Lancashire Steam Motor Co
1896 Formed from J. Sumner by James Sumner, Henry Spurrier, Henry Spurrier II and George Stretton Spurrier. The company started by making steam wagons from premises in Herbert Street, Leyland, where they employed 20 persons. This brought together the skills of Henry (II) who describes himself as a steam engine maker, James Sumner who was a blacksmith employing several people and the money from Henry (Senior) and George who were wealthy from being oil merchants and later farmers.
1896 The first vehicle was a 30 cwt steam van with an oil-fired boiler and a two-cylinder compound engine developing 10-14 hp.
1897 Henry Spurrier (II) and William Sumner showed their first steam vehicle at the Royal Agricultural Show where they won the top prize.
1898 April. Details and image of the steam motor wagon.[1]
1898 Henry Spurrier (II), William Sumner and Ted Hamer take the vehicle to the Royal show in Birmingham and win first prize of £100. Later the same year they win another £100 at the Liverpool Self-Propelled Traffic Association trials.
1898 First order for vehicle (3-tonner) from Fox Brothers and Co of Wellington to transport wool. Produce another for Peek, Frean and Co
1899 Produce vehicle for Liverpool Corporation
1900 June. Royal Agricultural Show at York. Showed a steam tipping wagon with a carrying capacity of five tons
1900 Produce vehicle for Chelsea Municipality
1901 Shipped a steam powered mail van to Ceylon
In 1902, with sales of buses rising and the workforce numbering in excess of 150, the Company moved to larger premises in Hough Lane.
1902 Commenced building factory on three-acre site. Charles Basil Nixon is company secretary and William Norris A.M. Inst. C.E., M.I.M.E. is chief engineer.
1902 Produce a vehicle for Blackburn Corporation
1902 Details of lorries.[2]
1902 December. Details of six steam tip waggons supplied to the Liverpool Corporation.[3]
1903 The company employed 160 and they produced a 4-tonner Model B with 35 hp. To the end of this year the company had produced 39 steam vehicles.
1903 August. The company was registered privately under the Limited Liability Act
1904 The company produced 33 steam lorries or buses this year
1904 Produced the first experimental petrol driven lorry known as 'The Pig' with 2-cylinder 12 bhp engine to carry 30 cwt. It was not adopted for manufacture but the 'Y' model was produced in small numbers.
1904 September. See Lancashire Steam Motor Co: 1904 Review
1905 They showed a four-cylinder Crossley engined bus with a channel support frame for the New London and Suburban Omnibus Co.
1905 March. Details of their Crossley-Leyland petrol omnibus and the lorry.[4]
1905 October. Details of their Leyland-Crossley omnibus designed by H. Spurrier and J. S. Critchley.[5]
1905 Produced 25 steam and 16 petrol vehicles this year
1906 Showed more powerful 35-40 hp bus
1906 Produced 30 steam and 27 petrol vehicles this year
1907 Showed a 50 hp model
1907 Produced 36 steam and 17 petrol vehicles this year
1907 Changed name to Leyland Motors
List of Models
- Lancashire Steam Motor Co: B Class 1902-04. Early steam wagon
- Lancashire Steam Motor Co: H Type 1904-07 Early steam wagon
- Lancashire Steam Motor Co: The Pig 1904. Prototype petrol wagon
- Lancashire Steam Motor Co: Y Type Early petrol wagon
See Also
Sources of Information
- The First Fifty Years. Leyland Motors Ltd. Published 1946.
- Traction Engine Album by Malcolm Ranieri. Pub 2005
- Buses and Trolleybuses before 1919 by David Kaye. Published 1972
- The Engineer of 22nd June 1900 p650