in 1868 when he became a member of parliament (MP), leaving William Hargreaves as the sole proprietor. On the death of John Hick's nephew Benjamin Hick in 1882, a "much respected member of the firm", active involvement of the Hick family ceased. William Hargreaves died in 1889 and, under the directorship of his three sons, John Henry, Frances and Percy, the business became a private limited company in 1892. In 1893 the founder's great grandson, also Benjamin Hick started an apprenticeship, followed by his younger brother Geoffrey about 1900. Diversification About 1885 Hick Hargreaves & Co became associated with Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti during the reconstruction of the Grosvenor Gallery and began to manufacture steam engines for power generation including those of Ferranti's Deptford Power Station, the largest power station in the world at the time. In 1908 the company was licensed to build uniflow engines. From 1911 the company began the manufacture of large diesel engines, however these did not prove successful and were eventually discontinued. Boiler production finished in 1912. During World War I the company was involved in war work, producing 9.2 inch then 6 inch shells for the Ministry of Munitions, mines and a contract with Vickers to produce marine oil engines for submarines, under licence for the Admiralty. In the early hours 26 September 1916, the works were targeted by Zeppelin L 21; a bomb missed passing through the roof of nearby Holy Trinity Church. The company's recoil gear for the Vickers 18 pounder quick firing gun was so successful that by war's end a significant part of the factory was devoted to its production. Civil manufacture was not suspended entirely and in 1916 the firm began making Hick-Bréguet two-stage steam jet air ejectors and high vacuum condensing plant for power generation, including a contract with Yorkshire Electric Power Company. Hick Hargreaves production greatly expanded as centralised power generation was adopted in Great Britain, by the formation of the Central Electricity Board (CEB) in 1926. In the search for new markets after the war the firm invested in machinery to produce petrol engines and other car components, entering a contract with Vulcan Motor & Engineering Co of Southport for 1000 20 hp petrol engines, but work discontinued in 1922 when Vulcan became bankrupt, with only 150 completed. Following the arrival of electrical engineer Wyndham D'arcy Madden from Stothert & Pitt in 1919, Hick Hargreaves was