PENSHURST MOTORING PIONEERSBy Malcolm Grant1.

PENSHURST MOTORING PIONEERS
By Malcolm Grant

1. Introduction
These motoring details are the very earliest I have been able to locate in a personal search for "motor genealogy." It has been a quest of mine for over thirty years, to seek out as much information as possible on the motor cars and motor cycles from those times pre-World War One. I have concentrated specifically on those vehicles [and their owners] from 1910 when motor registration was "imposed" on all Victorian motor vehicle owners. My statement of "imposed" relates to having to pay a registration fee etc., and of course many years later we had the "arrival" of 3rd Party Insurance. It is not my íntentìon to go into a great harangue about how much it cost for owners to register their motor vehicles, I am personally sure that each and everv one of us would have some "tale to tell" of príce rises, taxes and governmental charges. Indeed if this story were to be truthfully told we would probably all take our number plates from our cars and return very quickly to public transport as the worry of adding up those monetary costs would no doubt horrify us all ! So it is very quickly back to where many of us in the "Old M.otor Car Movement" concentrate our efforts; let's quietly forget those charges, taxes and costs and immediately think of the arrival of --- "the first car which came into town" --- i.e. in this instance into Penshurst.
No doubt there would be manv stories of who had the first vehicle and today it generally relates to "someone who bought a 'T-Model' Ford. Alas, generally these recollections are wrong! Most of us seem to recall "grand-dad" saying he remembers
these cars coming to town in the 1920's and they "were the first" - but generally research shows "grand-dad" - or "Auntv Flo" were usually incorrect.

2. I 'm a Stranger in Town!

Well, yes, the first of perhaps many admissions, as Penshurst and that area covered by Mt Rouse Historical Society, is really to me, only a dot on the map or a vague memory of "having been there"," so what would I know or be able to say about the district? My answer is fairly simple: having researched and written about motoring history for so many years my memory allows me to be "refreshed" purely by referring to notes taken over decades and relating them to the area I wish to write about. Thus it comes to the point that months ago, accompanied by my wife Audrey - we arrived in Penshurst "to look at the old bluestone buildings" and to have a short break from driving. Looking around town was particularly interesting as there was an old motor garage - Schramm's! I immediately recalled that Roy Schramm had received V.A.C.C. (Victorian Automobile Chamber Commerce) "A-Grade Certificate No. 1." Well that alone was worth the effort of stopping in town. For years I have recorded as much early motoring information as possible, photographing old motor garages and similar premises. Despite the fact that Roy Schramm had only received his certificate in the late 1920's (date unverified as to this time I haven't gone back to my old notes to seek the information!); my pleasure was immense. It was later enhanced purely by a chance meeting with his daughter-in-law, Maureen; but all this is reminising and I must return in my metaphorical wanderings to 1910.

What was Penshurst like in 1910? Well my knowledge is NIL. My personal recollections are a few months old (apart from the original notes), and a small "Grocery Trade Directory" of 1908. Though here alone is a start. My list of early motorists from Penshurst, Caramut, Minhamite and Tabor, were checked. There were probably around six or eight motor cars in Penshurst in 1910 (and prior to W.W.1), three or four in Caramut and one maybe two in Minhamite. Who then were these owners; were they local squatters, land-holders, shopkeepers or contractors passing through? Why would anyone even want to know? Well I did and still do! Back to "who was who", and what is known of them as "early motorists?"

3. It's Time to Learn More

My notes tell me Charles Edward COLDHAM lived at "Blackwood" Penshurst and as I have stated he sold his car only a very short time after registering it; the buyer was another local, F. A. SWEETNAM whose only known address is Penshurst.*Who then was F. A. Sweetnam, what was his trade or calling*, what make of motor car was it that he bought?

Alas all this is "history" in many more ways than can be expressed here, for I do not know! There were of course other motor car owners, in nearby Caramut, Ernest de LITTLE of "Caramut House" had a Rolls Royce and a short time later he purchased a Talbot. Motor car makes may mean very little to many readers and what their owners did may also be of little interest but to a "motor genealogist" they mean quite a lot. Where did the purchase these cars; was there a motor garage in Penshurst, Caramut, or did they have to go to Hamilton for necessary repairs and maintenance?

Stanley HUTTON of "Eden" Penshurst: Mr Hutton was a local motor car owner, what did he do and what did he use his motor car for? Was it purely a "social" matter to own a "motor" in the days pre WW1 or were these people as reliant on motor vehicles as we are today? There are of course many social questions that can be asked. For instance, the Rolls Royce and Talbot motor vehicles in the stable of Ernest de Little at Caramut were looked after and tended to by none other than Harry Hawker. Harry who? you might ask. Yes, it was Harry Hawker than intrepid and knowledgeable engineer, motor mechanic and later airman of great reknown; the Harry Hawker who today is probably better known from his association with Hawker Siddeley Aircraft Corporation than as a chauffeur and mechanic for Ernest de Little.

Another Caramut resident was S. F. MANN who resided at "Lawreeny" - though what make of motor car he owned is unknown. Was it another Talbot and if so was it a single seater or double seat touring model? Stanley HUTTON, a slight mystery here as his first car was registered to his name at "Eden" Penshurst,but now my records tell me (presuming it was the same Stanley H.) that in late 1910 or even early 1911, he was living at "Cheviot Hills" Penshurst. Well maybe he wasn't living at either of these places, perhaps they were business premises? Luckily for me I have already admitted a distinct lack of local knowledge and thus can make statements such as this and wait for corrections?

(It's Time to Learn More.... contin.)

J. D. GUBBINS - another Penshurst resident, along with A. R. ROSS, whom I have dubbed as a possibility of being one of the partners in the butcher's business, he and R. W. POWLING were seemingly the last two to have bought cars prior to W.W.1. Yes, there could have been others but my notes don't show any more! So we come to more questions. If these car owners named, were all local residents, what make of vehicles did they drive and who serviced them? Surely not all had chauffeur / mechanics like Harry Hawker. And then again there were what has seemingly been overlooked - "the intrepid motor cyclists! ! !"Here I admit a real bias on my own part; as an avowed "veteran - vintage motor cyclist" myself, there is a fairshare of bias towards these "underdogs" of the early motoring world. Who then were Penshurst' s and districts motor cyclists? Again what make of machines did they ride and where did their purchases come from? Was there an "agent" for say Canada Cycle and Motor Works in Penshurst? How were the motor cyclists treated by local residents - and especially the police? Were they residents in as much as having been born there - or alternatively lived in the district for some time - or were they "passing through?" So we wonder and ask about Albert a'BECKETT, John Robertson CROSS, H. B. ARCHIBALD, W. H. HUDGSON and Jack PENNYQUICK.

(It's Time to Learn More... contin.)

Jack PENNYQUICK, well who could Jack be, he seems to have been a purchaser of more than one machine and could well have "local links." Outside of Penshurst Rev. O. NICHTERLEIN of Tabor - was another motorcycle rider. My mind tends to imagine Rev. O.N. astride his machine and riding off to minister at a local Lutheran congregation; an assumption based purely on his German sounding surname. Surely he wouldn't be one of the "wild ones?" And despite his affinity to aircraft [in later times! J Harry HAWKER can be said to have "pioneered" motorcycling locally as he built his own machine on the lathe and in the garage / stables / workshop of his employer. Harry was indeed a capable man and there exists to this day a photograph of the "Hawker" motorcycle; unfortunately it is a poor reproduction photo but one of great historical import, especially to people such as myself. Penshurst seems to have been quite a hive of motoring in the days I have outlined, if we are fortunate there may come ínformation and hopefully photographs? of some or all of these people mentioned. My thoughts of dusty streets with horse drawn carts, lorries and driving buggies may have to be expanded to imagine owners or drivers holding grimly onto reins as one of the motoring residents passed by either in his motor car or upon a motor cycle. Having no access to any old newspapers of the district has prevented me from seeking out many of the details enumerated on in this story; naturally I would love to learn more. One area of research is most definitely the local newspapers and if per chance there were any motor accidents then they would surely have been a subject of great importance. In conclusion I have to readily admit my scrìbbled notes have failed in many respects, particularly on makes of machines and moreso in who the owners were. Not all information is retrievable as all records from the old Motor Registration Branch have been destroyed and today the only way I have found to record that which has generally been lost is to write stories such as this. If anyone can assist further then we all benefit. If not, then there is really nothing further lost, just a gain for those of us interested in history and especially that which concerns early motoring.

Malcolm Grant , 16th October, 1999

*Ed.: Malcolm's question and our answer illustrate the value of articles such as Malcolm's, and his generosity in sharing his knowledge with us; indeed, we know both where F.A. Sweetnam lived, and that his house is still here. It is building No. 12 in our Historical Walk, and he was a local doctor ('click on' and follow this hyperlink).

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Wednesday, 19 January 2000