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ROLLS-ROYCE
- THE BEGINNING
By
Peter
Davenport - ex-RR Chief Service Engineer
Most,
if not all people have heard of Rolls-Royce.
But how did it all begin? Who were
Mr. Rolls and Mr. Royce?
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Henry Royce was born in Alwalton near Peterborough on 27 March 1863, the
youngest of five children. The family moved to London in 1872 where
Henry age 9 began his first job – delivering newspapers and telegrams.
At
15, after only one year of formal schooling he began an apprenticeship
with great Northern Railways. During the next few years he worked as a
toolmaker in Leeds and with the Electric Light and Power Co. in London
and Liverpool.
By
1884 he had saved £20, enough to start a business with his friend,
Ernest Claremont, who had £50.The factory in Manchester began by
producing electrical fittings and later dynamos and cranes. At first it
was called F. H. Royce & Co. but later Royce Ltd. This company
continued to manufacture cranes until 1932 when it was bought out by
Herbert Morrison. The last Royce crane was built in 1964.
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In
1901 Royce bought his first car, a small De Dion, and in 1903 he bought a 2
cylinder Deauville. He was not impressed by either one. At first he tried to
improve their mechanical reliability but soon gave up and decided to manufacture
a car to his own design.
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By
1904 he had produced his first car
and called it a Royce. He produced two more of
the same, one he gave to his business partner Ernest Claremont.
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The other was
sold for £395 to a man called Henry Edmunds who had a friend in London with a
car showroom. This friend’s name was Charles Stewart Rolls.
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The
Hon Charles Stewart Rolls was born 27 August 1887 in Mayfair London. The son of
Lord Llangattock, he was educated at Eton and Cambridge. He was wealthy enough
not to have to work but his interest in cars lead him to set up a sales room in
London to supply cars to his rich aristocratic friends. He also was not happy
with the reliability of the cars that were available and was continually
searching for something better.
A
meeting was arranged by Edmunds between Rolls and Royce at the Midland Hotel in
Manchester.
The date was 4 May 1904.
A
partnership was agreed. Royce was to produce cars and Rolls to sell them.
Provided that they had four cylinders and were called Rolls-Royce. (The bodies
were produced by John Roberts of Hulme.) The partnership proved to be successful
so a company was formed in March 1906 called Rolls-Royce Ltd.
Ernest Claremont became the first Chairman of Rolls-Royce in 1907.
Neither Rolls nor Royce were ever Chairman. Royce’s title was Engineer
in Chief.
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The
first ‘real’ Rolls-Royce car was the 6 cylinder 40/50 HP which became known
as the Silver Ghost. Between 1907 and 1925 7870 were produced.1700 of these in
Springfield USA (opened in 1921). During this same period Henry Ford produced
about 15 million model T’s.
The
Silver Ghost was said by Autocar Magazine to be The Best Car In The World.
Nobody challenged that.
Rolls-Royce
produced only the chassis, engine, gearbox and running gear. The bodywork was
manufactured by other companies –Hamshaws, Barkers etc., so the Silver Ghost
came in may shapes from the classic, elegant, to the eccentric and even an
armoured version.
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In
1907 it became clear that the Manchester factory was too small. It was decided
to move to Derby, primarily because electricity was cheaper in that area. By
July 1908 the new factory was up and running. It is still there today although
now producing aero engine parts.
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other great interest was flying. He was associated with the Wright brothers and
bought a Wright Flyer. He became the first man to fly across the English Channel
both ways non-stop in June 1910. Just one month later on the 12 July 1910
Charles Rolls was killed whilst flying the same aircraft in a display in
Bournemouth.
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In
1911 Royce became gravely ill, he was a workaholic and hardly ever ate properly.
The company almost collapsed. He took an extended holiday in Europe and Egypt.
He never returned to full time work in Derby, but lived in the South of France
during the winters and the south of England. Fortunately for Rolls-Royce this
allowed him to concentrate on designing for the future.
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At
about this time it became fashionable to put a
mascot on the radiator of your car. Royce wanted a mascot befitting the style of
The Best Car in The World. Artist Charles Sykes was commissioned to design the
mascot – The Spirit of Ecstasy – The Flying Lady.
The model was
Eleanor Thornton, secretary of Lord Montague.
From 1911 all cars had
the mascot.
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War
came in 1914. It was expected to last only a few months.
The
Rolls Royce Board concluded that “Rolls-Royce would not avail itself of the
opportunity of making aero engines for the British Government.”
What
would have happened if they have stuck to this!
Royce
soon realised three things:
The war was going to be a long struggle.
It would be fought in the air as well as land and sea.
Britain’s military aircraft would need a reliable engine.
Rolls-Royce
first aero engine the Eagle was first tested in February 1915. Initially it
produced 225 HP later versions 360 HP and was liquid cooled V12, 20 litre,
weighing 900 lbs. Eventually 4680 eagles were produced (1500 in the USA) and
used in 50 different types of aircraft and airships.
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The
most widely used aero engine at this time was the Le Rhone rotary engine which was air cooled but produced only about 110 HP.
A
complicated engine limited in power due to RPM/drag problems, it did not have a
throttle only a ‘blip’ switch and some aircraft control problems due to the
gyroscopic effects of the rotating engine.
Rolls-Royce
were also producing three other aero engines around this time, the Hawk (half an
eagle) 75 HP, Falcon 190 to 275 HP and Condor 675 HP.
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The
first British 4 engined bomber, the Handley Page V 500 was powered by the
Condor, and the Bristol F2B Fighter by the falcon.
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In
1919 a £10,000 prize was offered for the first aircraft to fly non-stop
across the Atlantic. Rolls-Royce supplied engines to 6 of the 7 most
realistic contenders. The Vickers Vimy won and was powered by 2
Rolls-Royce Eagles. It completed the 1890 miles in just under 16 hours.
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the 1920’s Rolls-Royce continued to produce the Silver Ghost and in 1925 the
first Phantom. Cars were produced in Derby and Springfield USA. The American had
its own very distinctive look. Remember Rolls-Royce did not produce the
bodywork. |
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In
the air the greatest prize at the time was the Schneider Trophy. Presented to
the nation with fastest seaplane over a measured predetermined course. Britain
won it in 1927 in a Supermarine S5 powered by a Napier Lion engine.
Reginald
Mitchell designer of the S5 (and later the Spitfire) asked Rolls-Royce to
develop an engine for the race, but initially they declined. Later they were
persuaded by the government to produce an engine – the first not to have a
name. It was just called the ‘R’. It had 12 cylinders of 36.7 litres,
weighed 1700 lbs and the last version produced over 2600 HP. Mitchell’s
S6 powered by the ‘R’ won the race in 1929 and the S6b won in 1931 at an
average speed of nearly 400 mph with an ‘R’ engine producing over 1900 HP.
A
short while later a S6B with an uprated engine of 2600 HP raised the world speed
record to 407 MPH.
Mitchell’s
S6b led him to design the Spitfire.
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Rolls-Royce
developed the ‘R’ into the Merlin which powered the Spitfire, Hurricane and
numerous other aircraft during the second world war.
In
1931 Rolls-Royce great rival Bentley went into receivership. Rolls-Royce bought
out the company and in 1934 began to produce Bentleys in Derby.
Henry
Royce died in 1933.
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The
same year the RR emblem was changed from Red to Black. Not out of respect for
Henry Royce as the legend has it but because customers thought that red clashed
with the body colours of their cars. Henry Royce had agreed to this before he
died. |
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