Formerly Thos. Townsend & Sons, the Centaur Bicycle Co, of West Orchard, Coventry, was established in 1876 under the direction of Edmund Mushing (1840-1910) and George Gilbert (1853-1915), the latter formerly of the Coventry Machinists Co. Ltd.
Mushing was responsible for marketing and administration, and subsequently became the Managing Director, while Gilbert was the design engineer.
The first bicycles sold by George Hendee, who went on to make Hendee Mfg Co ‘Indian’ motorcycles in the USA, were 1894 Centaur ‘King of Scorchers’ rebadged as the ‘Hendee Silver King’.