possse nolle nobile Wynkefelde the Saxon held honour and fee, ere William the Norman came over the sea. Ancient Suffolk England Rhyme SUMMER 2020 ISSUE VOL XXXVII NO 3 Wingfield Pioneers of Motor Manufacture By Ian Wingfield, WFS VP n my role as an elected Councillor for the London Borough of Southwark I occa- sionally have the pleasure (and surprise!) Iof meeting someone with the same surname. One such person is P. E. Wingfield who I met on a site visit concerning vehicle speed- ing and Heavy Goods Vehicle traffic along his residential road near London Bridge. William and four surviving In the process, he acquainted me with brothers Charles, Edward, the story of his great-grandfather, William Walter, and Ernest all became Wingfield, and the Wingfield Motor Com- engineers. William was an en- pany. Previous reference to the Wingfield 1920 Wingfield 23.8hp chassis terprising person and set up his Motor Company appeared in the WFS with Wingfield badge first company in the 1880s called Newsletter Spring 2005, and much of the the Rainbow Engineering Company man- detail for this piece is drawn from an article This brochure contained the Wingfield Mo- ufacturing cycles. In 1897 the company was in ‘The Automobile’ magazine from 1995 as tor Company logo-a circle comprised of a floated on the Stock Exchange called ‘The well as material supplied by both P. E. and field with hills in the background overlain Hastings and St Leonards Engineering Cycle Malcolm Wingfield of the Sussex branch. by a set of wings. Above these is mounted a and Motor Car Company Limited’. It appears that William Wingfield was scroll declaring ‘The Wingfield”. This company produced a range of cy- an engineer by profession with a very keen Although the Wingfield Motor Compa- cles such as the Wingfield Path racer and the interest in the developing motor industry ny started production in Dewsbury, William Wingfield Road racer built to high specifica- from its very beginnings. He founded the Wingfield had been born in Eastbourne, tions and at a retail cost of £26. Cycle racing Wingfield Motor Company in Dewsbury, Sussex in 1859 the son of George Wingfield was a popular pursuit and up to 8,000 people West Yorkshire, England and the first Wing- (born 1834) who worked as an engine driv- used to come and watch the race meetings in field car was proclaimed on November 17, er in a wood mill. George in turn had been Hastings and Bexhill. 1909 in ‘The Motor Trader’ magazine. The born in Hastings, Sussex to Peter Wingfield Bexhill is also the birthplace of motor Wingfield car itself had the outstanding fea- (born 1798) who was a local butcher. They racing in the United Kingdom sponsored ture of a circular radiator which was used by were connected to a long-established branch by Gilbert Sackville, 8th Earl De La Warr only a very few elite makers of automobiles of Sussex Wingfields who WFS Director “(US readers will probably know that the at that time. Barbara Cortino is also related to, together Delaware River-and the State of Dela- Just a year later the Wingfield Motor with the infamous pirate Captain Nicholas ware-were named for an earlier member of Company had moved to Norbury in south Wingfield, a forbear who was hanged at Ex- the De La Warr family and both names are London, some five miles east of Wimbledon, ecution Dock in Wapping, London in 1759. pronounced the same way.)” as advertised in first company brochure. Continued on next page page 2 wingfield family society wingfieldfamilysociety.org Wingfield Pioneers of Motor Manufacture Continued from previous page was left with creditors and no way to pay them. Therefore, on November 5, 1921 it was announced in the ‘Motor Commerce’ jour- nal that bankruptcy proceedings had begun against William Wingfield. At this time, it appears the Wingfield Motor Company had moved nearby to Kensington Avenue, Thornton Heath in south London. In addition, family tragedy had also struck. William’s son, Frederick Ernest Wingfield, worked for his father as a talent- ed mechanical draughtsman, as well as be- ing a gifted water-colourist and painter in his spare time. Unfortunately, Frederick Ernest Wingfield died in July 1919 from an internal haemorrhage leaving his young wife Minnie expecting their son Frederick Ernest junior who was subsequently born on November 10, 1919, and who in turn would have a son P. E. Wingfield. On hearing of Frederick Er- Wingfield Motor Company Workshop, Norbury nest senior’s death William Wingfield lost the power of speech with the shock of the It appears William and his family left In addition, the range of models includ- sad loss. William eventually died on March Hastings in 1900 and moved to Willesden in ing a large 25.6hp 4-cylinder 5-seater tour- 1, 1928. north-west London before moving to live in er complete for £540, and a 11.9hp 4-seater An interesting aside to this story is that Norbury. tourer complete for £300, supplemented by The prototype Wingfield car model had a 10.4hp 2-seater model with a 4-speed gear- an 18/23hp chassis, was 4-cylinder and had box in the rear axle chassis for £175. 815x105 wheels. Its main feature was a pat- Even after the First World War had ented tapering channel steel frame, straight started the range of Wingfield cars expanded sided and upswept at the rear to clear the rear during 1915 with two more 6-cylinder types: axle. It had three forward gears indicating a the first a 16.9hp and the second a 38.4hp. It quality production, an automatic carburettor appears production halted in 1916 in favour and the oil base chamber offered two days of contracts for war production. touring capacity. It sold for £350. Besides After the War, an advert appeared in ‘The the prototype model two other models were Motor’ magazine in 1919 listing a Wingfield offered. The largest of which was the 27hp coupé 15.9hp for £395, this was followed in 6-cylinder rated by the Royal Automobile 1920 with announcement of new models. Association (RAC) at 33hp, which had larg- In ‘The Motor Trader’ magazine of January er wheels 820x120. The smaller model was a 7, 1920 both a 23.8hp and 15.9hp 6-cylinder 12/15hp ‘RAC Special’ Wingfield chassis but Wingfield car were advertised for £800 and with a pair-cast 4-cylinder engine. They sold £550 respectively but for the chassis only. for £265 and £250, respectively. However, before this in 1912 the Wing- In 1914 ‘The Motor Car Red Book’list - field Motor Company had been bought by ed a 15.9hp 4-cylinder type, while in ‘The Cars and Motor Sundries Limited with the illustrated guide to new cars of 1914’ this address being Norbury. This proved to be a model was mentioned as being a 4-seater fatal mistake. William Wingfield had taken Frederick Ernest Wingfield Senior 1889-1919 open tourer with a 4-speed gear box. The payment in shares, but Cars and Motor Sun- selling price was £380 including hood and dries Limited went into liquidation around William Wingfield was a friend and associ- windscreen. This model was supplemented the start of the First World War. He then ate of Herbert Austin who founded one of by both a 23.8hp 6-cylinder type 4-5-seater started to trade in his own name again but the largest motor companies in the United complete for £535. due to a slump in business after the War he Kingdom-the Austin Motor Company. wingfieldfamilysociety.org page 3 Apparently, the French motor company Clément-Gladiator allowed Austin to make Dr. Jenna Wingfield, some of its models in England. The stroke 2020 UGA Cellular engine of 1909 18/24 Gladiator was the same as that of the 1909 Wingfield 18/23 at Biology Graduate 127mm, and the 1915 15.9hp Wingfield en- gine was identical to that of the 1913 15.9hp By Jim Wingfield, WFS Director Gladiator. So, did the Wingfield Motor Company t’s been a long time since Terr y and I have build Gladiators for Austin? We will nev- Ihad to share about our daughter Jenna’s er know for sure but curiously a surviving progress in her education. Over nine years photograph in Frederick Ernest junior wife’s ago she graduated from High School and papers of a machine shop has ‘Gladiator. Ro- started attending Christopher Newport Uni- man Rise’ written on the back. In Norbury versity (CNU), in Newport News, Virginia. a Roman Rise road is literally around the She graduated from CNU Summa Cum corner from the Wingfield Motor Company Laude with a BS in Cellular Biology. premises at Norbury Avenue. As the time at CNU came to an end, Wingfields were present at the birth of Jenna found herself looking to continue her the motor industry and played a key part in education and found the PhD. Cellular Biol- developing the design, engineering capacity ogy program at University of Georgia, Ath- and fuel technology for motor vehicles. It is ens (UGA) to be the best fit. a great shame due to the exigencies of War- She has completed a rigorous course time and family tragedy that the Wingfield and work load. At times, this required trav- Motor Company had such a short existence eling for conferences and extended studies. but still left its mark on future UK motor She spent 5 weeks in Denmark at Aarhus Dr. Jenna Wingfield manufacturing industry.™ University studying in a Biochemistry lab. Some of the biology conferences were in the for the most part; it was no different at UGA.