James Starley

My account of James Starley's early years as an engineer has been gleaned from a well known biography, however, I have not been able to independently verify some of the facts therein, so the reader should treat the following introduction with some caution.

Starley's first employment in the sewing machine trade was as a young engineer employed by the Newton Wilson Company. It was Josiah Turner, a director in the firm, who had given James the job.

Turner quickly became impressed with his abilities and solo designs, and soon persuaded James that they should leave Wilson's concern, and start their own manufacturing business.
An American named Salisbury was brought into the plan, for he was experienced in the sewing machine industry, and his overseas connections were seen as a bonus for the enterprise. The new venture was established in the Midland city of Coventry around 1861. We are also told the business managed to recruit several other highly talented men, namely Singer, Bayliss, Herbert and Hillman.

My own research has unearthed a few facts about some of the names mentioned above.
James Starley came from Albourne, Sussex. In the early 1870s he and his wife Jane, four years his senior, and family, resided in St. Johns Street, Coventry. They later relocated to Upper Well Street.
Josiah Turner hailed from London. At the time of the relocation to Coventry, he was aged 33. By the early 1870s he described himself as manager of a local machinist company, employing a workforce of just over 80. He was still noted as the Manager at the Coventry Machinists in 1875.
Singer probably indicates one George Singer from Dorset, later to become a major Coventry industrialist as a manufacturer of bicycles.
The name Bayliss almost certainly refers to Birmingham man Thomas Bayliss, who was recorded as a foreman at the Coventry Machinists. In 1874, he formed the successful Bayliss-Thomas Company, manufacturing bicycles and tricycles.
Hillman likewise refers to William Hillman from Lewisham, Kent, who was listed as a sewing machine manufacturer based in Coventry by 1871. In 1875 he went on to patent his own machine, which he manufactured in partnership with Leicester-born William H. Herbert, possibly the other recruit mentioned. This partnership went on to form the Premier Cycle Company.

Sewing machine patents in the name of Salisbury and Starley were sealed in 1861. It was one of these initial designs that led to the model known as the "European", the first to be produced by the new company of the same name.
The European Sewing Machine Company became a Limited concern on 15th June 1863, with records revealing that none of the aforementioned had a financial stake in the company.

Trademark claimed in use from 1869.

At this time, a model was marketed based on the design patented by James in 1868.
Also found in a couple of today's collections are machines whose upper frame is cast in the form of a lady's arm, together with "hand" design supports for the whole. These machines do not appear in any company literature or advertisement, but they do carry the Coventry Machinists' "European" trademark.
By 1870 James Starley and William Hillman had patented their own Penny-Farthing type of cycle, named "The Ariel". With confidence at a high, Starley broke away from the Coventry Machinists and formed Starley & Co. In 1871, Evesham-born William Borthwick Smith, a financial backer and noted as a watchmaker in Coventry at that time, joined forces with James, and the Smith & Starley company was formed.

Machines offered by Smith & Starley during the 1870s included the "Europa" treadle model, this being available in both domestic and light industrial forms. The machine was patented in 1871.
The highly decorative "Queen of Hearts", patented in 1873, was marketed in hand or treadle combination. A budget version of this machine, known as the "Little Europa", was one guinea cheaper - two distinct forms of this being found in today's collections.

Prosperity for the new owners was short lived, and the firm went into voluntary liquidation on 27th February 1879. Records reveal that the firm of Kelsey & Co. were their successors.

William Borthwick Smith, meanwhile, was later noted as residing in London and operating as a financial broker.

Biographical accounts suggest that at the time of his early death aged 51 in 1881, James was working with his three sons in a new company, Starley Brothers.

In historical terms, it is fair to say that James Starley is best remembered today for his cycle designs. Models such as the "Ariel", "Royal Salvo" and "Compressus" ensured his reputation as the father of the British cycle industry.

GD
Oct 2002
Revised April 1st 2005.