Hugh Lennon of Spottswood in Melbourne

Hugh Lennon Maker of Spottiswoode cast iron machinery plate

Table of Contents

• Lennon Bio & Company History
• Lennon Plow Spanners
• Lennon Malleable Spanner Marked Cast Steel
• Malleable multi end spanner marked H. LENNON
• Malleable spanner marked only "Cast Steel"
• Lennon Plow - marked "Hugh Lennon Plow & Mach Co
• Lennon Plate - marked "Hugh Lennon Plow & Mach Co
• Lennon Advertising

Introduction

Lennon Bio and short Company History.

Hugh Lennon (1833 – 1886)
Hugh Lennon of Ireland was apprenticed to R Gray & sons of Uddington as a ploughmaker.
In 1859 he migrated to Victoria. In Victoria, he saw the need for and produced a plough suited to the dry farming on the northern plains. One innovation was to use wrought iron body and patented cast steel mouldboard. His superior ploughs were in huge demand and by 1870, sales of his single and double furrow plows was phenomenal.

Mowers were also produced and in1879 his “New Imperial Stripper” was patented, containing many of Lennon’s innovations. He also developed a winnower.
The Stripper and winnower provided the best harvesting unit on the Australian market.
By 1884, the firm was the largest of its kind in the Australian Colonies, selling 700 plows, 224 reapers, 60 strippers and many other implements each year.

Ref – Australian Dictionary of Biography by George Parsons
Some patent applications are listed in the National Archive

Lennon spanners found to date are 2 named malleable end spanners and several heavy plate types, probably drop forged, with integral hammers and the name deeply imprinted into the base metal, either on one side or both.
See examples below:

Spanners supplied by Lennon for his agricultural equipment, made of cast and malleable iron in Whitworth sizes. Examples of Lennon end spanners in heavy forged steel are not rare in Melbourne even now.

Above - Forged steel marked H LENNON SPOTTISWOODE or H LENNON PLOW AND M(machinery) Co. The largest is marked on both sides.

Malleable end spanner marked H. LENNON / CAST STEEL © J Hawking

Malleable end spanner marked H. LENNON / CAST STEEL © J Hawking

Malleable multi end spanner marked H. LENNON © D Symons

This malleable spanner marked "Cast Steel" is thought to be by Lennon also.

Malleable spanner marked only "Cast Steel" about 9.5" long

Lennon Plow - marked "Hugh Lennon Plow & Mach Co" © P Kilbane

Lennon Plate - marked "Hugh Lennon Plow & Mach Co" © P Kilbane

Lennon Advertising with an Elizabeth st Address