Blackburne engines were used in some early machinery- my own Trusty 220 (the 45th production machine) has a Blackburne engine. This manufacturer had no connection at all with Blackburn Aircraft Ltd as you can probably guess from the spelling.
Blackburne engines were produced by a company called Burney and Blackburne who were based originally near Farnham in Surrey to make motorcycles during and after the First World War; motorcycles were discontinued in 1922 and they concentrated on small engine production up to the end in 1937, selling their engines to light car and motorcycle manufacturers.
The aircraft confusion obviously comes about through the similar name but note that Blackburn Aircraft Ltd is spelt without an “E” on the end. Further confusion was introduced in the “Seventy Years of Garden Machinery” book which describes the Bean toolbar tractor as being made by an aircraft manufacturer in Blackburn, Lancashire. As we all know, the Bean was made by Blackburn Aircraft Ltd under contract, but Blackburn Aircraft was based in Brough, East Yorkshire, local to where the designer lived; there has never been an aircraft manufacturer in Blackburn, Lancashire.
The important part of this is that you shouldn’t believe everything you read in print and you should always cross reference any facts to determine their accuracy; never rely on one source for your information.
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