Edited by Craig Horner
2025 review by Autolycus
Craig Horner’s first book on Cheshire registrations, published in 2020 and reviewed on this website, covered the period from the very beginning of registrations in 1904 to the end of 1907. This second volume takes the story from 1908 to 1911.
Once again, the publisher of the book is the Record Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, founded in 1878 to promote understanding of and public interest in the history of Lancashire and Cheshire – and one of the ways this is done is through the publication of historical records. This is the 160th such publication.
The book’s creator, Craig Horner, recently retired as is Senior Lecturer in History at Manchester Metropolitan University. He is Board Member of the SAHB and editor of our Aspects of Motoring History. The book was made possible by the fact that Cheshire was one of only a few authorities who preserved its registration records. This enabled Craig to mine this treasure trove of historical information.
Once again, this is no mere list of numbers and the vehicles that carried them; it is a remarkable piece of social history that provides a fascinating insight into early motoring. As Craig says in his introduction, this later period from 1908 to 1911 saw significant changes in the market. Firstly, technical change: almost all vehicles were now petrol powered, with steam being limited to a few cars (Serpollet, Stanley, White) but almost universally used to power heavy vehicles. Cars had for the most part now fixed upon the configuration of a front-mounted engine with all seats facing forward. Motorcycles, too, adopted the format seen even today, with an engine between the wheels.
Craig identifies another change: the market was more mature, with fewer home-made vehicles and many more products of recognised manufacturers, sold through agents. Cars were becoming more reliable, thus encouraging their purchase by more owner-drivers, who were more likely to hand over maintenance to repair shops.
The introduction continues with some further important observations. The reduced number of makers was accompanied by a much increased quantity of British makes such as Belsize (a Manchester company), Daimler and Humber. Foreign makes were still popular, but far less so than in the very early years. The range of body types was enormous, and gives a clue to the role expected of different vehicles. Craig also delves into the role of women in motoring, pointing out how few were registered as owners but explaining that this gives a false picture: by this period manufacturers were taking seriously the importance of women in buying and using motor cars, and were directing suitable types and associated advertising to attract them.
As in the first volume, the book has taken the vital step of linking registration details to census records. This has identified a vast number of occupations that reveal the sorts of people who could now afford a motorcycle or car for personal or commercial use. Nevertheless, a prevalent occupation was still the engineer; these machines were still far from the utterly reliable means of transport provided by today’s cars.
The introduction leads then into the records themselves. More and more vehicles iappear to have changed ownership several times during the period, pointing to a healthy second-hand market. And the addition of occupations and addresses gives clues to the natural social aspect of a new car owned by the more wealthy individual being transferred to those of lesser means living in more modest locations.
The 1904 to 1907 volume contained one of the most famous people in motoring and, arguably world, history: Frederick Henry Royce, who lived in the Cheshire town of Knutsford. This volume also contains a very famous motoring name: William Richard Morris, founder in 1910 of Morris Motors and later, as Viscount Nuffield, a philanthropist operating through his Nuffield Foundation. But in 1911 he was merely the purchaser of a second-hand 20hp Singer, M2980, that had been bought new by Charles Whitley “of private means”. Morris was recorded as a motor garage proprietor and engineer in Oxford.
The book is full of such ‘tales’ told through the lists of information, as wealthy individuals in one part of the country buy a vehicle that then passes through different levels of society and often from private to commercial use.
The fascination of the main listing is supported by other highly informative sections. Firstly, there is an index by name, making it possible for historians and descendants of known early motorists to discover more about their motoring. It also highlights the serial car buyers, sometimes wealthy and perhaps more often dealers, agents or business owners. The index by occupation gives another insight into the social history of the time. Whereas “chairman” relates to only two vehicles, “clerk” is attached to over 100 – and, as might be expected, a quick look at a few entries reveals them all to be motorcycles. Index by place reveals not only locations where conurbations or residential areas allowed a concentration of vehicle ownership, but it also shows that vehicles moved all over the country after their original registration in Cheshire. For the motoring historian, the indexes by make of motor car, heavy vehicle and motorcycle bring to life forgotten makes and makes that survive to this day. Buick, Fiat, Mercedes, Benz, Peugeot, Renault, Rolls-Royce and Vauxhall are all there, but so are the late departed Wolseley, Austin, Rover, Studebaker, Napier, Humber and many more.
There are hours of enjoyment to be had from digging into this book and discovering a superb mix of social and motoring history. It is an unusual and highly recommended addition to the library of those interested in either of those two areas of knowledge, or both. It is hoped that a further volume will be produced to take the story up to 1914.
Publisher: The Record Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, www.rslc.org.uk
Available from: Fiona Pogson (pogsonf@hope.ac.uk) who will sort out purchase and payment.
Price: £40 including postage and packing in the UK. Please contact Fiona Pogson for the total cost if it is to be sent to any other country.
Description: Hardback in dustjacket (240 x 165 mm), 4926 pages; a few illustrations at appropriate points in the book, in black and white.
ISBN: 978-0-9935-7317-0
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