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Private company

J. and G. Rennie

British engineering company

J. and G. Rennie was a British engineering company based in Millwall, London, England. They were involved in manufacture of marine engines, and some complete ships, as well as other diverse onshore engineering projects. An association with railway engines is usually attributed to G. and J. Rennie, which may suggest they used a second company to keep the books separate, and there was also George Rennie & Sons, which is associated with the development and patents of the steam disc engine.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1821Founded1
  • Industryengineering1
  • HeadquartersLondon1

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J. and G. Rennie was a British engineering company based in Millwall, London, England. They were involved in manufacture of marine engines, and some complete ships, as well as other diverse onshore engineering projects. An association with railway engines is usually attributed to G. and J. Rennie, which may suggest they used a second company to keep the books separate, and there was also George Rennie & Sons, which is associated with the development and patents of the steam disc engine. All three companies appear to have been in existence at the same time.2

The story

The company was founded by John Rennie and his brother George Rennie after the death of their father John Rennie (senior) in 1821, who at that time was engaged in the building of London Bridge, an activity which the younger John Rennie took over, and on completion in 1831 he was knighted. George Rennie was an equally distinguished civil engineer with many academic publications, and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1822. Both brothers continued their civil and hydraulic engineering interests, with their joint company participating in diverse ways. Their hydraulic engineering interest involved them with work on docks, canals and bridges, and apart from civil engineering the company specialised in building marine steam engines such as those for the SS Archimedes in 1838, which was the world's first steamship driven by screw propeller. This side of the business being a particular interest of George Rennie.

Apart from marine engines, Messrs Rennie were listed with Boulton and Watt as one of two suppliers commissioned in 1845 to make engines to create the vacuum for the South Devon atmospheric railway.

In an advert of 1882 the company listed the following among their products:

Steam Ships (builders of Ironclad warships Colombo and Cabral for the Imperial Brazilian Navy)

Dredging Machines

Floating Docks (e.g Cartagena Iron Drydock)

Screw & Paddle Engines (e.g. for HMS Bacchante, HMS Boadicea, HMS Canada, HMS Cordelia, HMS Briton, HMS Amethyst, HMS Encounter)

Centrifugal Dock Pumping engines (for Chatham and Plymouth Docks)

Read the full text

Steam Jib & Travelling Cranes

Screw Steam Hoppers

More of the products of the Rennie company can be deduced from a catalogue of exhibits from the 1876 exhibition at the South Kensington Museum, which records a number of models exhibited:

Model of the inverted cylinder compound engines, for P&O's Pera of 2000 hp 1872

Model of the first screw steamer in the British Navy, Mermaid, later named the Dwarf, built in 1840.

Model of HM Gun-boats Arrow and Bonetta. Length 85 ft, breadth 26 ft, depth 8 ft 10in, 244 tons. To carry one 18 ton gun.

Model of the iron Paddle-wheel steamer Queen, built and fitted with engines by Rennie 1842.Length 160 ft, breadth 17 ft, depth 9 ft.

Model of Indian Famine Relief Steamers. Built complete with engines in 35 days. Length 90 ft, breadth 14 ft, depth 5 ft 6in, 100iHP.

Model of twin-screw gun boats built for East Indian government, 1857. Length 70 ft, breadth 11 ft, draught 2ft6in, 76iHP. One long brass 12pounder - 18cwt.

Model of twin-screw gun boats Colombo and Cabral, 1866. Length 160 ft, breadth 34 ft, depth 17 ft. 240 nominal HP. 4 of 68-pounder guns.

Model of twin-screw gun boats built for Spanish Government, 1859. Length 90 ft, breadth 14 ft, draught 2 ft 6in. 30HP.

Model of the engines of HM ships Boadicea and Bacchante (1875 and 1876), compound system 5250 indicated HP.

Model of horizontal marine engines with injection condensers, 1860.

Model of reversed horizontal marine screw engines, 1860

Design drawing for 60 hp low pressure condensing disc engine for screw steamship as fitted to HMS Cruizer, 1853.

From Wikipedia’s article on J. and G. Rennie, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Products and brands

  • marine steam engine

Listed on Wikidata.1

Timeline

  1. 1821Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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