James & Fred Howard of Britannia Ironworks, Bedford, later known simply as Howards, were one of the largest English makers of agricultural equipment, steam traction engines, and light railway equipment. At The Great Exhibition of 1851 they exhibited a range of horse-drawn implements. After World War I, Howards became part of AGE, Agricultural & General Engineers, along with many of the other British makers of similar machinery. History The original ironmongery business was created by John Howard (1791 - 1878) in 1813. In 1837 he thanked his patrons for 24 years of support and informed them of his move to new premisies, formerly the Barley Mow Inn in the High Street. He invented and patented a two-wheel plough, which won large numbers of awards in 1841 and in successive years, and they also had prize winning harrows (patented by W. Armstrong and John Howard), and a wide range of other agricultural implements. By 1845 his works address had changed to Britannia Foundry, Bedford, although the large works built on the 20 acre site that became known as Britannia Ironworks is reported not to have been built until c1857, so the original Britannia foundry was located elsewhere. The Britannia works was to grow to become the biggest employer in Bedford (700 employees in 1871). Howard's award-winning ploughs and harrows were exported around the world. John Howard announced his retirement in 1851 at which time his sons James and Frederick took over. Business continued to boom, and the business grew to encompass steam ploughing. James Howard died in 1889, and Sir Frederick Howard died in 1915 aged 87 (he was knighted in 1895), and in 1919 the business was taken over by Agricultural & General Engineers Ltd. In the great depression of 1932 A.G.E. reported huge losses and on 15 February 1932, Howards closed along with several other A.G.E. businesses. The 500 employees only received 30 minutes notice. A new company, the Britannia Iron & Steel Works Ltd, was formed late in 1932 making pipe fittings. The Howard manufactured works rail shunter continued to work the site until it was replaced in 1965. The drawings and patents were purchased by locomotive manufacturer F. C. Hibberd & Co. From their new Park Royal works in London they produced locomotives that closely followed the Howard designs, both 2.5 ton narrow gauge, and 7, 10 and 12 ton standard gauge. Agricultural Equipment The Howard patent