R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie & Co.

R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie & Co. was a major Newcastle-based locomotive builder and shipbuilder operating the Forth Banks Works, Newcastle upon Tyne, from 1817. Founded by Robert and William Hawthorn, the firm built locomotives, marine engines and ships and was for many decades one of the principal Tyneside engineering employers. From 1885 the firm absorbed A. Leslie & Co. (shipbuilders) and traded as R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie & Co.

Locomotive products included a wide range of small industrial and main-line engines, including engines for British, Indian and Latin American railways. The firm merged with Robert Stephenson and Company in 1937 to form Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns, with locomotive work concentrating at Darlington thereafter. Forth Banks closed in 1961 and the site is now occupied by the Newcastle Centre for Life science park.