Daimler

1896. Daimler Carriage of the Sultan of Morocco.

1896. T. R. B. Elliot and The First Daimler Autocar in Scotland.

1896. Two motor-driven vehicles in the procession at the Lifeboat Demonstration, illustrative of "Coventry's new industry".

1896. The First British-Built Daimler Autocar.

July 1900.

1923. Daimler Bottle Car. Reg No: XU 177. Exhibit at the National Brewery Centre.

September 1937. Mr and Mrs J. R. Alexander, director of Daimler.

The British Daimler Motor Company of Coventry, not connected with Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft.

See also

The History

1896 February 17th. The public were invited to subscribe for shares in the Daimler Motor Company formed to take over from the Daimler Motor Syndicate. In the prospectus the directors were named as: ^[1] ^[2]

Agreement had been entered into with British Motor Syndicate to acquire UK licences to patents from Daimler^[3].

After the formation of the company they appointed:

Harry Lawson Chairman
J. S. Bradshaw (James A. Bradshaw?)
Charles Osborn became the first company secretary
James S. Critchley was employed as Works Manager until he joined British Electric Traction Co in 1900.
Frederick Simms Consulting Engineer
A. J. Drake was sub-manager
J. Van Toll was Marine Engineer
A. H. D. Altree as Secretary
Otto Mayer from Cannstatt to assist

1896 April. The company purchased a lease for sixty-two and a half years on the former premises of the Coventry Cotton Spinning and Weaving Co which occupied a site of 13 acres with a newly re-build factory. The premises were four stories measuring 162 ft. by 102 ft. and was in 12 acres of ground. Part of the site was then immediately sold to the Great Horseless Carriage Co for more than the total cost of the site. ^[4]

1896 The Great Horseless Carriage Co was formed by Harry Lawson with the objective of gathering under one management all the patent rights held by the British Motor Syndicate other than those related to cycles; these included Daimler, De Dion, Bollee, Kane-Pennington, Garrard and Blumfield and Serpollet systems^[5].

1896 The first Coventry Daimler engine built by William Alfred Perkins and was reportedly still operational 50 years later

1897 March. Long article trying to defend against Daimler and the Great Horseless Carriage Co against some poor reports of the company progress. Includes images of the internals of the works.^[6]

1897 March. Report of shareholders meeting. Long article.^[7]

1897 Shipping fifty 'machines with motor covers' or chassis to Stirling's Motor Carriages for £13,000

1897 Received order for a hundred chassis from the London Motor Van and Wagon Co

1897 March. See Daimler: 1897 Extraordinary General meeting

1897 A. H. D. Altree became the General Manager and Ernest Instone was appointed Secretary.

1897 March? First complete Daimler delivered to Ernest Estcourt

1897 Early Daimler delivered to T. R. B. Elliot

1897 June. Employing 223 persons and just completed extension measuring 120ft x 130ft. Producing three cars per week and have 350 orders on hand. Also producing motors for marine and stationary use.

1897 June. First parcel van driven from Coventry to London by Bush and Gadschen.^[8]

1897 June 26th. Long and detailed letter to 'The Autocar' from Henry Sturmey, the acting chairman, mainly about how unfairly he has been treated by 'The Engineer'. Sturmey is coincidentally the editor of 'The Autocar' at this time.^[9]

1897 August. Major-General Montgomery of Winchester collected his 4 hp Cranford wagonette and was later stated to be the first gentleman unconnected with the motor industry to purchase an English-built carriage

1897 October 12th. Evelyn Ellis and his daughter Mary, James Critchley and Johann van Toll drove to the top of Worcestershire Beacon (1,395 ft) in the Malverns

1897 September. Sturmey took delivery of the ninth car built completely by Daimler and then became the first person to drive from John o' Groats to Land's End.

1897 Supplied Carter, Paterson and Co with their first motor vehicle - a 5.5 hp twin-cylinder van.

1897. Frederick Simms resigned as Consulting Engineer and Harry Lawson (7th October) as Chairman.

1897 October. Second OGM and first AGM. Details of accounts. Twenty-four vehicles are in the workshops at all times and progress through in batches of six. Finishing vehicles at rate of four per week. Have supplied nine parcel vans and have more orders for them.^[10]^[11]

1897 Exhibited at the 1897 Stanley Cycle Show. Took the largest part of the King Edward Hall. Showed 'Marseilles Phaeton', a chassis for others to add bodies', a parcels van built for Iliffe and Sons, Henry Sturmey's car, a Siamese Phaeton and a Knightley Victoria. ^[12]

1898. Gottlieb Daimler (in July) and J. A. Bradshaw resigned

1898 28th February. Reported to have delivered over the past nine month some 89 complete vehicles of motors and frames and 24 single engines being £23,000 of sales

1898 May. Dr. W. W. Barrett of Park Crescent, Hesketh Park, Southport took delivery of a Knightley Victoria - one of the first doctors to use a car on the road.

1898 May 7th. Trial run of the Daimler launch (2x 10-hp motors) built by Paul, Jones and Son to designs by J. and H. M. Paterson, Greenock. Mention of A. H. D. Altree, general manager, and Van Too, chief engineer of the launch department.^[13]

1898 June. The Motor Mills were re-named as the Daimler Works

1898 August. EGM meeting report. Roger Bannister proposed to be chairman but the company is against this. W. B. Avery is the largest shareholder in the company. Avery, Arthur Rawlinson and Herbert A. Leake appointed to a committee to investigate.^[14]^[15]

1899 2nd AGM held. J. H. Mace presided. ^[16]

1899. February. A. H. D. Altree and E. M. C. Instone resigned from the board of directors and Evelyn Ellis and William Wright resigned by rotation and did not seek re-election.

1899. May. Henry Sturmey resigns.

1899 June. Extraordinary Meeting to update the the financial situation of the company. Present were:^[17]

E. H. Bayley, Director, Presided
Edward G. Jenkinson, Sir, Director
J. H. Mace, Director,
H. E. Sherwin Holt, Director,
John Ware, Secretary
Harvey George Shareholder
Henry Sturmey Shareholder
? Heap
Arthur Rawlinson

1900. Foster Pedley became General Manager and Percy Richardson the London Manager.

1900 December 21. Fourth AGM. Directors were E. H. Bayley (Chairman), Thomas Bayley, J. H. Mace and Sherwin Holt.

1901 February. Thomas Bayley and Sherwin Holt resign as Directors. Sidney Straker who had acted as the Consulting Engineer resigned and was replaced by Herbert W. Bamber

1901. April 17. Edward Jenkinson elected as Chairman.

1901. October 23. Percy Martin joined as Works Manager.

1902. January. New depot at Brownlow Mews, Guildford Street opened.

1902. February. Prospectus to raise £60,00 shows directors as Edward Jenkinson, Edward Manville and C. C. Longridge.

1902. April. H. W. Bamber resigned after just over one year to join British Electric Traction Co

1902. November 27. '6th AGM. Directors are Jenkinson, Longridge, Manville and John Marshall Gorham.

1903. April. Fire in the paint and finishing shop destroyed seven completed cars.

1903. Percy Richardson resigned as London Manager and U. Stratton replaced him. John M. Gorham re-joined the board of the company.

1904. Daimler purchased the buildings of the Motor Manufacturing Co (MMC) as it went in to liquidation for £14,000.

1904. December 8. 8th AGM. To improve the company's finances it was sold to the Daimler Motor Company (1904) Ltd.

1905. At the AGM there we new directors - A. H. E. Wood and G. S. Barwick

1906. Jenkinson resigned as chairman and he was replaced by Manville.

1906 Daimler started Societa Anonima Officine de Luca Daimler in Italy.

1906. Bristol depot opened.

1906 Decision to enter commercial vehicle market using the 'Auto-Mixte' system. Planned to produce next year a 28, 30, 35 and 45 h.p. chassis.

1906. Percy Martin made a director.

1907. Employed 2,750 persons

1908. December. First issue of 'The Daimler Bulletin' issued.

The Knight engine was developed further in England by Daimler.

1909. March. Extensive trials of the Knight Engine under the control of the RAC.

1909. Formed Societe Francais de la Daimler Motor Company based in Paris

1909. Frederick Lanchester joined as Consulting Engineer.

1910. Daimler was acquired by BSA. At that time the directors appointed were:

BSA

Daimler

Edward Manville Chairman
A. H. E. Wood
Percy Martin Managing Director

WWI. Made the 80 h.p. Gnome engine and the 70 h.p. Renault for the aeroplane industry. Produced the engine and transmission for the new military tanks. Produced shells in large numbers.

1919. Set up Daimler Hire Ltd. with a fleet of 250 cars and based at the old Prince's Skating Rink at Knightsbridge.

1921. Ernest Instone resigned after 24 years.

1926 AEC and Daimler entered into an arrangement to form the Associated Daimler Co which would be responsible for sale of chassis and engines. The company was to be floated so that it would be free of the financial control of L.G.O.C. and therefore would be able to supply other companies ^[18]. In fact the company ended up being wholly owned by UERC in order to completely separate the manufacturing and operating units ^[19]. New works opened at Hanwell, Southall, west of London.

1927 The Daimler company was controlled by BSA

1928 Problems with the Daimler engines led to the break-up of the Associated Daimler Co into its 2 constituent parts (i.e. AEC and Daimler).

1929. L. H. Pomeroy appointed Managing Director having been the Chief Engineer. Percy Martin becomes Chairman.

1931. The Lanchester Motor Co is taken over.

1933. The sleeve-valve or Knight Engine is finally abandoned for the more conventional poppet valve type.

1939. Absorbed the Birtley Co, Hooper and Co and Barker and Co.

1960 The company, which had been a subsidiary of BSA since 1910, now became part of Jaguar. The Daimler brand was used for their luxury models.

Later became a subsidiary of the Premier Automotive Group, making it part of Ford.

Note: 1904. Gear-cutting machine built for them by Lanchester Motor Co. (Exhibit at Birmingham Thinktank museum)

Sources of Information

↑ The Times, Saturday, Feb 15, 1896
↑ The Standard (London, England), Monday, February 17, 1896
↑ The North-Eastern Daily Gazette, 15 February 1896
↑ Vital to the Life of the Nation. Published 1946.
↑ The Pall Mall Gazette 19 May 1896
↑ The Autocar 1897/03/06
↑ The Autocar 1897/03/13
↑ The Autocar 1897/06/19
↑ The Autocar 1897/06/26
↑ The Autocar 1897/10/09
↑ The Autocar 1897/10/23
↑ The Autocar. 27th November 1897
↑ The Autocar 1898/05/14
↑ The Autocar 1898/08/13
↑ The Autocar 1898/08/20
↑ The Times, Friday, Jan 13, 1899
↑ The Autocar 1899/07/01
↑ The Times 25 June 1926
↑ The Times, 16 March 1927

Wikipedia
Ian Allan - British Buses Since 1900 - Aldridge and Morris
1961 Guide to Key British Enterprises: Motor, Motor-Cycle and Commercial Vehicle Manufacturers
British Motor Cars 1950/51
Daimler 1896-1946 by St. John C. Nixon. Published by G. T. Foulis in 1946
Daimler Century by Lord Montagu and David Burgess-Wise. Published 1995. ISBN 1-85260-494-8

[1] The Times, Saturday, Feb 15, 1896

[2] The Standard (London, England), Monday, February 17, 1896

[3] The North-Eastern Daily Gazette, 15 February 1896

[4] Vital to the Life of the Nation. Published 1946.

[5] The Pall Mall Gazette 19 May 1896

[6] The Autocar 1897/03/06

[7] The Autocar 1897/03/13

[8] The Autocar 1897/06/19

[9] The Autocar 1897/06/26

[10] The Autocar 1897/10/09

[11] The Autocar 1897/10/23

[12] The Autocar. 27th November 1897

[13] The Autocar 1898/05/14

[14] The Autocar 1898/08/13

[15] The Autocar 1898/08/20

[16] The Times, Friday, Jan 13, 1899

[17] The Autocar 1899/07/01

[18] The Times 25 June 1926

[19] The Times, 16 March 1927

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Grace's Guide To British Industrial History

Daimler

See Also

Sources of Information