|
Interesting moody but very pixly old photo
showing Cecil Hepworth leaning on an old car, Hepworth being, one of the
founders of the British film industry. Can we advise the make of car? --
We have looked into Cecil Hepworth's cars on Help
Page 33 and Help
Page 174 and note that this is
the third car with same registration. Our Ariejan Bos confirms this is a
Scottish made car from Alexandria, near Glasgow, and that it is a cca 1906
Argyll Tourer. From size of bonnet probably the 16'20.
Noticeable from the photo is that the
car registration is BH7, - and BH7 is not the registration that ties in
with the age of the car. BH7 was issued at the turn of 1903 by Buckingham
County Council, - and not to Hepworth. From Nichola Young's excellent
doorstopper encyclopaedia "Car Number Classics" we learn that
this registration was issued to Charles Stapelton Pelham Clinton who lived
in Woodside House, Ammersham, Bucks, (now Woodrow High House, in which
during the Civil War Cromwell housed his wife and daughters). Charles
Clinton owned BH 5 which was a 1903 Prunel, and BH6 which was a 1903
Beaufort. Clinton was the grandson of the Duke of Newcastle, and had
property in Buckinghamshire and in Cork in Ireland, where family was not
popular. He was a Justice of the Peace at both places and also lived for a
time in USA and married an American woman. His next car was the BH7,
confirmed as being registered in November 1903 as a 5.5HP Oldsmobile
Runabout. This was made by the then largest automobile producer in the
United States. Clinton died in 1911. It is then documented that BH7
vehicle and registration came under new ownership in October 1904. Shown
below is an Oldsmobile of the period.
|
  |
|
To follow the full story of the next
reincarnation of BH7 it would be necessary to read our article on Help Page 174
which advises that BH7 registration is next found attached to a cca 1907 Riley
9HP which was owned by Cecil Hepworth and was used in his 1908 film "The
Dog Outwits a Kidnapper" featuring Rover the dog driving the car and
rescuing the child and returning to mother (actually Hepworth's dog Blair,
Hepworth's daughter and Hepworth's wife). It is also interesting to note that
Hepworth had used at least three other cars in his very early films, all not
having registrations, so all pre-1903. As the Riley car has a 'used number' we
cannot date it from the registration and are assuming it was registered soon
after manufacture which would have been 1906. This model of Riley was developed
in 1905 and was Riley's first venture into cars, and mass production of cars,
and was instigated by Riley's sons, - while Pa steadfastly made bicycles, - then
changing his mind 1907! Below left is the photo of Hepworth, in the Hepworth's
Riley 9HP car, in the film "The Dog Outwits the Kidnapper". Photo
right shows the dog Rover (Hepworth's Blair) driving Hepworth's daughter
Barbara. It would be our guess that Hepworth purchased the original car and
numberplate BH7 originally because it had both his surname letter H and his
daughter's christian name letter B. He was probably one of the originators of
the 'Cherished Number' fad that continues today, and was probably why he kept
the registration thereafter.
|
|
|
Without having access to official
registration records, we are assuming this is probably when the
registration passed to the Argyll. What confuses the issue is that the
Argyll is of a similar age of manufacture, this being cca 1906/7; only a
year or so apart. The Argyll is however of much more advanced design and
we would assume that by this time Hepworth is making money with his films
and can afford a bigger four-seater car after the two seater Riley. Like
the Riley, the Argyll has a 'used number' so we cannot date either from
the registration. Argyll was a Scottish make starting as Hozier
Engineering in 1899 Glasgow and by 1906 becoming successful and becoming
Scotland's biggest car manufacturer. This emboldened a move to a grand
purpose-built new factory in nearby Alexandria in 1906. (The building is
now a striking national historical monument). This did not stop the
company going into liquidation in 1908. It rebirthed in 1910 with a new
range of cars but despite this was effectively gone by WW1. The 'dating
details' of the car on the photo are not at all clear in but it does seem
to have a longish bonnet which suggests it could well be their popular
16'20 or the 14'16 Tourer made during the 1905 to 1908 period. The Argyll
name was resurrected in 1983 on the Argyll Turbo GT 160mph supercar, but
apparently only one was made. The BH7 registration also seem not to have
survived as Nick Young's Encyclopedia advises ' ... Not currently
registered to a vehicle'.
We have been advised that there is no date to the Argyll photo so we
cannot take a guess at the year of the purchase of the Argyll. We know
that the 'Dog' film was made in 1908, which suggests the Argyll came
after, say, about 1909, when it would have been a couple of years old.
Below is the photo of Cecil Hepworth with the Argyll when cleaned up.
|
|
|
|
Help Pages dealing with Cecil
Hepworth:
Help
Page 33
Help
Page 174
Help
Page 187
Help
Page 204
|
Go to Recent Venues Page
PICTURE GALLERY INDEX
|
