The company was founded by John Tylor, the son of John Tyler and Mary Taylor Tyler. John was born on March 19th, 1756, in Newington, Oxfordshire, the 4th of 8 children. Curiously, he was the only child of John and Mary Taylor Tyler's to change the spelling of his family name to Tylor.

The company was originally called J. Tylor and Sons, a bronze foundry, located at Warwick Lane, Newgate Street, London. John purportedly got his start by selling copper pots and pans from a market stall in 1777. John was an inventor, and patented a method of securing brass linings to tea and coffee urns in 1783. Kent's directory for the year 1794 is "An alphabetical List of the Names and Places of Abode of the Directors of Companies, Persons in Public Business, Merchts., and other eminent Traders in the Cities of London and Westminster, and Borough of Southwark." It includes this entry:

"Tylor John, Tea Urn Manufacturer, 3 Cripplegate-buildings"

Like other copper and brass fabricators, J. Tylor and Sons at some point began production of fire hydrants. This being England, they were likely initially of the underground type.

The company went through several name changes and changes in mission over the centuries. Amongst the diverse products the company manufacturered were the cast wheels for the Duke of Wellington's funeral carriage, water meters, small valves, garden accessories, and, early on, horse drawn hand fire engines. In an 1850s J. Tylor and Sons sales brochure is listed a horse drawn fire engine for 18 men at a price of £143: an estimate of the cost for this fire engine converted to the value of today's currency is approximately £6818 or about $11,795.

Here are the word's of Eddie Picton, a former employee of Tylors:

"I worked for Tylors from 1965 to 1975, when it was Tylors ( Division of Crane), then Crane Tylors Division, then Crane Measurement and Control Division. In 1974, Crane sold Tylors to GEC, after which the company was broken up and now exists as a skeleton in Crawley, Sussex."

"Tylors drawing office had a 1910(?) catalogue which showed a diverse range of products including wash basins etc."

"Following the second World War, Tylors amalgamated with Hydraulic Recording Instruments and moved to Burgess Hill in Sussex, and only produced items connected with the measurement of liquid flow from this time. A few of Tylors London employees were at Burgess Hill, but were in their later years then."

Identifying Characteristics:

Identifying Characteristics: