Exhibition How Wakefield Made Steam Green celebrates King George visit

The model of a revolutionary boiler which brought King George V to the city is to go on display at Wakefield Museum.
King George V VisitKing George V Visit
King George V Visit

The ‘Waste Not – How Wakefield Made Steam Green’ exhibition, which opens on February 2, will feature the fascinating story behind one of Wakefield’s longest standing firms, Green’s.

King George V and Queen Mary visited Wakefield as part of their four-day visit to Yorkshire in July 1912. They visited E. Green & Sons, as the company were then known, where Edward Green’s son, Frank, gave the royal party a tour of the factory and showed off their revolutionary boiler, the Economiser.

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E. Green’s of Wakefield patented its Economiser boilers in the 1840s - a move which is now recognised as a milestone in making eco-friendly fuel efficient systems.

Born and bred in Wakefield, Edward Green (1799-1865) is one of the city’s most important innovators and some of the principles of his 1845 design are still used by the company in today’s Economiser boilers.

Now Wakefield Museum and Green’s have come together to restore the original model back to its former glory.

Coun Jacquie Speight, Wakefield Council’s cabinet member for culture, leisure and sport, said: “This latest exhibition at Wakefield Museum celebrates our city as the home of inventors and innovators. It is wonderful to be able to recognise one of our most successful, Edward Green, and to also remember a special day when King George V visited Wakefield.”

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Green’s remains one of Wakefield’s biggest and longest running businesses. Today the company supplies their newest and improved Economisers for power stations, ships and factories across the globe.

Entry to Wakefield Museum is free. The exhibition runs until May 11.