Of conventional design as found on lathes from around 1910 to the late 1930s, this engine lathe looks very much like an early Colchester Master - although something about it just does not look quite "right" - could it be a copy? The tailstocks are virtually identical, with the large nut on the baseplate and a cam lever at the end. The apron controls are in the same place, the 'sliding' and 'surfacing' plates are identical and the casting for the tread-dial indicator - that also acts as a short leadscrew swarf guard - has a Colchester appearance about it, as does the T-slotted slotted saddle castings.
The only significant differences between this lathe and known examples of the older Master are the lack of a single lever on the front of the headstock to engage the backgears, and the use (on the pictured lathe) of a pair of bolts to clamp down the front of the headstock - something not yet seen on "real" examples of the type..
One clue as to its original might be the changewheels; on Colchester lathes these were mounted on 8-spline shafts, an expensive arrangement that a company copying the lathe might have forgone and replace by a keyway of even a plain bush.