W.H. Dorman & Co was a company formed by William Henry Dorman in 1870 making cutting tools for the footwear industry. It diversified into other tools including grinders, and in 1903 into internal combustion engines. This was to be its main product up to the point where it was taken over by the English Electric Company in 1961, though the Dorman name continued as a diesel engine trademark until 1995 (from 1968 under the ownership of the General Electric Company plc, and later by Broadcrown Ltd). William Henry Dorman retired in 1911, and died in 1926.