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Westbury
United Kingdom
1949 Posts |
 Posted - 10/04/2017 : 11:54:16
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As a matter of interest, I wonder, in general terms,who were the types of people who bought MG sports cars in the thirties? Presumably they were not all RAF Officers!
Obviously in those days only the more wealthy among the population could have afforded any car let alone a sports car.
Has any research ever been conducted on the subject?
Any comments from members would be welcomed.
Chris. |
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Simon Johnston
United Kingdom
5999 Posts |
Posted - 10/04/2017 : 12:11:44
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My Auntie Gertie, who ran the family general goods shop in a small County Fermanagh village bought her young brother (my father) his J2 when he graduated from university. (She also bought it a second time - for me this time, nearly forty years later when I found it in England.)
Looking at the sales of Triple-M cars in Northern Ireland (which were all sold through one dealer, Victor Ltd) many of the buyers were from the linen industry or shipbuilding, so yes, quite wealthy, but quite a few seemed to have been professionals, e.g. doctors, engineers (like my father), etc., or else in the motor trade.
Simon J
J3437 |
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correlejco
United Kingdom
251 Posts |
Posted - 10/04/2017 : 21:14:46
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And some industrialists - Oliver Lucas, grandson of Joseph, was running the Lucas empire in 1934 when he bought an MG Magnette. He went on to become one of the spearheads for the British motor industry's re-roling as armaments manufacturers on the outbreak of WWII.
The car was NA0492 and I'm pleased to be the current custodian of this minor piece of MG and British history.
John |
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DickMorbey
United Kingdom
3672 Posts |
Posted - 11/04/2017 : 08:57:21
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Our 2012 Yearbook carried an article by our President Mike Allison 'The way they were built. A review of Triple-M cars, their customers and their problems' which gives an insight into this question...
Dick Morbey
PA/PB 0743
Frieth, Oxon, UK |
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DDMDSN
New Zealand
329 Posts |
Posted - 11/04/2017 : 09:42:46
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Lots of interesting histories and first owners I bet.
Ownership papers on my PB here showed as 'new' in NZ.
Factory file (thanks!) proved otherwise and first owner a J.W.H. Bennett Royal Navy, only known address given as the Royal Navy training vessel H.M.S.Viceroy.
Further investigation suggests (no hard proof), my car came to NZ on a Navy vessel with him.
Donald
PB0759 |
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coracle
United Kingdom
1872 Posts |
Posted - 11/04/2017 : 10:48:38
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| My grandfather, who was an optician, had a J2 for fun and a sleeve valve Daimler for more salubrious transport during the 30's. |
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PeterL
United Kingdom
1711 Posts |
Posted - 11/04/2017 : 12:24:19
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Mr Google reveals:
Bristol, England (1) - Genes Reunited
www.genesreunited.co.nz/searchbna/results?memberlastsubclass...0...
Commander J. W. H. Bennett, Royal Navy, of 22, St. James's Scuare, Bath, married Miss Dinah Nugent, only daughter of Sir Guy Nugent, Bart, and Lady Nugent, ... this was 1950. Assume he was 40 then he was 23 in 1933, probably a lieutenant and an obvious J2 owner.
Copies of the Navy List are around, ask local library... They would tell you which ship he was on.
Viceroy appears to have been in reserve during the '30s. |
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sullivan
USA
423 Posts |
Posted - 12/04/2017 : 00:53:59
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A Doctor for PA 1024
PA 1024. First owner was Doctor WCD Berwick of Welshpool. Have found nothing on him to date?
Best,
Brian W Sullivan |
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Gerhard Maier
Germany
864 Posts |
Posted - 12/04/2017 : 16:58:18
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A Pub Owner for NA0468 (ND)
Mr. R.L.Fife, Waddon Hotel in Croydon bought new my ND in June 34
Gerhard |
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Vitesse
United Kingdom
234 Posts |
Posted - 12/04/2017 : 20:36:58
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quote:
Originally posted by PeterL
Mr Google reveals:
Bristol, England (1) - Genes Reunited
www.genesreunited.co.nz/searchbna/results?memberlastsubclass...0...
Commander J. W. H. Bennett, Royal Navy, of 22, St. James's Scuare, Bath, married Miss Dinah Nugent, only daughter of Sir Guy Nugent, Bart, and Lady Nugent, ... this was 1950. Assume he was 40 then he was 23 in 1933, probably a lieutenant and an obvious J2 owner.
Copies of the Navy List are around, ask local library... They would tell you which ship he was on.
Viceroy appears to have been in reserve during the '30s.
Captain John William Huyshe Bennett DSC. You can find all the details of his naval career here: http://www.unithistories.com/officers/RN_officersB3.html Career man - in spades! - finally retired in 1964 as Naval ADC to Her Majesty The Queen. |
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Vitesse
United Kingdom
234 Posts |
Posted - 12/04/2017 : 20:56:36
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quote:
Originally posted by sullivan
A Doctor for PA 1024
PA 1024. First owner was Doctor WCD Berwick of Welshpool. Have found nothing on him to date?
Best,
Brian W Sullivan
Can't find him, although someone with access to the 1939 Register might. However there are marriages for two Misses Berwick in Welshpool in the 1960s - one born nearby, the other apparently in Wolverhampton. But with different maternal maiden names - so not certain to be from the same father - and born 15 years apart.
Also found a William DC (not CD) Berwick, apparently living alone in Glasgow in 1945. |
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Malcolm Bailey
United Kingdom
301 Posts |
Posted - 12/04/2017 : 21:47:43
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My ND (NA0471) reg MG 3469 was bought by R M Archibald of 101 Avenue Walakoff, Paris and 4 Hanover Sq. London.
No trace on google or others
Malcolm |
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sullivan
USA
423 Posts |
Posted - 13/04/2017 : 01:12:14
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PA 1024
Per the register sold by J.Hopley and son of Whitchurch Shropshire to DR W C D Barwick / (Berwick)of Welshpool Montgomeryshire. So the Register thought the name to be Barwick however reading the signature of the Dr. Looks to be Berwick. As we know Doctors tend to have poor penmanship....
Very grateful for any help finding anything about him.
Kindly
Brian W Sullivan |
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Max Headroom
United Kingdom
292 Posts |
Posted - 13/04/2017 : 15:56:47
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The son of a gentleman farmer at Grange Farm in Newton Solney bought J2545 from PJ Evans in Birmingham.
Carl Upton was the man; I managed to trace him and found him alive and well and living near Guildford in the mid 1980s.
His story of coming into ownership of the brand-new J2 however was that he was, in his words, "Seeing a young Filly in the village whom had a wealthy aunt". The aunt clearly thought they would be getting married and left Carl £200 in her will!
He never married the girl nor did he have any intention to do so as he was about to go off to Birmingham University to study medicine. He took the J2 with him and found digs at 129 Soho Road in Handsworth.
He kept the MG for around 18 months but after engine problems he became disillusioned with it and swapped it for an SS.
He eventually became a high ranking medical officer in the Army.
When I met him, he was still practising as, in spite of his seniority, a consulting homoeopath having studied homoeopathy right from his early years in medicine.
________________________________________________________________________
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.
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Inside every older person is a younger person – wondering what the hell happened.
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Vitesse
United Kingdom
234 Posts |
Posted - 13/04/2017 : 19:10:22
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quote:
Originally posted by sullivan
PA 1024
Per the register sold by J.Hopley and son of Whitchurch Shropshire to DR W C D Barwick / (Berwick)of Welshpool Montgomeryshire. So the Register thought the name to be Barwick however reading the signature of the Dr. Looks to be Berwick. As we know Doctors tend to have poor penmanship....
Very grateful for any help finding anything about him.
Kindly
Brian W Sullivan
Brian - I've just checked the UK Medical Register 1859-1959 on Ancestry. No trace of a Doctor Berwick with any of those initials - singly or in combination - anywhere, let alone in Welshpool. So I'm wondering if he wasn't a medical man at all - maybe an academic? |
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MG Maverick
United Kingdom
1045 Posts |
Posted - 13/04/2017 : 19:44:19
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J4129 ( J2 ) Dudley Cottingham was a bank clerk.
CJD |
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