Our History

Stearn is a company with a fine history – Founded in 1924, the company has grown over the years into a well-established National Super Distributor, serving the Electrical Industry with its outstanding reputation for good service and excellent customer relations – a reputation that is protected vigorously through the professionalism of our dedicated and well trained staff. 

1874
Charles Stearn was an amateur scientist, an expert in his time on vacuum pumps. He met Charles Topham, who was helping his father blow glass for Stearns development of spectrum tubes and radiometers.

1878
Charles Stearn assisted Sir Joseph Swan to develop a method of processing that removed all the air from the bulb to avoid it blackening, he took the carbon filaments from Swan’s experiments and inserted them in tubes made by Topham. The first bulb was demonstrated in 1878 and Swan went on to patent his findings. Swan’s house was one of the earliest in the world to be lit by a light bulb, thus the earliest house in the world to be lit by Hydro Electric power!

1898
Charles Stearn and Charles Topham also developed the continuous filament spinning process and the machinery needed to wash and collect the viscose yarns, Stearn patented filament manufacture. This was a revolution for spinning viscose thread into artificial silk.

1907
Charles Stearn formed Stearn Electric Lamp Company in 1907, and manufactured light bulbs (lamps) and became a key supplier to the Electrical Wholesale industry.

1924
Stearn Electric Co Ltd was fully founded in 1924.