Mulliners Limited of Birmingham was a British coachbuilding business in Bordesley Green , with factories in Bordesley Green and Cherrywood Roads. It made standard bodies for specialist car manufacturers. In the 19th century there were family ties with founders Mulliners of Northampton and the businesses of other Mulliner brothers and cousins but it became a quite separate business belonging to Herbert Mulliner.
115-522: A Northampton coach building family founded this business in Leamington Spa for the prosperous custom attracted to the newly fashionable spa town early in the 19th century. Direct ownership and control by Mulliner family interests was lost in 1903 when it was sold to Charles Cammell, which then merged into Cammell Laird . H H Mulliner ceased to be a main-board director of Cammell Laird in 1909. Mulliners Limited continued under various ownerships until
230-652: A 'Royal' prefix , and 'Leamington Priors' was renamed 'Royal Leamington Spa'. Queen Victoria had visited the town as a Princess in 1830 and as Queen in 1858. In 1840 the Victoria Bridge was opened, connecting the old and new towns, replacing an old, narrow, and inconvenient bridge. Nine years earlier, the opening of Portobello Bridge , a three-arch bridge over the River Avon, reconnected the town to neighbouring Warwick—an earlier bridge nearby having been condemned and demolished in 1830. The growth of Leamington
345-510: A Royal Warrant as "Motor Car Manufacturer to the Court of Prussia" by Kaiser Wilhelm II . Stratton also sold Daimlers to the Sultan of Johor . In 1911, he spent some weekends at Sandringham tutoring the new Prince of Wales on the workings and driving of an automobile. Stratton went into partnership with Daimler's commercial manager Ernest Instone in 1921. Stratton and Instone took charge of
460-416: A royal warrant as suppliers of motor cars. Undecimus Stratton met E. G. Jenkinson, the chairman of Daimler, in 1903 when Jenkinson's Daimler was stranded by the roadside. Upon seeing the stranded motorist, Stratton stopped his Daimler and offered assistance. Jenkinson was impressed by Stratton and by his motoring knowledge. At the time, Jenkinson was looking to replace the head of Daimler's London depot,
575-520: A 1-ton delivery van, lorries from 2 to 5 ton and a 40 hp omnibus. Buses and trucks were able to use the same chassis and engines and, as was common practice for commercial vehicles, then have bespoke bodywork fitted. The Metropolitan Electric Tramways ordering 350 double-decker buses in 1912 and engines were sold to the London General Omnibus Company (LGOC). The bus models were the 13 foot wheelbase CB (same chassis as
690-561: A Bottle , Ubisoft Leamington , Unit 2, Electric Square, Full Fat , Kwalee , Pixel Toys, Playground Games , Red Chain Games, Stickman Studios, Supersonic Software and Midoki. Codemasters are based at Southam near Leamington and were the initial impetus behind the cluster, providing many of the staff for the companies in Leamington. In 2013, Sega 's mobile platform studio Hardlight Studio set up in Leamington, and Exient opened
805-570: A booming company, leading to probably the entire output going to them and eventual close financial and corporate links between the two. Mulliners was taken over by Calthorpe Motor Company in 1917. After Calthorpe failed in 1924, the managing director of Mulliners, Louis Antweiler, who was also on the Calthorpe managing board, arranged to buy the coachbuilding company which he renamed Mulliners Limited. He obtained contracts with Clyno and Austin for whom he made many Weymann style fabric bodies for
920-473: A co-educational school for pupils aged 3 to 18, and The Kingsley School , a school for girls. Myton School in Warwick, although located just outside Leamington, includes parts of Leamington as being within its priority area . As well as these schools, Leamington children can attend Stratford-upon-Avon Grammar School for Girls , a state run selective school, Warwick School , an independent school for boys,
1035-464: A day, making it the largest of its kind in the UK. It is expected to create up to 1,500 jobs. There are a number of schools either located within Leamington, or which include Leamington in their priority (catchment) area. Those within Leamington include the state secondary schools of North Leamington School , Campion School , Trinity Catholic School , and the independent schools of Arnold Lodge School ,
1150-657: A digest of Debrett ;" the Bombay agent supplied Indian princes ; the Japanese agent, Okura , handled sales in Manchuria and Korea . During World War I, the military took the normal production cars, lorries, buses and ambulances together with a scout army vehicle and engines used in ambulances, trucks, and double-decker buses. Special products included aero-engines and complete aircraft, tank and tractor engines and munitions. The first aircraft engine manufactured by Daimler
1265-604: A director of DMG, proposed a union between the Daimler Motor Company in Coventry and DMG in Cannstatt in mid-1900 but the reorganised company was not interested in the merger and turned the offer down. Persistent financial troubles caused Daimler to be reorganised again in 1904. The previous company was wound up and a new company was formed to acquire the old one and pay its debts and winding-up costs. Under
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#17327879544401380-569: A leisure centre including swimming pool Newbold Comyn Leisure Centre , rugby grounds Leamington Rugby Union Football Club , Leamington Rugby Club – Youth Section and Old Leamingtonians Rugby Football Club , Leamington Cricket, Khalsa Leamington Hockey Club, Leamington Cycling club, Leamington Athletics club, Spa Striders Running Club, Royal Leamington Spa Canoe Club, Leamington Chess Club , formed in 1851, and municipal tennis courts. The Royal Leamington Spa Bowling Club in Victoria Park hosts
1495-665: A motor car factory, On 7 June 1895, Simms told the board of the Daimler Motor Syndicate that he intended to form The Daimler Motor Company Limited to acquire the British rights to the Daimler patents and to manufacture Daimler engines and cars in England. That month, he arranged for the syndicate to receive a ten per cent (10%) commission on all British sales of Daimler-powered Panhard & Levassor cars. At
1610-687: A much smaller scale. Karobes Limited , with its headquarters in Queensway, was one of Britain's major suppliers of accessories for cars between World War II and the 1970s. Commercial parks for service providers and light industry and offices are primarily located to the south of the town: Althorpe Street Industrial Estate, Queensway Trading Estate, Shires Gate Trading Estate and Sydenham Industrial Estate. In June 2014, Detroit Electric announced that they would be building their SP.01 all-electric roadster in Leamington Spa. Leamington Spa and
1725-451: A particularly sensitive position because of the royal cars. Taking the position, Stratton soon found himself having to select better royal chauffeurs and mechanics. He quickly became an occasional motoring companion to the King . In 1908, through Stratton's Royal connections, Daimler was awarded a " Royal Appointment as suppliers of motor cars to the Court of Spain" by King Alfonso XIII and
1840-465: A persistent transmission failure on the King's car, Rolls-Royce was commissioned to provide official state cars and as Daimlers retired they were not replaced by Daimlers. The current official state car is either one of a pair which were specially made for the purpose by Bentley , unofficial chauffeured transport is by Daimler. Elizabeth II's own car for personal use was a 2008 Daimler Super Eight but she
1955-585: A police station, the complex houses a magistrates' court , and the Crown Court , County Court , and other agencies such as the Probation Service and Victim Support . It was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 4 March 2011. An oak tree just to the northeast of the town centre is marked by a plaque stating that it commemorates the Midland Oak , a tree that grew near the spot and
2070-552: A popular place for shopping. In 1832 the town's main hospital, Warneford Hospital , opened, named after philanthropist Samuel Wilson Warneford . At first a semi-private affair it was taken over by the National Health Service after the Second World War, before succumbing to budget cuts and closing in 1993. Leamington is closely associated with the founding of lawn tennis . The first tennis club in
2185-624: A reorganisation of the company in 1904, the Daimler Motor Company was purchased by Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA) in 1910, which also made cars under its own name before the Second World War . In 1933, BSA bought the Lanchester Motor Company and made it a subsidiary of the Daimler Company. Daimler was awarded a Royal Warrant to provide cars to the British monarch in 1902; it lost this privilege in
2300-596: A satellite studio. Former companies were Blitz Games Studios , FreeStyleGames , Bigbig Studios and Titus Software UK Limited . Local hospitals include the Leamington Spa Hospital and the Warwickshire Nuffield Hospital . On 13 July 2021 a coronavirus "mega lab" was opened in the town. Named after English chemist Rosalind Franklin , the laboratory is intended to be capable of processing hundreds of thousands of samples
2415-770: A small mosque and a Hindu temple. In 2009, the Sikh community built the Gurdwara Sahib Leamington and Warwick in Warwick which also serves Leamington. There are also Christadelphian and Jehovah's Witnesses meeting halls in the town. Eden Court in Lillington is a residential tower block and one of several tall landmarks. In December 2010, the Warwickshire Justice Centre was completed in Newbold Terrace. As well as
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#17327879544402530-595: A week and producing Léon Bollée cars under licence. Lawson claimed to have made 20 cars by July 1897 making the Daimler Britain's first motor car to go into serial production, an honour that is also credited to Humber Motors who had also displayed, but in their case their production models, at the Stanley Cycle Show in London in 1896. The Daimlers had a twin-cylinder, 1526 cc engine, mounted at
2645-488: Is a civil parish in the Warwick District , an administrative division of the county of Warwickshire , it thus falls under the jurisdiction of Warwickshire County Council , based in Warwick as the upper-tier authority. Between 1875 and 1974 Leamington was a municipal borough . As part of the 1974 local government reform it was merged with Warwick , Kenilworth and Whitnash , and surrounding rural areas into
2760-624: Is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire , England. Originally a small village called Leamington Priors , it grew into a spa town in the 18th century following the popularisation of its water which was reputed to have medicinal qualities. In the 19th century, the town experienced one of the most rapid expansions in England. It is named after the River Leam , which flows through the town. The town contains especially fine ensembles of Regency architecture , particularly in parts of
2875-461: Is adjoined to the north-east. Just outside the town lie the villages of Old Milverton to the north and Radford Semele 2.5 miles (4 km) to the east. Leamington has several suburbs; the town has encompassed the former village of Lillington , directly to the north of the town centre. Other suburbs include Milverton to the northwest, Campion Hills to the east, and Sydenham the east. The rapidly expanding Heathcote (or "Warwick Gates") district to
2990-669: Is also home to two national educational charities – The Smallpeice Trust and The Arkwright Scholarships Trust . They specialise in making young people aware of how STEM fields studied in school can lead to fulfilling and exciting careers in science and engineering sectors of industry. Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum is located in the Royal Pump Rooms, on the Parade. It holds a collection of over 12,000 objects, including fine and decorative arts, as well as items relating to local and social history. It provides exhibitions in
3105-587: Is provided by local bands in a variety of venues. In December 2005 the band Nizlopi from Leamington, reached Number 1 in the UK Singles Chart with "JCB" . The Woodbine Street Recording Studios has been used by several well-known music acts such as Paul Weller , Ocean Colour Scene , Felt , The Specials , and local band The Shapes , whose single "Batman in the Launderette" charted first in 1979. Classical music concerts are organised throughout
3220-735: Is the town's local newspaper. Daimler Company The Daimler Company Limited ( / ˈ d eɪ m l ər / DAYM -lər ), before 1910 known as the Daimler Motor Company Limited , was an independent British motor vehicle manufacturer founded in London by H. J. Lawson in 1896, which set up its manufacturing base in Coventry . The company bought the right to the use of the Daimler name simultaneously from Gottlieb Daimler and Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft of Cannstatt , Germany. After early financial difficulty and
3335-645: The 2005 general election , where James Plaskitt won with a majority of just 266 votes. In the 2010 general election the seat returned to the Conservative Party, with Chris White winning the seat by 3,513 votes. White remained the MP until the 2017 general election , when the seat was won by Matt Western of the Labour Party with a narrow majority, he retained his seat at the 2019 general election with his majority reduced from 1,206 to 789, and again at
3450-580: The 2024 election with a greatly increased majority of 12,412. Buildings in the town include a variety of Georgian and early Victorian architecture , and listed buildings such as the Grade II listed Lansdowne Crescent in neo-classical style, designed by William Thomas between 1835 and 1838. Amongst the Anglican churches in Leamington is the Gothic parish church All Saints' Church , and St John
3565-451: The Austin 7 . When the fashion for fabric bodies declined, the business with Austin went but was replaced by orders from Hillman , Humber , Standard and Lanchester . In 1929, the company went public. The main business was now with Daimler and Lanchester, making the bodies for the cheaper range of cars with, confusingly, Arthur Mulliner of Northampton making the up-market models. Alvis
Mulliners (Birmingham) - Misplaced Pages Continue
3680-489: The London Borough of Havering as a setting for part of his outstanding collections of English furniture and English pottery. H H Mulliner's carriage building business, now part of Cammell Laird, built a few bodies for Daimler before it was decided the future lay in making relatively large production runs for motor companies that did not have their own facilities. An early contract was gained from Calthorpe , then
3795-540: The Parade , Clarendon Square and Lansdowne Circus. The town also contains several large public parks, such as Jephson Gardens , the Royal Pump Room Gardens and Victoria Park . Although originally founded around its spa industry, Leamington today has developed into a centre for retail, and digital industries, which has gained it the moniker "silicon spa". In 2023 The Sunday Times named Leamington as
3910-494: The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders – founded by Simms – since 1907. However the merger was not a great success. By 1913 Daimler had a workforce of 5,000 workers which made only 1,000 vehicles a year. In 1911 Daimler had plans to create The Premier Motor Omnibus Company (running Daimler buses) and appoint Frank Searle (ex London General Omnibus Company ) as the managing director. However plans had to be scrapped at
4025-537: The Spa Centre and the amateur The Loft , with outdoor summer productions in Jephson Gardens. Leamington also has two cinemas: the Spa Centre and a multiplex. There are a number of sports clubs and leisure facilities in Leamington Spa, including the oldest purpose built Real Tennis court in the world at Leamington Tennis Court Club, the football club Leamington F.C. , a disc golf course Quarry Park ,
4140-467: The parliamentary constituency of Warwick and Leamington . From the 1997 general election until the 2010 general election the constituency was represented in parliament by James Plaskitt of the Labour Party ; until then this had been a Conservative safe seat , counting former British prime minister Anthony Eden among its Members of Parliament (MPs). The seat became highly marginal at
4255-471: The 1909 Dewar Trophy . Sales outran the works' ability to supply. Daimler's sleeve valve engines idle silently but they left a slight haze of oil smoke trailing behind them. These engines consumed oil at a rate of up to an Imperial gallon every 450 miles, oil being needed to lubricate the sleeves particularly when cold. However, by the standards of their day they required very little maintenance. Daimler kept their silent sleeve-valve engines until
4370-513: The 1950s after being supplanted by Rolls-Royce . Daimler occasionally used alternative technology: the Daimler-Knight engine which it further developed in the early twentieth century and used from 1909 to 1935, the worm gear final drive fitted from 1909 until after the Second World War, and their patented fluid flywheel used in conjunction with a Wilson preselector gearbox from 1930 to the mid-1950s. Daimler tried to widen its appeal in
4485-417: The 1950s with a line of smaller cars at one end and opulent show cars at the other, stopped making Lanchesters, had a highly publicised removal of their chairman from the board, and developed and sold a sports car and a high-performance luxury saloon and limousine. BSA sold Daimler to Jaguar Cars in 1960, and Jaguar briefly continued Daimler's line adding a Daimler variant of its Mark II sports saloon . Jaguar
4600-657: The 36 hp tractor launched at the June 1911 Norwich Agricultural Show, and its larger 105 hp version, the Foster-Daimler tractor (a joint project with William Foster & Co. ) following in January 1912 (mainly destined for the South American market). Both used Daimler sleeve-valve engines, the larger 6-cylinder tractor having a small BSA starter engine. In January 1912, new commercial vehicles included
4715-431: The 4 ton truck) and the 12 foot wheelbase CC, both with 40 hp engines. With the onset of WW1 CC chassis production was stopped and CB production was ramped up for trucks for the military. A half-ton delivery van was based on a 12 hp chassis similar to a car chassis. The railcar project utilised 2 of the large six-cylinder engines. Daimler had created a railcar in 1904, and though it went into service briefly it
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4830-527: The Baptist's Church . St Mark's Church on Rugby Road was designed by George Gilbert Scott Jr. in 1879. It is a Gothic revival design, in red brick with stone dressings. It was endowed by the Carus-Wilson family, in memory of Frances Carus-Wilson (d.1872), wife of Sir Trevor Wheler . There is a Roman Catholic church, St Peter's Church , two United Reformed churches ( one being in Lillington ),
4945-460: The Daimler marque in 2009 when the last X358 Daimler models were discontinued. The X351 Jaguar XJ took its place and there was no Daimler variant. Jaguar Cars remained in its ownership, and from 2000 accompanied by Land Rover , until they sold both Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata Motors in 2008, who formed Jaguar Land Rover as a subsidiary holding company for them. In 2013, Jaguar Cars was merged with Land Rover to form Jaguar Land Rover Limited, and
5060-597: The Daimler patents. That month, Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft lent Simms a motorboat with a 2 hp engine and an extra engine. In June 1891 Simms had set up a London office at 49 Leadenhall Street and founded Simms & Co consulting engineers. In May 1892, the motorboat, which Simms had named Cannstatt , began running on the River Thames from Putney . After demonstrating a motor launch to The Honourable Evelyn Ellis , Simms's motor launch business grew rapidly, but became endangered when solicitor Alfred Hendriks
5175-507: The Daimler showrooms at 27 Pall Mall, naming the business Stratton-Instone. Stratton died in July 1929 after a brief illness. His successors and Instone bought out Daimler's interest in 1930 and renamed the business Stratstone Limited. The following summer the future King Edward VIII rented Stratton's house at Sunningdale from his widow. Every British monarch from Edward VII to Elizabeth II has been driven in Daimler limousines. In 1950, after
5290-496: The King's High School for Girls , Warwick's twin school and Princethorpe College , a mixed independent school in the nearby village of Princethorpe . Leamington is the location of the first of Warwickshire College 's six sites, and additionally another site is located just outside the town. The closest higher education institutions are the University of Warwick , in southwestern Coventry, and Coventry University . Leamington
5405-626: The Leamington Shopping Park (formerly The Shires Retail Park ), even though it sits within the boundaries of Warwick . It opened in 1989. Tourism was initially driven by the spring waters. The arrival of the Warwick and Napton Canal (later amalgamated into the Grand Union Canal ) officially opened in 1799 as the primary means of cargo transport and led to growth in other industries until rail gradually took over in
5520-820: The OWB successor, the OB chassis. Vauxhall dealers also ordered bodies direct to Mulliners and the body was built until 1950, of which many were exported, some to oil companies in the Middle East and South America . In the 1950s they secured large contracts for utilitarian bus bodies for the three armed services and government agencies (on the Bedford OB and later Bedford SB and Bedford SBG chassis) and also some for some municipal bus operators, such as Douglas, IOM who, in 1957, had bodies built on Guy Otter chassis, at least one surviving into preservation. One of its last efforts
5635-549: The Prince of Wales, later Edward VII , was given a ride on a Daimler by John Douglas-Scott-Montagu later known as Lord Montagu of Beaulieu. Scott-Montagu, as a member of parliament, also drove a Daimler into the yard of the Palace of Westminster , the first motorised vehicle to be driven there. Daimler had sold the Prince of Wales a mail phaeton in early 1900. In 1902, upon buying another Daimler, King Edward VII awarded Daimler
5750-720: The Thames where the Thames Electric and Steam Launch Company, owned by Andrew Pears of Pears Soap fame, had been making electrically powered motor launches, were purchased to be used to service Daimler-powered motor launches. Investor Harry John Lawson had set out to use the British Motor Syndicate to monopolise motor car production in Britain by taking over every patent he could. As part of this goal, Lawson approached Simms on 15 October 1895, seeking
5865-492: The Trusty Oil Engine Works, a company in receivership whose six-acre site at Cheltenham included a foundry, a machine shop, and testing facilities. Simms recommended buying the works immediately since, with ready facilities and the availability of skilled workers, they could start up in a very short time. Instead, at the first statutory meeting of the company, held while Simms was overseas, Lawson persuaded
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#17327879544405980-471: The Warwick District, which has its offices in Leamington. Since the 2023 elections , Warwick District Council has been run by a coalition of the Labour Party and Green Party , it was previously run by a Conservative -led minority administration. In 2002 Leamington Spa became a civil parish and gained a new Town (parish) Council , as the most local tier of government. Leamington is part of
6095-612: The annual National Lawn Bowls Championships . The town has several parks and gardens, including the Jephson Gardens , close to the Royal Pump Rooms and next to the River Leam. These were seriously damaged in the floods of 1998, but have been restored and improved with funding from the National Lottery . The other side of the River Leam, on Priory Terrace features the "Elephant Walk" 19th-century slipway down to
6210-584: The best place to live in the Midlands . In the 2021 census Leamington had a population of 50,923. Leamington is adjoined with the neighbouring towns of Warwick and Whitnash , and the village of Cubbington ; together these form a conurbation known as the "Royal Leamington Spa Built-up area" which in 2011 had a population of 95,172. Leamington lies around 9 miles (14 km) south of Coventry , 20 miles (32 km) south-east of Birmingham , and 81 miles (130 km) north-west of London . Leamington
6325-465: The board to buy a disused four-storey cotton mill in Coventry which was owned by Lawson's associate Ernest Terah Hooley . Despite Simms' later protest and pleas to sell the mill and buy the Trusty Oil Engine Works, Daimler stayed with the mill as the site of Britain's first automobile factory. Delayed delivery of machines kept the factory unfinished throughout 1896 and into 1897. During 1896 Daimler sold imported cars from companies for which Lawson held
6440-545: The car. One of the passengers fractured his skull in the accident and died in hospital three days later. Under an agreement dated 22 September 1910 the shareholders of The Daimler Motor Company Limited "merged their holdings with those of the Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA) group of companies," receiving five BSA shares in exchange for four ordinary Daimler shares and £1 5s plus accrued dividend for each £1 preference share . This deal
6555-423: The chairmanship of Sir Edward Jenkinson, Daimler hired American electrical engineer Percy Martin as works manager and socialite Undecimus Stratton as the head of the London depot, and promoted Ernest Instone to general manager. Jenkinson was succeeded in 1906 by Edward Manville , a consulting electrical engineer. Known as Britain's oldest car manufacturers, Daimler was first associated with royalty in 1898 when
6670-581: The coach and carriage making part of his business to motor vehicle bodies and was then employing 200. Used as well as new carriages were sold from the Mulliner showrooms in Broad Street, Birmingham , and H H Mulliner was the first to offer insurance of his carriages against accidents. Meanwhile continuing with scientific instruments he began producing in Birmingham with F. Wigley, tools for making
6785-536: The combustion chamber in which the piston travels." The Royal Automobile Club held a special meeting to discuss the new engine, still silent but no longer "Wholly Knight". The Autocar reported on "its extraordinary combination of silence, flexibility and power." Daimler stopped making poppet-valve engines altogether. Under the observation of the Royal Automobile Club (RAC), two Daimler sleeve-valve engines were put through severe bench, road, and track tests and, upon being dismantled, showed no visible wear, earning Daimler
6900-460: The company sold their launch works at Eel Pie Island at a loss of £700 or more. Ongoing difficulties with the Great Horseless Carriage Company and the British Motor Syndicate caused Lawson to resign from Daimler's board on 7 October 1897. He was replaced as chairman by Henry Sturmey , who at the time was five days into a motor tour in his personal Daimler from John O'Groats to Land's End . On arriving at Land's End on 19 October, Sturmey became
7015-439: The condition that Daimler and Maybach rejoined DMG. This was agreed in November 1895 and the Daimler-Maybach car business re-merged with DMG's. Daimler was appointed DMG's General Inspector and Maybach chief Technical Director. At the same time Simms became a director of DMG but did not become a director of the London company. According to Gustav Vischer, DMG's business manager at the time, Simms getting Daimler to return to DMG
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#17327879544407130-559: The end of 1960, when Standard-Triumph International closed it down. Henry Mulliner (1827-1887) of Leamington Spa , second son of Francis Mulliner (1789-1841) of Leamington Spa and Northampton , had six sons and six daughters. Henry published his book Carriage Builder's Tour in America in Leamington in 1883. Henry's Leamington Spa coach building business in Bedford Street and The Parade later had its carriage works in Packington Square and showroom in Chapel Street. Henry's second son Arthur Felton Mulliner (1859-1946) on Henry's death took over
7245-416: The family's Northampton business . Henry's third son, Herbert Hall Mulliner (1861-1924), in the light of the decline in quality of the Spa's visitors moved in 1885 to Birmingham . Following his father's death in November 1887 and consequent rearrangement of family ownership he made his home in Rugby and took up other interests including in 1895 the manufacture of scientific instruments. In 1897 he converted
7360-412: The first railway station at the current location was opened. As the popularity of spa resorts declined towards the end of the 19th century, the focus of Leamington's economy shifted towards becoming a popular place of residence for retired people and for members of the middle class , many of whom relocated from Coventry and Birmingham . Its well off residents led to the development of Leamington as
7475-438: The first person to make that journey in a motor car. Gottlieb Daimler resigned from the board of the Daimler Motor Company in July 1898 having never attended a board meeting. Sturmey opposed the appointment of a proposed successor who, according to Sturmey, held no shares and knew nothing about the automobile business. A committee was brought in to investigate the activities of the board and the company. The committee summed up
7590-471: The front of the car, four-speed gearbox and chain drive to the rear wheels. Because of Daimler's financial difficulty in July 1897 Daimler began asking Lawson's Great Horseless Carriage Company to settle its accounts with them. In the same month, they refused to send working drawings of their 4 hp motor frame to DMG in Canstatt. Lack of co-operation with the Canstatt firm caused Simms to resign as Daimler's consulting engineer that month. Also in July 1897,
7705-498: The hope of improving their order book for large naval guns. He was asked to tender his resignation from Cammell Laird's board and it was accepted. However he received a settlement of £100,000 which was in addition to the payment of £142,566 for the shares on the merger of the businesses in 1903. Among H H Mulliner's benefactions were gifts to the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1913 and the purchase in 1920 and "complete modernisation at considerable expense" of Rainham Hall built 1729 in
7820-507: The last moment, and instead the Daimler managing director, Percy Martin , created the Daimler commercial division, with Frank Searle as its head. Daimler had been involved with various commercial vehicle designs for some time, and this brought vans, trucks, buses, tractors and railcars under the same division head. All vehicles used the Daimler sleeve-valve petrol engines, many using the 105 hp 15.9 L sleeve-valve straight-six engine . New product announcements followed rapidly, with
7935-414: The late 1920s AEC and Daimler commercial division formed the Associated Daimler Company to build commercial vehicles. The association was dissolved in 1928 with each company retaining manufacture of its original products. By 1914 Daimlers were used by royal families including those of Great Britain, Germany, Russia, Sweden, Japan, Spain, and Greece; "its list of owners among the British nobility read like
8050-578: The licences. Cannstatt supplied engine parts but the delivery of working drawings were delayed for months. Four experimental cars were built in Coventry and a Panhard van was dismantled and reverse engineered . Some Daimler engines, with details redesigned by works manager J. S. Critchley , were also made in 1896. The first car left the works in January 1897, fitted with a Panhard engine, followed in March by Daimler-engined cars. The first Coventry Daimler-engined product made its maiden run in March 1897. By mid-year they were producing three of their own cars
8165-443: The list of customers. Standard-Triumph had, by then, a shortage of body-building capacity and this led them to buy the company in 1958, by which time Mulliners were building 700 car bodies each week. On 7 December 1960, a shock announcement by Standard-Triumph International, which was about to be sold to prosperous trucks and buses manufacturer Leyland Motors Limited , revealed that the factory would close. "Mulliners Limited, one of
8280-464: The management of the business as being inefficient and not energetic and suggested that it be reorganised and run by a paid managing director. When Evelyn Ellis and another board member did not run for re-election, they were replaced by E. H. Bayley and Edward Jenkinson, with Bayley replacing Sturmey as chairman. Sturmey resigned in May 1899 after Bayley and Jenkinson had reorganised the business. Simms, as
8395-497: The mid 19th century, The canal supplied coal to the gasworks on Tachbrook Road, providing gas to light the town from 1835. Pig iron , coke and limestone were delivered by canal, allowing a number of foundries to be established in Leamington, specialising in cast iron stoves . Today the Eagle Foundry, dating from at least 1851, continues to manufacture Rangemaster Aga stoves. The Imperial Foundry, dating from around 1925,
8510-594: The mid-1930s. The change to poppet valves began with the Fifteen of 1933. A Daimler 6 hp was involved in the first motor accident in the UK to be recorded as having involved the death of the driver . A young engineer was killed in 1899 when the rim of a rear wheel of the car he was driving collapsed under heavy braking in a turn on a sloping road in Harrow on the Hill . The driver and his four passengers were thrown from
8625-522: The more complicated parts of ordnance and they formed companies: Mulliner Wigley Company Limited formed 1895 and Wigley-Mulliner Engineering Company Limited formed 1897. In April 1899 he married. The demands of the South African War led to major developments and the scene of operation was moved to Coventry to a site of some sixty acres. All the companies were amalgamated with Charles Cammell & Co Limited. In 1903 these companies merged into
8740-416: The new company, all the former partners would have to agree to the transfer. By this time, Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach had withdrawn from Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft's business to concentrate on cars and engines for them. Simms offered to pay DMG £17,500 for the transfer and for a licence for Daimler and Maybach's Phénix engine, which DMG did not own. Simms therefore insisted that the transfer be on
8855-412: The newly blended armaments and shipbuilding business, Cammell Laird , of Birkenhead and H H Mulliner joined their main board. The ordnance operation became Coventry Ordnance Works and was separated out and jointly owned by Cammell Laird, Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company of Glasgow and John Brown & Company of Clydebank with Mulliner as managing director, Wigley was responsible for
8970-419: The next day. The Daimler Motor Company Limited bought The Daimler Motor Syndicate Limited from Lawson's British Motor Syndicate as a going concern. Simms was appointed consulting engineer to the new business but was not to be on the board of directors, possibly because he had become a director of the Cannstatt firm. One of the duties assigned to Simms was to find a suitable location for the factory. Simms found
9085-456: The oldest body firms in the motor trade, employs about 800 workers having recently laid off some 750 as redundant because of a shortage of orders". Their products would "continue to be made by other Midlands factories within the S-TI group". Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa , commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply Leamington ( / ˈ l ɛ m ɪ ŋ t ən / ),
9200-487: The purpose and a major re-design and refinement of Knight's design took place in great secrecy. Knight's design was made a practical proposition. When unveiled in September 1908 the new engine caused a sensation. "Suffice it to say that mushroom valves, springs and cams, and many small parts, are swept away bodily, that we have an almost perfectly spherical explosion chamber, and a cast-iron sleeve or tube as that portion of
9315-547: The rear licence plate holder. Attracted by the possibilities of the "Silent Knight" engine Daimler's chairman contacted Charles Yale Knight in Chicago and Knight settled in England near Coventry in 1907. Daimler bought rights from Knight "for England and the colonies" and shared ownership of the European rights, in which it took 60%, with Minerva of Belgium. Daimler contracted Dr Frederick Lanchester as their consultant for
9430-655: The rediscovery of spa waters, which had been known in Roman times, and their rediscovery in 1784 by William Abbotts and Benjamin Satchwell led to their commercialisation, with invalids beginning to resort here in 1786. Six of the seven wells were drilled for; only the original spring at the site of the Aylesford Well, adjacent to the Parish Church, occurred naturally. The old village of Leamington Priors
9545-402: The right to arrange the public flotation of the proposed new company and to acquire a large shareholding for his British Motor Syndicate. Welcomed by Simms, the negotiations proceeded on the basis that this new company should acquire The Daimler Motor Syndicate Limited as a going concern, including the name and patent rights. In order that the Daimler licences could be transferred from Simms to
9660-908: The rights to the Daimler car brand were transferred to the newly formed British multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover . Engineer Frederick Richard Simms was supervising construction of an aerial cableway of his own design for the Bremen Exhibition in 1889 when he saw tiny railcars powered by Gottlieb Daimler's motors. Simms, who had been born to English parents in Hamburg and raised by them there, became friends with Daimler, an Anglophile who had worked from autumn 1861 to summer 1863 at Beyer, Peacock & Company in Gorton , Manchester . Simms introduced Daimler's motors to England in 1890 to power launches. In an agreement dated 18 February 1891, he obtained British and Empire rights for
9775-496: The river located near the suspension bridge in Jephson Gardens. It was specifically constructed so that circus elephants in winter quarters in Leamington could be watered. Other parks are the Mill Gardens on the opposite bank of the river to Jephson Gardens, Victoria Park , the Royal Pump Room Gardens , The Dell and Newbold Comyn which includes the nature reserves Welches Meadow and Leam Valley. The Leamington Observer
9890-573: The same meeting Simms produced the first licence to operate a car under the Daimler patents. It was for a 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 hp Panhard & Levassor that had been bought in France by The Honourable Evelyn Ellis, who had three Daimler motor launches moored by his home at Datchet . On 3 July, after Ellis bought the licence, the car was landed at Southampton and driven by Ellis to Micheldever near Winchester where Ellis met Simms and they drove together to Datchet. Ellis later drove it on to Malvern. This
10005-517: The southwest, though often referred to as part of Leamington, actually lies mainly within the boundaries of Warwick, with parts in Whitnash and the parish of Bishop's Tachbrook. The main road running through the town centre is the Parade (called Lillington Lane until 1860). This shopping street contains high street chains and The Royal Priors shopping mall. Leamington Spa falls under three tiers of local government, county, district and parish: it
10120-609: The standard for all manufacturers instructing RAF mechanics. Having its own body shop, Daimler had the woodworking ability to build complete aircraft. By the end of 1914, they had built 100 units of the Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2c . These were followed by the BE12 and RE8 . Daimler purchased an open field beside their Radford factory, cleared the site, and made it available to the Government, who turned it into
10235-461: The surrounding area, known as Silicon Spa, is a significant global centre for the video game industry , with a higher than average proportion of digital media companies involved in games development, digital design and publishing, and over a thousand employed directly in game development. Companies based in or around the town include Third Kind Games, Super Spline Studios, Lab42, Sumo Leamington, Caperfly, Widgit Software, DNA Interactive, Fish in
10350-488: The technical side. A special article detailed the background of the origins of H H Mulliner's involvement in the ordnance works in a supplement to The Times 9 June 1909. The main workshop at the Coventry Ordnance works was claimed by The Times in 1909 to cover a greater area under its single (110 feet to the apex) roof than any other factory in the country. The travelling cranes were of 110 tons capacity. It
10465-411: The town's waters in the 19th century led to the town's initial growth, making tourism Leamington's primary industry in the 19th century. In the 1950s, a lights festival held in Jephson Gardens drew large crowds. In the town centre there are a variety of shops from high street chains to independent retailers, plus an indoor shopping centre, The Royal Priors . There is an out of town retail park called
10580-459: The town. Spa water can still be sampled outside the building. Leamington became a popular spa resort attracting the wealthy and famous, with numerous Georgian townhouses to accommodate visitors. Construction of what is now the Parade began in sections from 1808, the Regent Hotel in 1818, a town hall in 1830. and the Jephson Gardens in 1834. In 1838 Queen Victoria granted the town
10695-585: The visual arts and about the history of the town, supported by workshops, talks and other events. There are several local community centres. Since 1978, the annual free festival and celebration of alternative culture called the Peace Festival has been held in the Pump Room Gardens, however the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and not been held since 2019. Live music
10810-466: The west of Leamington, on the opposite bank of the Avon, with parts of Warwick (Myton and Heathcote) extending to the southwest and south of Leamington. Also contiguous with Leamington, directly to the south, with no natural border, is the smaller town of Whitnash . Whitnash and Warwick are themselves contiguous with new housing developments within the parish of Bishop's Tachbrook . The village of Cubbington
10925-521: The world was formed in 1872 by Major Henry Gem and Augurio Pereira who had started playing tennis in the garden of Pereira. It was located just behind the former Manor House Hotel and the modern rules of lawn tennis were drawn up in 1874 in Leamington Tennis Club. During the Second World War , Leamington was bombed a number of times during The Blitz ; although this caused substantial damage it caused relatively few casualties. The town
11040-714: The year in the Leamington and Warwick area, including the International String Quartet series at the Royal Pump Rooms. The Assembly , is a 1,000 capacity music venue attracting national and international artists, and was awarded 'Live Music Venue of the Year' at the 2010 Music Week Awards. and the Leamington Spa Competitive Festival for Music Dance and Drama is staged annually. Two theatres are located in Leamington:
11155-487: Was "no mean feat". The sale of Daimler Motor Syndicate to Lawson's interests was completed by the end of November 1895. The shareholders of the Syndicate had made a profit of two hundred per cent (200%) on their original investment. On 14 January 1896 Lawson incorporated The Daimler Motor Company Limited . A prospectus was issued on 15 February. The subscription lists opened on 17 February and closed, oversubscribed,
11270-640: Was a close link between the Associated Equipment Company (AEC) and Daimler commercial division. Daimler secured sole marketing rights for any AEC chassis other than those required by AEC's owner (the London General Omnibus Company), and in exchange AEC were to fit Daimler engines in their chassis. This agreement was made in 1912, and continued until AEC war service vehicles had to have the Tylor engine fitted. In
11385-539: Was added to the list of customers. During World War II they made bodies for military vehicles and troop carrying gliders. Military contracts for aircraft and vehicles were given to the company with the advent of World War II . These included the supply of single-deck austerity bus bodies for Bedford OWB chassis. Duple Coachbuilders designed and built a few bus bodies after the war, but were up to capacity in building their Duple Vista coach body, so they sub-contracted their bus body building to Mulliner in 1947, built on
11500-607: Was also home to the Free Czechoslovak Army; a memorial in the Jephson Gardens commemorates the bravery of Czechoslovak parachutists from Warwickshire. Leamington is divided by the River Leam running east to west, which is susceptible to flooding in extreme weather, with especially heavy floods in 1998 and 2007 . The Leam is a tributary of the River Avon , which it joins just to the west of Leamington. The ancient town of Warwick lies adjoined directly to
11615-410: Was also notable for the arrangement that machines were brought to the work instead of the work to the machines and several machines could work on the same piece at the same time. The cost of the oil alone to fill the well to harden the largest guns approached £5,000. In 1908-1909 there was a very public "Mulliner scandal" because H H Mulliner was shown to have embellished reports of German rearmament in
11730-431: Was also seen to drive herself in other smaller cars. Since 1904, the fluted top surface to the radiator grille has been Daimler's distinguishing feature. This motif developed from the heavily finned water-cooling tubes slung externally at the front of early cars. Later, a more conventional, vertical radiator had a heavily finned header tank. Eventually these fins were echoed on a protective grille shell and, even later, on
11845-401: Was an adventurous coach body appearing on a modified Guy Warrior chassis , registered 647BKL, displayed at the 1958 Commercial Motor Show and now preserved. Later that year, when Standard-Triumph purchased the company, it sold the bus-building division to Marshall’s of Cambridge . After the war, body-building for cars resumed with Aston Martin , Armstrong Siddeley and Triumph joining
11960-425: Was engineered by Dudley Docker , deputy-chairman of BSA, who was famous for previous successful business mergers. Daimler, a manufacturer of motor vehicles, had a payroll of 4,116 workmen and 418 staff immediately before the merger. BSA produced rifles, ammunition, military vehicles, bicycles, motorcycles and some BSA-branded cars . The chairman of the combined group was Edward Manville , who had been chairman of
12075-544: Was formed to build a new bath house north of the River Leam. A new saline spring was found on land close to the river, belonging to Bertie Greatheed , a wealthy plantation owner and landowner from Guy's Cliffe , and a member of the syndicate. In 1814, the Royal Pump Rooms and Baths were opened on the site, designed by C.S. Smith, who also designed The Regent Hotel and the Upper Assembly Rooms in
12190-457: Was found to have been illegally taking money from the company. Hendriks severed his connections with Simms & Co. in February 1893. Simms' Daimler-related work was later moved into a new company, The Daimler Motor Syndicate Limited, which was formed on 26 May 1893. Following the success of Daimler-powered Peugeots and Panhards at the 1894 Paris–Rouen competition , Simms decided to open
12305-399: Was hardly a success. The new project in 1911 was of advanced design with the drive engines charging accumulators which could be used to provide a power boost, or to drive the vehicle in the event of engine failure. The bodywork was completed in 1913. The war interrupted the testing though it fared well, although it wasn't a commercial success and in 1921 the railcar project was dropped. There
12420-509: Was on the southern bank of the River Leam, and early development was based around this. During the early 19th century, developers began concentrating the town's expansion on the land north of the river. This resulted in the Georgian centre of New Town with the Leam flowing between the two. By 1810, the town's existing bath houses could not cope with the increasing visitor numbers, and a syndicate
12535-478: Was originally a small village known as Leamington Priors . Its name came from Anglo-Saxon Leman-tūn or Lemen-tūn = "farm on the River Leam ". It was first mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Lamintone . For 400 years, the settlement was under the control of Kenilworth Priory , from which the older suffix derived. Leamington began to develop as a town at the start of the 19th century, due to
12650-554: Was rapid; at the time of the first national census in 1801, Leamington had a population of just 315, by 1851 this had grown to 15,724, and by 1901, the population had reached 26,888. The London and North Western Railway opened the first railway line into Leamington; a branch line from Coventry in 1844, followed by a branch to Rugby in 1851. In 1852 the Great Western Railway 's main line between Birmingham, Oxford and London opened through Leamington, upon which
12765-515: Was reputed to be at the centre of England . At the 2011 census , there were 49,491 residents in Leamington in 22,098 households, and the median age of Leamington residents was 34. In terms of ethnicity: In terms of religion, 51.5% of Leamington residents identified as Christian , 32.1% said they had no religion , 7.5% did not state any religion, 5.1% were Sikh , 1.5% were Hindu , 1.3% were Muslim , 0.4% were Buddhists , 0.3% were Jewish and 0.5% were from another religion. The popularity of
12880-468: Was subsequently taken over by Ford , casting engine blocks until its closure in 2008. The prominent car parts manufacturer Automotive Products based in the south of the town grew from a small garage to occupy a large site. Throughout the 20th century, while tourism took a downturn, Automotive Products expanded and built a factory in the South of the town in 1928 that is still operative in 2009, although on
12995-779: Was the 80 hp Gnome Monosoupape rotary. With no drawings available to them, Daimler's Gnome engines were reverse-engineered from an engine delivered to them on 7 August 1914. Daimler later built the RAF 1 and 1a air-cooled V8s, the RAF 4 and 4a V12s, the Le Rhone rotary, and the Bentley BR2 rotary alongside other manufacturers. Production of RAF 4 engines gave Daimler experience in building V12 engines which would be appreciated when they later designed and built "Double-Six" V12 engines for their large cars. Daimler trained air force mechanics at its works and its training methods became
13110-457: Was the first long journey by motorcar in Britain. Simms later referred to the car as a "Daimler Motor Carriage". Later in 1895 Simms announced plans to form The Daimler Motor Company Limited and to build a brand-new factory, with delivery of raw materials by light rail , for 400 workmen making Daimler engines and motor carriages. Simms asked his friend Daimler to be consulting engineer to the new enterprise. Works premises at Eel Pie Island on
13225-534: Was then merged into the British Motor Corporation in 1966 and British Leyland in 1968. Under these companies, Daimler became an upscale trim level for Jaguar cars except for the 1968–1992 Daimler DS420 limousine, which had no Jaguar equivalent despite being fully Jaguar-based. When Jaguar Cars was split off from British Leyland in 1984, it retained the Daimler company and brand. Ford bought Jaguar Cars in 1990 and under Ford it stopped using
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