IN 1902, Woking electrical engineering firm Accumulator Industries supplied the power for an “electrically propelled carriage” which “covered the 53 miles separating London and Brighton by road on a single battery charge”.

This was mentioned by a reader in a letter published the News & Mail in July 1947, shortly after the firm closed.

Accumulator Industries was founded in about 1900 by Henry Leitner. He was the son of Dr Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner, who established the Oriental Institute in Woking in 1884 and the Shah Jahan Mosque in 1889.

The writer of the letter was RC Tunnell, who added that it was after experiments in making electrical batteries and accumulators that Henry Leitner established his business.

Tunnell added: “The first batteries to be manufactured at Maybury Hill were almost exclusively for providing the motive power for electrically propelled carriages and launches.”

Of the “carriage” said to have gone from London to Brighton on one battery charge, he added: “This was considered at that time a very remarkable achievement in the early days of electrical propulsion.

“It is also well worth recording that one of the original electric launches on the Thames ran on Woking-made batteries and that sea-going launches, as well as river, have been powered by these local made products.”

Accumulator Industries also supplied batteries for use in miners’ lamps, at power stations and lighting in railway carriages, known as the Leitner System.

Of the latter the writer noted they were used by the Indian State Railway, Australian and Russian State railways and many others, adding: “The telephone system of this country and overseas has also had its quota of batteries, another striking tribute to the skill and reliability of the local initiative. Over a period of many years a specially trained erection staff practically covered the British Isles installing telephone exchange batteries.”

During the Second World War, its batteries were: “Shipped to Russia, and no doubt, in some way contributed to the rapid advance of the victorious Red Army.

“The Senior Service [Royal Navy] also used a proportion of the Woking-made batteries for many purposes. The British Army, Royal Air Force and the United States Army headquarters all relied on the Woking-manufactured product.”

Tunnell added: “It must be emphasised that in the unfortunate winding-up of the Woking factory all employees have been very fairly compensated by the present proprietors, especially those with long service. One employee holds an unbroken record of 47 years’ service, several over 30, and quite a number between 10, 20 and 30 years.

“The remaining employees, except for a few who are being transferred elsewhere, will be distributed among other Woking industries who need additional labour.

“So, the curtain has rung down on what was surely a great little Woking enterprise, well worthy of the town from which it sprang and truly a striking example of local skill and ingenuity which has provided a number of Woking people with useful employment for nearly 50 years.”

The adjacent James Walker & Co Ltd, famous for its industrial packaging materials, and which arrived in Woking in the 1920s, expanded its Lion Works over the site and buildings of Accumulator Industries after it had closed down. Today the site is occupied by the Lion Retail Park, off Oriental Road.

Thanks go to Mark Coxhead, who discovered the letter in back copies of the News & Mail on microfilm at the Surrey History Centre and for the photo of the Lion Retail Park.

If you have some memories or old pictures relating to the Woking area, call me, David Rose, on 01483 838960, or drop a line to the News & Mail.

David Rose is a local historian and writer who specialises in what he calls “the history within living memory” of people, places and events in the west Surrey area covering towns such as Woking and Guildford. He collects old photos and memorabilia relating to the area and the subject, and regularly gives illustrated local history talks to groups and societies. For enquiries and bookings please phone or email him at: [email protected]