Henry Royce

Sir Frederick Henry Royce ( born March 27, 1863 in Alwalton, Huntingdonshire, † April 22, 1933 ) was a pioneer of auto construction; together with Charles Stewart Rolls founded the Rolls- Royce company.

Royce was the fifth child of his parents to the world. His father James Royce had leased from the Anglican Church a mill. 1867 separated the family, James went with his two youngest sons, including Henry, to London, where he died in 1872 at the Hodgkin 's disease. Then Henry had to work as a newspaper boy and Telegrafenbote. At 14 he began an apprenticeship in the locomotive works of the Great Northern Railway in Peterborough. Later he moved to a machine tool company in Leeds, then to the Electric Lighting and Power Generating Company in London. In 1884 he becomes unemployed through bankruptcy.

The electrical engineer Ernest Claremont he founded in Manchester an electric operation, the doorbells, light sockets, dynamos and electric motors built. The breakthrough of this company succeeded, were used as electric motors instead of steam engines as a drive for cranes. From 1894 onwards bridge cranes were built and transformed the company into a stock corporation.

Already at this time Royce was seriously ill. His doctor recommended that he rides in the fresh air. To this end, he made a quadricycle - a mix of car and motorcycle - from De Dion -Bouton to.

His first car was a 10 hp two-cylinder model of the company decauville. It was faulty and Royce decided to build his own car, which was known as Royce. Three copies were built, none of which has survived. Charles Rolls saw one of these and teamed up with Royce to found Rolls- Royce.