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Alex has spent a lifetime in the sewing industry and is considered one of the foremost experts of pioneering machines and their inventors. He has written extensively for trade magazines, radio, television, books and publications world wide.
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James Starley James Starley has fondly been remembered as the father of the British bicycle. However, along side the many inventions he made, like one of the first popular everyday bicycles, was his lesser know inventions such as his sewing machines.
James has a story almost as grand as Isaac Singer. Born in April 1831 in Albourne, Sussex, England, Just down the road from me. The son of a farmer, James as a young boy had big dreams and a bright star to follow. People will blind you with dates and figures, let me tell you a little about the genius and character of the man. He left home as a teenager, like Dick Whittington, to find his fortune on the streets of London. You have to remember that the Industrial Revolution was in full swing and a Sussex farm was no place for a budding inventor! It turned out to be a long trip for although he only lived 40 miles or so away it took 15 years, stopping of at Lewisham and getting married along the way! He had many adventures before he finally stepped over Old Father Thames into the heart of London. Can you imagine the first few nights away from home. Away from his family and friends sleeping where he could. A young boy all alone whose only comfort was his own belief in himself and his abilities. In the great city he found work with Josiah Turner after fixing his father-in-laws (John Penn) sewing machine, Penn knew Turner and forwarded his introduction. This was Starley's first venture into the sewing machine industry. Several jobs later, he found work at one of pioneering sewing machine concerns of Newton Wilson. Eventually stifled and with his star still burning bright he made his escape to start his own company. In June of 1861Taking several workers from Newton’s with him, and Josiah Turner, he headed north to Coventry where he knew he would find the skilled labour he needed. James now had a wife and the first of three children to support. Coventry was a centre of highly skilled clock and watch manufacturing and suffering from a depression in manufacturing. Starley was just what Coventry needed bright and forward thinking with an inventive genius. At first, while setting up his own company, he became foreman of the Coventry Sewing Machine Company. On seeing a French bicycle in 1868 Starley copied it. William Hill and Starley then set up Starley & Co at St Agnes Works Hales Street, Coventry. Here they continued from 1869 till 1873 with bicycle and sewing machine manufacture. In 1874 after his successful patent for the Starley Queen of Hearts he found another partner William Smith. The Smith & Starley partnership lasted until Starley's death in June of1881. Before long he had not only perfected his sewing machines but invented so many bicycle parts that the sewing machine company Holborn Viaduct was renamed from The Coventry Sewing Machine Company to The Coventry Machinists Co. By 1877 they were working out of Trafalgar Works in Crow Lane, Coventry. This allowed him to incorporate sewing machines, bicycles and other inventions. Within a very short time shop windows were full of more bicycles than sewing machines.
However, it was not James Starley who invented the first modern looking bicycle but his nephew John Kemp Starley.
John Starley had the brainwave of a chain drive geared to the rear wheel instead of the front-wheel drive of James' penny farthing. That new bicycle first appeared, as a Rover, in 1885, 4 years after James' death. J K Starley went on to produce the Rover which became synonymous with the famous car company that recently folded (the name is now owned by Ford).
J K Starley not to be confused with J Starley! Time The True Test Time The True Test was Starley's motto and put on a few of his exported machines in a central brass plaque. I have only ever seen one of these models. Now back to our story as we have skipped ahead a bit. In 1868 while James was busy earning a living making sewing machines he found a growing business repairing the boneshaker bicycles of the era. More and more bicycles came to his business for repair and it became obvious to the inventor that he could make and supply a better bike than what was on the market. He began building his own bicycles, namely the Penny Farthing called the Ariel and a tricycle. His novel development of differential gearing for his tricycles was a huge improvement when cornering and still used by most vehicles today! On the 20th of September 1873 Starley had his patent granted for the fabulous Queen of Hearts sewing machine. Patent No 3090. At his Trafalgar Works, for a short period, bicycles went hand in hand with sewing machines. This is where William Borthwick Smith & James Starley produced their amazing Queen of Hearts sewing machine one of the rarest sewing machines in the world today. Each of these hand-built machines were built to last. The company motto was, Time the True Test.
Said to be a young Princess Alexandra and her daughter on the bed of his best machine, the Queen of Hearts. The 1870’s saw James in his prime. Inventions boomed, as did his workforce. Sewing machines took a back seat to his bicycle business.
The small range of sewing machines he had produced were as unique as the man himself. They were The Little Europa sewing machine 1877-1884, Europa sewing machine No 2 & 3, 1875-1884, the Little Dorrit sewing machine, 1875-1877, and the amazing Queen of Hearts sewing machine, 1873-1878. So few of these machines remain that they are the most sought after of all collectible machines. Also Starley had something to do with the Godiva sewing machine, based on Lady Godiva, a Coventry legend. Her naked statue is still to be seen riding bare-back through the city shopping centre. This was in partnership with a Mr Sutton of whom I know absolutely nothing except he was possibly in partnership with James' son! His machines were advertised as everlasting and won medals in Britain, Austria, France and elsewhere. They were reliable and light but above all beautiful to look at. The castings alone were works of art. Influenced no doubt by his connections with France and Belgium where his main bicycle markets were.
Starley had agents all over Europe. London agents were G. E. Wright of New Broad Street. In Brussels it was R. B Turner of 82 Rue De Midi. The machines that Turner sold had his brass badge where the Princess Alexandra motif was in the centre. There was a retail premises in Bassinghall Street, London in 1875 and sold the first Queen of Hearts. The Belgium machines were also marked Time the True Test on the brass badge. These machines are now so rare that I know of only one to still exist, Did I tell you that... Don't worry it is my age! James' nephew, John Starley, went on to found the Rover Car Company and even Hillman, Singer and Swallow Cars were started by associates who worked with James. He seemed to encourage inventive genius in others.
At the Coventry Transport Museum, there is a fine collection of Starley Bicycles, vehicles and other machines on view and a monument to him stands in Coventry City. The Coventry Transport Museum has a wealth of information on James Starley and is a great way to spend a day if you are in the area. Also it is free entry! James Starley, although only 51, died a wealthy and respected man in the early summer of 1881. His children carried on with the bicycle business. His inventions are still in use today from the differential gearing, used in almost every moving vehicle, to hollow bicycle tubing and adjustable, alternating, spoked wheels. Not bad for the little farm boy from Sussex who had a dream and followed his star. Below you are looking at a beautiful work of art, the Starley Queen of Hearts. James Starley would be proud of his everlasting machine, it really did stand up to his motto and stood the true test of time.
Starley became famous for his inventions and fondly became known as the Father of the British Bicycle. His son's continued in the bicycle business for many years after his demise in 1885 at the Meteor Works in West Orchard. Hey, the business had nothing to do with sewing machines so now we must leave our great inventor for others to continue his story! I leave you with one strange fact: In Poland Rover had such an important hold on the bicycle industry that today all bicycles are still called rovers! The End Well that's it, I do hope you enjoyed my work. I spend countless hours researching and writing these pages and I love to hear from people so drop me a line and let me know what you thought: alexsussex@aol.com Fancy a good read: Ena Wilf & The One-Armed Machinist A brilliant slice of 1940's life: Spies & Spitfires
Fancy a funny, true story: Ena & the one-armed machinist |
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