Wolseley Tool and Motor Car Co
of Birmingham and Crayford.
1901 February 18th. Company registered.[1] Vickers, Sons and Maxim took over the machine tool and motor car side of the Wolseley Sheep Shearing Machine Co works, and commenced trading as the Wolseley Tool and Motor Car Co. Herbert Austin was general manager. Alfred Arnold Remington was chief draughtsman.
1902 February. Detailed description of their works.[2][3]
1905 Herbert Austin resigned, taking some of the senior staff with him to form Austins. Remington was appointed chief designer.
1905 Wolseley Tool and Motor Car Co purchased the Siddeley Autocar Co, with founder John Davenport Siddeley in charge. Siddeley took control of the merged concern, renaming the marque Wolseley-Siddeley. These stately models were used by Queen Alexandra and the Duke of York, the later King Edward VII.
1907 Alfred Arnold Remington was appointed chief engineer.
1907 Wolseley Tool and Motor Car Co started a joint venture with BTH to make petrol-electric buses.
Wolseley also made chassis for the electrobuses produced by the Electric Vehicle Co of West Norwood.[4]
1908 Advertisement for the Siddeley Autocar produced by Wolseley Tool and Motor Car Co, referred to the engineering strengths of its parent Vickers, Sons and Maxim[5].
1909 Commenced involvement with aero-engines by anglicising the Hispano Suiza V8 engine as the Viper - see Wolseley: Aero Engines
1909 John Davenport Siddeley resigned from Wolseley and took over the Deasy Motor Car Manufacturing Co, which became known as Siddeley-Deasy.
1909 Ernest Hopwood from the British Electric Traction Co became managing director. He resigned due to ill-health late in 1919.
1910 Production ended at Crayford, being concentrated at Birmingham.
1911 A. J. McCormack became joint managing director with Hopwood (resigned in November 1923)
c.1912 Motor sledges, designed and patented by Major B. T. Hamilton, were constructed for Scott's expedition to the South Pole; they were field tested in Norway with the help of Engineer Commander R. Skelton[6]
1913-1917 For a list of the models and prices of Marine Motors see the 1917 Red Book
1913-1917 For a list of the models and prices of Petrol Motors see the 1917 Red Book
1913 Wolseley was Britain's largest car manufacturer selling 3,000 cars.
1913 Revenue over £1m and profit £163k. Buildings cover 13.5 acres in Birmingham. All shares held by Vickers.[7]
1914 The company officially became the Wolseley Motor Co.
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ The Stock Exchange Year Book 1908
- ↑ The Autocar 1902/02/08
- ↑ The Autocar 1902/02/15
- ↑ William Worby Beaumont, The Industrial Electric Vehicle, Griffin, 1920, p4
- ↑ The Times, 16 November 1908
- ↑ The Times, Oct 16, 1919
- ↑ Newcastle Journal - Monday 29 June 1914