After 125 years in Australia, Crompton Lighting is relaunching itself for the electricians of today and tomorrow.
In 1878, British Army Colonel Rookes Evelyn Bell Crompton designed his own arc lamp. An engineer by trade, Crompton’s reputation for building reliable products grew rapidly, leading to the inventor supplying electric lamps and fittings to Queen Victoria’s palaces.
His company, Crompton & Co., was one of the world's first large-scale manufactures of electrical equipment. He was also an early campaigner for an international standard for electrical systems as a founder member of the International Electrotechnical Commission, and was twice president of the Institution of Electrical Engineers.
Crompton’s products would later play pivotal roles in major electrical installations around the British Empire, including the first ever electricity supply to India and the first electric light installation in Australia, in Tamworth, NSW, in 1888.
Now, 125 years later, Crompton Lighting still plays a significant role in the Australian lighting industry, both from a product development and an industry building perspective.
“Colonel Crompton recognised early on that electric lighting would be the way of the future, that people would move away from the then widespread gas lighting, so he imported some arc lamps from France to start servicing the market,” Crompton Lighting marketing manager Chris Russell says.
“The problem was that these imported lamps weren’t very effective. The technology didn’t work properly and, as a result, the lamps would cast shadows. The amount of light that was generated was ok but it was obstructed, which prevented the light from emitting fully.
“Because of this, Colonel Crompton decided to design his own arc lamps that would offer a better performance.”
The rest is, as they say, history.
In 1888, when the Tamworth City Council decided to replace the existing gas street lights with new electric light technology, Crompton Lighting successfully tendered to supply and maintain the new network.
Specifically, the tender included the provisioning of motive power in the form of two compound semi-fixed engines (each 12 horsepower), a galvanised iron engine and machinery house, two Crompton dynamo machines (patent number XV) that were capable of outputting 250 twenty candlepower lamps at a slow speed of 600-800 revolutions per minute, 11km of main lead, 11km of branch lead, 1.6km of arc lamp lead, connecting wires, poles for carrying leads, 200 incandescent lamps (20 candlepower each) to be arrange in groups of two or three, four circuit switchboards and three Crompton arc lamps (3,000 candlepower each).
The total contract was valued at £2,875.
Since then, Crompton Lighting has been continuously supplying lights to the Australian marketplace.
“Being around for 125 years is no mean feat,” Chris says.
“You can only achieve this by building reliable products and quality service.
“Now we’re using our 125th anniversary to remind our customers of our legacy for quality and reliable product, making sure they can fully capitalise on our history and expertise.
“And one thing people can be sure of is that we will be here tomorrow, servicing our wholesaler and contractor customers.
“We’re here to stay.”
Crompton Lighting is 100% Australian owned as a member of the Gerard Lighting Group.