​Origin of the Burley and district wide bus services
The foundation of the Harrogate Road Car Company business, is interesting in its own right.
Two of the original directors of the company were Joseph Hepworth (1834-1911) & Arthur H Marshall (1870-1956).
Joseph Hepworth was the clothing manufacturer who founded Joseph Hepworth & Son in 1864 in Leeds, a company which grew to become the United Kingdom's largest clothing manufacturer and which is now known as Next PLC.
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Sir Arthur Harold Marshall was a barrister at Hepworth & Chadwick, Leeds. In 1896 he married Louisa Hepworth, eldest daughter of Joseph Hepworth.
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Harrogate Road Car Company Ltd. (November 1906 - 1924). Registered Office: Myrtle Road, East Parade, Harrogate.
1891 Joseph Hepworth retired from active involvement in the clothing business & became a director with his eldest son Norris Hepworth becoming chairman. He then divided his year between a residence in Torquay & one in Harrogate. A staunch Liberal & Methodist, he became president of various organisations in Torquay, Harrogate & Leeds.
1901 Torquay Town Council rejected a proposal to build an electric tramway with overhead wires from the cliff tops down to the town centre. Partly due to the cost & partly because of the visual appearance of it.
1903 Torquay Town Council licensed the Torquay & District Motor Omnibus Company Ltd., to operate x3 Clarkson "Chelmsford" 14-seat steam buses on a route through Torquay. Because of its popularity, the Omnibus Company rapidly expanded to x8 Clarkson "Chelmsford" steam buses on various routes. |
1904 Torquay Town Council accepted an offer from the Dolter Electric Traction Company to pay for & construct a tramway using their stud-contact system, i.e. using tram rails but no overhead wires.
1905 Construction begins & would take 18 months to build. The threat of the tramway to the profitability of the Torquay & District Motor Omnibus Company, led the directors of it to seek a way out. Meanwhile in Harrogate, the Harrogate Town Council & the Harrogate Corporation had spent large sums of money in anticipation of the growth of the town. A new sewage system & a couple of reservoirs at Masham were in the throes of planning &/or construction.
New housing could only be built in the outlying areas, how best to connect these areas to the centre were being considered. |
In 1906, the Dolter Electric Traction Company approached Harrogate Town Council with an offer to pay for & construct tramway routes for the district using their surface contact system. The route proposed would link up the outlying districts of Oatlands, New Park, Bilton and Starbeck and then go on to Knaresborough and Scriven. Knaresborough UDC were in favour of the scheme, but Harrogate Corporation were against as they feared electric trams would kill Harrogate & recommended the Town Council oppose it. The proposal was defeated.
August 1906 x2 directors of the Torquay & District Motor Omnibus Company Ltd., visited Harrogate.
September 1906 Joseph Hepworth selected as Mayor of Leeds. He was elected in November 1906.
November 1906 the Harrogate Road Car Company Ltd. is founded with Joseph Hepworth and Arthur Marshall as directors. They applied to the Harrogate Town Council for licences to operate motor buses on two routes through the town centre. One route went to New Park & Bilton in the north, the other to Starbeck in the west. At the same time they ordered x2 new Clarkson steam buses. December 1906 services commenced.
January 1907 To the shock of the townsfolk of Torquay & the shareholders of the Torquay & District Motor Omnibus Company an EGM was called that proposed to sell their x8 steam buses to Harrogate & wind up the company.
By the use of proxies the motions of the directors was duly passed. The sale was completed by February 8th 1907. The chief mechanic & engineer Mr Fuller transferred from Torquay to Harrogate to maintain the steam buses.
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June 1907 Harrogate standing-place in Station Square, now Harrogate bus station, was confirmed by the Town Council.
1909 More routes were added to the Harrogate Road Car Company (HRCC) operation including ones to Oatlands & to Hilton. The services were popular but not very profitable.
1913 The Harrogate Road Car Company was threatened with having its licences withdrawn by the Harrogate Corporation unless it improved the quality of its fleet. Other motorbus companies had set up in competition using petrol driven vehicles, whilst the HRCC continued using its steam buses. Subsequently in December of that year the HRCC organised a trial trip using a petrol powered double-decker Daimler motorbus. February 1914 the Harrogate Road Car Company bought x3 new Daimler double-decker motorbuses. April 1914 all the new HRCC Daimler motorbuses were commandeered by the War Office. 1914-1919. Its unclear at present what was left of any of the omnibus services during the war years. Large numbers of motor buses & their crews, from across the country were commandeered by the War Office for use at home & abroad. Its possible that the HRCCs 14-seat steam buses continued to run, as they were too small for any other use. |
1920-1924 The HRCC operations expanded using a number of single & double decker petrol Daimler motorbuses. To increase the number of routes, they took over smaller operators in the district.
1924 The HRCC succumbed to the same practice when they were bought out by the Tilling & British Automobile Traction group, and had its name changed to Harrogate & District Road Car Company. |
Burley Community Library & Burley Archive, Grange Road, Burley in Wharfedale, West Yorkshire England LS29 7HD
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Burley Archive & Local History Group: Drop-In Sessions Friday 2.30pm to 4.30pm. For other times please contact us
Burley Archive & Local History Group: Drop-In Sessions Friday 2.30pm to 4.30pm. For other times please contact us