1907 Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland
Note: This is a sub-section of the Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland
1907. The Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland (A. C. G. B. I.) became the Royal Automobile Club, the R. A. C. King Edward VII's interest in motoring led to the command "that the Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland should henceforth be known as The Royal Automobile Club".
A.C.G.B.I. March 1907. [1]
Arrangements are now in operation by which members of the A.C.G.B.I. going to France by the Folkestone Boulogne, Southampton - Havre, or Newhaven - Dieppe routes can obtain tickets at the club house, where also particulars with regard to the transport of cars across the Channel can be obtained.
The vehicles entered in the Vapour Emission competition to take place on Tuesday next are as follows: 16-20 h.p. Chenard-Walcker; 40 h.p. Napier; 30-35 h.p. Lotis; 24 h.p. De Dion Bouton; 32 h.p. Pilgrim; a 10-12 h.p. car entered by Mr. J. T. Newell; 35-45 h.p. Ariel; 16 h.p. Albion; 24 h.p. Albion; 18-24 h.p. Austin; 25 h.p. Straker-Squire; 26 h.p. Belsize; 20 h.p. Lanchester.
Sir Laurence Jenkins and the Hon. R. T. G. Murray have been elected to membership of the club.
The committee for the ensuing year has been constituted as follows: The twenty-five members who did not retire this year are:
- Capt. F. E. Dyke Acland,
- A. Armitage,
- T. H. D. Berridge, M.P.,
- Alfred F. Bird,
- T. G. Chambers,
- E. H. Cozens-Hardy,
- Lt.-Col. R. E. B. Crompton, C.B.,
- Charles Hardy,
- Dr. H. S. Hele-Shaw, F.R.S.,
- E. M. C. Instone,
- G. C. Ashton Jonson,
- Major F. L. Lloyd, R.E.,
- E. Manville,
- J. R. Nisbet,
- Wilson Noble,
- J. F. Ochs,
- Mervyn O'Gorman,
- Dr. H. E. Bruce Porter,
- Lionel de Rothschild,
- J. D. Siddeley,
- Stanley Spooner,
- Hon. Arthur Stanley, M.P.,
- Henry Sturmey,
- Dr. J. Hopkins Walters and
- Claude Watney.
The twenty-five members elected by ballot are:
- Col. H. C. L. Holden, R.A., F.R.S.,
- C. D. Rose, M.P.,
- Professor C. V. Boys,
- Sir Boverton Redwood,
- Col. David A. Kinloch,
- F. H. Butler, Sir Henry Norman, M.P.,
- Major T. H. Cochrane,
- F. P. Armstrong, Commander Mansfield Cumming, R.N.,
- Capt. G. H..J. Skeffington-Smyth, D.S.O.,
- W. Worby Beaumont,
- Henry Edmunds,
- J. Lyons Sampson,
- Capt. R. K. Bagnall-Wild, R.E.,
- Robert Todd,
- Vere Ker-Seymer,
- W. J. Leonard,
- the Hon. C. S. Rolls,
- Capt. H. H. P. Deasy,
- J. M. Gorham,
- Earl Russell,
- Major W. E. Donohue,
- E. Russell Clarke and
- T. C. Aveling.
During the past few weeks several members holding the Club's driving certificate have obtained the French certifcat de capacite, or driving licence, prior to their departure from England. Members who wish to avoid the formality of the driving examination in France, which is a necessary preliminary to the issue of a French permit under ordinary circumstances, are advised to write to the secretary.
The annual meeting of the Club held on the 8th inst. was largely formal. A proposal by Mr. Frederic Coleman limiting the voting powers of committeemen engaged in motor-car business not being put to the meeting — a majority of those present voting in favour of such a course. Only two changes took place on the committee, Messrs. E. Russell Clarke and T. C. Aveling taking the place of two retiring members.
ROYAL AUTOMOBILE CLUB DINNER. [2]
Upwards of 400 motorists assembled at the Hotel Cecil, London, on Friday, the 8th inst., on the occasion of the annual dinner of the Royal Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland, when the Hon. Arthur Stanley, M.P., chairman of the Club, presided.
Among those present were
- the Turkish Ambassador,
- the Spanish Ambassador,
- the Portuguese Minister,
- Sir H. H. Cozens-Hardy, Master of the Rolls,
- Lord Eversley,
- Lord Montagu of Beaulieu,
- Lord Borthwick,
- Sir W. Davis-Goff,
- Sir Boverton Redwood,
- Sir Henry Norman, M.P.,
- Major-General F. W. Benson,
- Colonel W. J. Bosworth, and
- Mr. Julian W. Orde.
After the loyal toasts had been honoured, Sir H. H. Cozens-Hardy, the Master of Rolls, proposed "The Club." He said that that body had already done a great deal of good work, and he would make bold to prophesy that it would do more. It did not seem long since he was in the House of Commons, yet at that time such a thing as the motor was practically unknown in a contest for a seat in St. Stephen's, whereas nowadays it would seem that there could not be either a Parliamentary or a municipal contest without an array of horseless carriages being requisitioned by the supporters of either side. Some members of that staid and respectable body, his Majesty's judges, had been seen riding from their houses to the Courts in motor-cars.
To day the community might be divided into those who liked and those who did not like motor-cars. Those who owned them liked them, those who could not own them did not like them. He believed John Bull did not like the foreign words that were associated with motoring, particularly the word "garage," and he was pleased to note that in a case heard before him in the latter part of last year the English language was not so poor that words could not be found for the car and the house in which it was kept.
Referring to the work of the Club, he said that it had actively engaged in endeavouring to rid the road of a class of men who were a discredit to the movement. Then there was the dust nuisance that turned hedges white that should be green. Again, a special committee of the Club was actively engaged in trying to find a means to minimise, if not to do away with the nuisance. Further, he trusted the efforts of the Club would meet with success in abating that which in London had become a scandal and a disgrace — the noise of the motor-omnibuses. which he described as "the demons of the road." The club had done a great deal in the way of experiments aiming at the improvement of those vehicles.
The Hon. Arthur Stanley, in replying to the toast, apologised for the absence of the Duke of Sutherland, President of the Club, who had sent his heartiest greetings. He had listened with great interest to the speech of the Master of the Rolls, and congratulated him on behalf of the club and himself on his recent well-deserved promotion. He had been particularly interested to hear him say that motoring had spread so far as to reach uncivilised parts of the world to such an extent as even to affect his Majesty's judges. At all events, the Master of the Rolls would not have to ask in court, "What is a motor-car?"
He then referred to the guests of the club that evening, among whom was the Turkish Ambassador— "who, of course, is becoming one of us, for he had ordered a car some time ago, and would have had it by now if it had been delivered when the salesman promised" — the Spanish Ambassador, the Portuguese Minister, and the Press. No medium had rendered greater service in spreading the movement than the Press.
He wished to offer a few parting words of thanks for the kindness of all and sundry to him during the two years of his chairmanship of the Club. It was a happy parallel of the Master of the Rolls to have styled the Club the Motorists' Parliament. They might congratulate themselves on the manner in which they had done their work — better than they did it at Westminster. There were no suffragettes outside the Club House at Piccadilly, and the policemen on the beat had not a scratch on their faces.
As to their future, he hoped to see them soon in occupation of the best club house in London, and possibly with a reduced subscription. He had authority to make an announcement of the utmost interest and importance to motorists, for his Majesty the King had been graciously pleased to order that henceforth that Club should be known as the Royal Automobile Club. They were all proud to receive such a mark of the Royal favour, and would continue to make yet greater efforts to ensure the success of the sport of motoring, of the industry, and of the social interests of the community whose welfare would be increased by the spread of motoring, and no they would endeavour to deserve the great honour that had been bestowed on them.