Hammond & Champness

Hammond & Champness was founded in 1905 by cousins Ernest Hammond and Harold Champness. Initially known as Hammond Brothers and Champness Ltd. when Leonard Hammond joined, the company specialized in water-powered hydraulic elevators.

In 1932, the company went bankrupt and was taken over by E Pollard & Co. Ltd., continuing as “Hammond & Champness”. In 1967, they acquired Aldous & Campbell’s hydraulic elevator business.

Remaining independent until 1971, Hammond & Champness was then acquired by Dover Corporation to enter the British market. They continued producing their own elevator components in London, sharing only door gear designs with Dover. H&C designed their elevator controllers in the 1980s. From the mid-1970s, H&C served as a brand for Dover equipment in the UK.

In 1999, H&C was absorbed into Thyssen along with Dover’s elevator business. Unlike the Dover brand, maintained until 2001, the H&C brand was phased out in favour of Thyssen, and later thyssenkrupp branding.

Notable Lift Models

• Vernier-Cushion Control (VCC): Passenger elevators for residential buildings that were made to run silent and smooth with accurate floor levelling. Two units of this model were once installed at Highpoint I in Highgate, London.

• The Warden: Hydraulic passenger elevator for residential buildings and elderly homes.

• The Balmoral: Hydraulic passenger elevator for office buildings.

• The Windsor: Hydraulic passenger elevator.

• Type 42: Elevator for residential buildings.

Shepherd home lifts

The Shepard Elevator Company was founded in 1921 by Oscar F. Shepard and Stanley M. Rowe in Cincinnati, Ohio. Its industry was home lifts and its headquarters remained in Cincinnati, Ohio. It merged with the Warner Elevator Manufacturing Company in 1955 and was sold to the Dover Corporation in 1958. The Warner name was dropped in 1958. In 1960, the company became known as the Electric Elevator Division of the Dover Corporation.