved in many other companies, helping the growth of the enterprise. Examples were Henri Cahen, director of the Société des applications industrielles; Alphonse Hauser, retired chief engineer of the navy and administrator of the Compagnie des ports de Tunis, Sousse et Sfax; Raymond Jarry, administrator of the Société des hauts fourneaux de la Chiers; Gaston de La Mathe, administrator of the Société Éclairage électrique and Société Énergie du nord de la France; and René Robard, an engineer also on the board of Alluminio italiano. Hippolyte Bouchayer, Émile Cahen, Henri Cahen, Raymond Jarry and René Robard were all members of the board of TLH of its Italian subsidiary Le Trafilerie e laminatoi di metalli, which produced copper wire and steel and copper pipe for the Italian market, particularly the Italian armed forces.[6]
World War I
During World War I of 2,700 employees at Le Harve, 2,200 were enlisted in the army, the factory was placed under military control and enagaged in production of war material. Women and children were employed in large numbers, as were refugees from Belgium and the occupied parts of France. The number of worker rose to 6,800 at Le Havre and 1,300 at Rugles. During this period Louis Loucheur, administrator of TLH, became Minister of Armaments. The company bought several cargo ships, which were armed in Bordeaux.[4]
Later history
The company later moved its headquarters to Paris and came to have factories in Le Havre, Rugles, Saint-Maurice, Grenoble, Charleval, la Praz, Dijon, Montreuil-Belfroy, Darnétal, Saint-Denis, La Courneuve, Poissy and Pont-de-Chéruy.[7] From 1943 Henri Lafond was President of the Mines du Huaron and on the board of Tréfileries et Laminoirs du Havre.[7] In 1962 the company merged with the Compagnie française des métaux and became Tréfimétaux.[3] In 1962 Lafond joined the board of Tréfimétaux.[7] In 1967 Tréfimétaux was acquired by Pechiney and became the copper division of that group, contributing 8% of the group's total.[8]
Key people
Key people included:[3]
- Maurice Waldmann, Director of the Angoulême wire-drawing plant and then at Le Havre Director of the Cie Lazare Weiller, which became the Tréfileries et Laminoirs du Havre, 1893-1922
- Claudius Feyeux, Chief Maintenance Engineer at Le Havre Wire Drawing and Rolling Mill 1898
- Albert Lefebvre, Engineer at Le Havre Wire Works and Rolling Mills 1913–1919
- Maurice Boutin
- Director of the Darnétal plant of the Le Havre drawing and rolling mill company 1924
- Director of the Pont-de-Chéruy factories of the Le Havre Wire Drawing and Rolling Mill Company 1933
- Technical Director of the Le Havre Wire Drawing and Rolling Mill Company 1945
- Director of the Le Havre Drawing and Rolling Mill Company 1953
Notes
- ^ a b Lange 2003.
- ^ a b Zelek & Defortsecu 2012, p. 5.
- ^ a b c Hours.
- ^ a b c Zelek & Defortsecu 2012, p. 6.
- ^ Lagana 1990, p. 104.
- ^ Lagana 1990, p. 105.
- ^ a b c Mahl.
- ^ L’Histoire de Tréfimétaux – self.
Sources
- Lagana, Marc (1990), Le Parti Colonial Français: Éléments d'Histoire, PUQ, ISBN 978-2-7605-2304-3, retrieved 2018-01-30
- Lange, A. (6 March 2003), "Lazare Weiller (1858-1928), Meteore de l'histoire de la television", Histoire de la télévision (in French), retrieved 2018-01-29
- L’Histoire de Tréfimétaux (in French), Tréfimétaux, retrieved 2018-01-29
- Mahl, R., "Henri LAFOND (1894–1963)", Annales des Mines (in French), retrieved 2017-09-27
- Hours, Bernard (ed.), "TLH (Tréfileries et laminoirs du Havre)", SYMOGIH.ORG (in French), Laboratoire de recherche historique Rhône-Alpes (LARHRA), retrieved 2018-01-29
- Zelek, Richard; Defortsecu, Jacques (Autumn 2012), "title=Histoire de l'entreprise Tréfileries et Laminoirs du Havre de de ses salariés" (PDF), Le fil rouge (in French) (45), CGT Institut d'histoire sociale, retrieved 2018-01-30
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