Seraing

Seraing, a town of Belgium in the province of Liege, adjoining the city of that name. Pop. (1904) 39, 8 43. It lies on the right bank of the Meuse above Liege, with which it is connected by rail and tramway. Seraing owes all its prosperity and importance to the firm founded by John Cockerill, an Englishman, in 1817, with the co-operation of King William I. of the Netherlands, who provided half the capital. The Cockerill family has long disappeared, and the enterprise is now known as "the John Cockerill Company." It is one of the largest factories of engines and machinery - apart from war material - on the continent. Its headquarters occupy the old summer palace of the prince-bishops of Liege. In 1890 it established a branch at Hoboken on the Scheldt for the purpose of undertaking shipbuilding. The company employs 14,000 hands.