1896 Enfield Mfg Co ‘Royal Enfield’ Road Racer
26″ Frame
28 x 1 3/4″ Wheels
Enfield Manufacturing Co Ltd, the company name on this headbadge, ceased trading on 8 January, 1897, which means that this bicycle is an 1896 model. There are not many surviving pre-1900 Royal Enfields, so I’ve enjoyed examining it closely. The VCC archive shows a ladies’ Royal Enfield of the same year with corresponding parts, though it has a head transfer (decal) rather than a headbadge.
A lady in Newhaven bought this bicycle for her husband in the early 1990s, but he didn’t ride it much. The saddle is an Olympic. The pedal crank is cottered on the chainwheel side, but not on the other side; the crank itself is similar and it’s hard to notice any difference. It’s an old-time restoration; after three decades in storage, it’s still in excellent condition and rides well.
ENFIELD MANUFACTURING CO LTD
The directors Albert Eadie and Robert Walker Smith started the business in 1891 and displayed ten machines at the 1892 Stanley Show (including two Eadie front drivers and six safeties).
Smith was a former designer at Rudge responsible for Perry parts and fittings, while Eadie was the manufacturer of Perry parts and fittings.
In 1892 Eadie won a contract to supply rifle parts to the Royal Small Arms factory at Enfield. To celebrate this, a new bicycle design was named the ‘Enfield’ from October that year. In 1893 ‘Royal’ was added (from the Royal Small Arms name) making the model name ‘Royal Enfield’. At the 1893 Stanley Show the firm showed a front-driver and a tandem though the latter received some criticism.
Enfield Manufacturing Co. Ltd was registered on 24 February 1893 (No. 170,951).
An office with showroom was opened at 166 Edmund Street, Birmingham, Warwickshire, and they were later, from November 1893, at 94 Snow Hill, Birmingham. The badge was a shield with a smaller shield inset containing a field gun facing left. It seems that initially the company sold machines made by the Eadie Manufacturing Co and moved into the former works of George Townsend & Co. at Givry Works, Hunt End, Redditch in 1896. There was a London showroom at 6c Sloane Street and a Dublin showroom at 73 Grafton Street. During this time the company name changed several times, as different companies were formed for the various parts of the business.
Enfield Manufacturing Co. Ltd was wound up on 8 January 1897.
New Enfield Cycle Co Ltd was formed on 1 July, 1896, to take over the bicycle section of both the Enfield Mfg Co and the Eadie Mfg Co.
Enfield Cycle Co Ltd was formed in 1897.
Eadie Mfg Co moved in 1897 to new premises in Lodge Rd, Redditch. Enfield Co Ltd remained at the Hunt End Redditch works.
ENFIELD CYCLE CO: ‘MOTOR BICYCLES’
As Enfield Cycle Co, the company not only developed a new range of bicycles that included the Girder, but also moved into the production of motor bicycles, motor tricycles and quadricycles.
The first was a Royal Enfield motor tricycle in 1898, powered by a De Dion Bouton engine. De Dion Bouton and Humber combined to supply these to many different cycle firms, but it’s not known if the Royal Enfield Motor Tricycle had a Humber frame or Royal Enfield’s own tricycle frame.
Robert Walker Smith had previously worked at Rudge before starting the Eadie Mfg Co in 1891 with Albert Eadie and developing the other companies that became Royal Enfield. The Royal Enfield Motor Quadricycle was designed by him, built around two cycle frames. It used a 2 3/4hp De Dion Bouton engine.
The first Royal Enfield motor bicycle was also designed by Robert Walker Smith, with the help of Frenchman Jules Gobiet, and it was launched at the Stanley Cycle Show in London. The 1 1/2 hp engine was mounted in front of the steering head and the rear wheel was driven by a long rawhide belt.
In 2020, the Royal Enfield factory asked for my help as they wanted to create a replica of the first Royal Enfield motorcycle. I lent them my 1900 Royal Enfield so they could copy some of its parts for the project, seen completed below in November, 2021.
TO SEE THE
1900 ROYAL ENFIELD (ENFIELD CYCLE CO LTD)
PLEASE CLICK HERE
