- Hawker Aircraft Ltd
Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey
H G Hawker Engineering Co Ltd was formed in 1920 by Bill Eyre, Harry Hawker, Thomas Sopwith and Fred Sigrist to purchase the assets and patents of the Sopwith Aviation & Engineering Co Ltd which had gone into receivership a couple of months earlier. The new company was named for Harry Hawker who had been Sopwith's chief test pilot, although he was killed in a flying accident the following year. In 1922 the company won the contract for reconditioning war-damaged Royal Air Force Sopwith Snipes and Airco DH9As. The company's first aircraft, the Duiker, was a prototype only but the Woodcock and Hart and its derivatives which followed were very successful. By 1933 H G Hawker Engineering Co Ltd had grown significantly and in that year was taken over by and reformed as the publicly-quoted Hawker Aircraft Ltd. In 1934 the company purchased the Gloster Aircraft Co and in 1935 announced plans to join Armstrong Siddeley Development Co Ltd, which included aircraft manufacturers Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft Ltd and A V Roe & Co Ltd. This led to the formation of a new public holding company, Hawker Siddeley Group Ltd in 1935 which, as well as buying Armstrong Siddeley Development Co Ltd from Sir John Siddeley, held 50% of Hawker Aircraft Ltd shares. The holding company bought out the remaining shares in Hawker Aircraft Ltd in 1937. Hawker Aircraft continued to produce designs under its own name as part of Hawker Siddeley Aircraft, including 14,500 Hawker Hurricanes. The Hawker brand name was dropped in 1963.
Duicker (1923); Woodcock (1923); Cygnet (1924); Hedgehog (1924); Horsley (1925); Hornbill (1925); Denecock (1925); Harrier (1927); Heron (1928); F20/27 (1928); Hoopoe (1928); Hawfinch (1929); Tomtit (1929); Hornet (1929); Osprey (1929); Nimrod (1930); Fury (1931); Hart (1931); Audax (1931); Dantorp (1932); Demon (1933); Hardy (1934); Hawker PV3 and PV4 (1934); Hind (1934); Hartbees (1935); Hurricane/Sea Hurricane (1935); Hector (1936); Henley (1937); Hotspur (1938); Tornado (1939); Typhoon (1940); Tempest (1942); Sea Fury (1944); Sea Hawk (1947); Hunter (1951).
- D N James, Hawker: an aircraft album (1973); F K Mason, Hawker aircraft since 1920 (1991).
Memoranda and articles of association n.d. [L001-2416: 6493-4, 6499]; directors' meeting minute books [6] 1920-71 [L001-2416: 6942, 6494]; general meeting minute book 1933-72 [L001-2416: 6492]; register of members 1920-32 [L001-2416: 6494]; share register 1950-54 [L001-2416: 6492]; debenture deeds 1957, 1959 [L001-2416: 6527]; seal books [4] 1933-70 [L001-2416: 6493-4]; annual returns 1940-48 [L001-2416: 6527]; register of mortgages and charges 1938-44 [L001-2416: 6493]; register of directors or managers 1934 [L001-2416: 6493]; lists of retiring directors n.d. [L001-2416: 6527]; reorganisation file 1963-65 [L001-2416: 6527]; trust deed n.d. [L001-2416: 6527]; nominal registers [4] 1933-54 [L001-2416: 6503]; nominal ledgers [6] 1933-1963 [L001-2416: 6501-3]; signed accounts 1933-65 [L001-2416: 6493]; directors' expenses 1955-61 [L001-2416: 6528]; Hunter flight test schedules n.d. [L001-2416: 6528]; Hunter contracts c.1953-59 [L001-2416: 6526-27]; certificates of performance, Sea Furies n.d. [L001-2416: 6527]; P11D analysis 1954-61 [L001-2416: 6527]; Ministry of Supply enquiries for new aircraft 1954 [L001-2416: 6527]; Aircraft Research Association agreement 1952 [L001-2416: 6527]; debenture deed and memorandum of satisfaction n.d. [L001-2416: 6527]; certificates of flight records and performance n.d. [L001-2416: 6527]; flight test register and test reports 1931-54 [MF10093/8]; test pilot papers: Captain H S Broad n.d. [AC 76/20/8-9], Flt Lt P G Lucas 1925-73 [AC95/54]; drawings and photographs 1920s-70s [AC92/11]; drawings for the Hawker P1127 n.d. [MAC11279-400]; pension schemes 1937-53 [L001-2416: 6527]; sickness and benefit scheme papers 1949-59 [L001-2416: 6527]; air raid damage scheme winding-up papers 1945-59 [L001-2416: 6527]; property deeds and related documents n.d. [L001-2416: 6527].
H G Hawker Engineering Co: memorandum and articles of association n.d., minute book 1920-33, seal book 1923-33, registers of members 1920-32 [L001-2416: 6494].
Various records 1920-59.
Correspondence c.1950s-60s [PA1716/5/3].
Various records 1920-59 [CC/HAL series].