Harry Shelvoke
Encyclopedia
Harry Shelvoke was one of the founding members of the British coachbuilding and engineering company Shelvoke and Drewry
. He was one of the last members to bear a family name that is documented to have become extinct in modern times (the last person bearing that name died in the 1960s). The name lives on in only three company names connected to Harry's family: the two engineering firms of Accles & Shelvoke
, Shelvoke Ltd (Dennis Shelvoke / Dennis Eagle) and Shelvoke Pickering and Janney, a firm of chartered accounts in Cannock
, Staffordshire.
He is descended from those associated with Manor of Shelvock in Shropshire
and families bearing the name of Shelvock
. Historical records show that the spelling variant of Shelvoke is first recorded in 1722 at Eccleshall
in Staffordshire
, NW of Stafford
, before recurring in the C19th industrialised West Midlands
towns of Wolverhampton
and Willenhall
, probable ancestors of Harry.
James Shelvoke, Harry's grandfather, (born by 1815, location unknown) headed the family centred in nearby West Bromwich
and Aston
, part of Birmingham
. James married Catharine Harper in Aston in 1833. They had three children:
(George Edwin Shelvoke, Harry's brother, married Charlotte and had Gwyneth (born in Cape Colony, South Africa c1900) & William George (c1907; who is believed to have married but had no issue). In the West Midlands, 1907 appears to be the last birth year of any Shelvoke.)
The firm of Accles & Shelvoke
was formed in 1913 to commence the manufacture of cartridge-powered captive bolt stunning equipment to become a world leader in humane animal killing. This resulted from a history of manufacturing and engineering by the Shelvoke's which include:
William Charles, s/o Charles, above, was the founder of Shelvoke Pickering and Janney. The firm was originally based in Birmingham and he used to 'commute' between the two. The firm was established sometime in the 1920s. The Birmingham office was closed after a takeover. The Cannock branch still survives.
Harry (c1877), who appears to have been named Harry Clifford,, became a part of two families that settled in the Croydon
area, south of London
in the early C20th, where he worked for the Lacre Motor Company of London. A Harry Clifford married there in 1902 and had three daughters (Dorothy Edna (c1903), Lilian Brenda (c1906) & Eileen Nora (c1908)). These girls married in 1929, 1931 & 1937 respectively, which ended the Shelvoke name for Harry's line. (A possible brother of Harry C., Frank also married in 1911 Croydon and had one daughter Barbara M (c1914)). As noted elsewhere in Shelvock
families, there was a genetic tendency towards more girls than boys that is the root cause to the rareness and then extinction of the family name.
Harry Shelvoke (1878 - 1962) and James Drewry
(1883 - 1952) are given as employed by the Lacre Company (Lacre was apparently a contraction of Long Acre
, London, where the business started) that moved to Letchworth
Garden City in 1910, where Shelvoke was General Manager, and a Mr. Drewry as Chief Engineer. Between them they conceived a design for an ingenious lorry and built the prototype in Harry's barn. As the Lacre Company wasn't interested in this enterprise, they set up Shelvoke & Drewry in October 1922 to manufacture their design.
The following information about Harry Shelvoke, taken from "Kaleidoscope of Shelvoke & Drewry" by Nick Baldwin and William Negus, contains some information that does not match historical records:
"Harry Shelvoke (1877 or 1878 - 1962) came from Melverley
in Shropshire. He served in the Boer War (1899-1902) with the Staffordshire Light Infantry. He worked with Herbert Austin
in the early years of the Wolseley Motor Company
. In 1911 he joined Lacre Ltd., who were an important early commercial vehicle manufacturer, as General Manager. In 1910 Lacre moved from Long Acre in London to the expanding Letchworth Garden City. Along with James Drewry he designed and built an ingenious lorry. When Lacre were uninterested in producing this vehicle, Shelvoke & Drewry left to form their own company in 1922. In 1937 the Company became a public company with Harry Shelvoke as Managing Director. He held this position until 1949 when he became Chairman. He remained as Chairman of the company until 1957. He died at Letchworth in 1962 at the age of 84."
"His home was a mock Tudor house named Melverley, where he lived until his death surrounded by armour and swords. Similarly the boardroom at the works, in Icknield Way, was wood paneled to resemble a baronial hall. Mr. Shelvoke drove the ex-Prince of Wales' Daimler Double Six motor car. He is represented as: "a fiercesome gentleman of the old school, with a flair for showmanship." He expected high standards from his employees, but many remained loyal to the company over many years."
(Note: The reference to Melverley is interesting. Although Harry's birth was in Birmingham, he knew of some connection to his ancient family roots. A coats of arms for the C15th Thornes of Shelvock & Melverley exists in heraldic records).
At the turn of the C20th the 1901 census reveals that the Birmingham family are all accounted for, with no suggestion of other families anywhere else. The future of the family name at that time was in the hands of Harry & George the younger, but they were unsuccessful in producing male offspring to continue the line.
William George Shelvoke also died by the 1960s, which left his widow as the sole surviving Shelvoke in name. With her death the family name becomes extinct. Mrs. Edythe Diana Shelvoke, aged 89, is still alive in 2008.
Shelvoke and Drewry
Shelvoke & Drewry was a British manufacturer of specialised commercial vehicles, now defunct. It was best known for its innovative waste collection vehicles, which were once the preferred choice of municipal authorities in the UK...
. He was one of the last members to bear a family name that is documented to have become extinct in modern times (the last person bearing that name died in the 1960s). The name lives on in only three company names connected to Harry's family: the two engineering firms of Accles & Shelvoke
Accles & Shelvoke
Accles & Shelvoke is a company based in the English Midlands. It is a manufacturer of humane slaughtering pistols, and has developed them since the early twentieth century....
, Shelvoke Ltd (Dennis Shelvoke / Dennis Eagle) and Shelvoke Pickering and Janney, a firm of chartered accounts in Cannock
Cannock
Cannock is the most populous of three towns in the district of Cannock Chase in the central southern part of the county of Staffordshire in the West Midlands region of England....
, Staffordshire.
He is descended from those associated with Manor of Shelvock in Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
and families bearing the name of Shelvock
Shelvock
Shelvock is a name of Saxon origins - from the Old English scelf meaning a shelf of level ground, or flat topped hill, and ac meaning oak, taken from the ancient Manor of Shelvock, near Ruyton-XI-Towns, Shropshire, England originally pronounced "shelf'ac", "shelv'ak" or "shelv'oak", but today as...
. Historical records show that the spelling variant of Shelvoke is first recorded in 1722 at Eccleshall
Eccleshall
Eccleshall is a town in Staffordshire, England. It is located seven miles north west of Stafford, and six miles west of Stone. Eccleshall is twinned with Sancerre in France.-History:...
in Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
, NW of Stafford
Stafford
Stafford is the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies approximately north of Wolverhampton and south of Stoke-on-Trent, adjacent to the M6 motorway Junction 13 to Junction 14...
, before recurring in the C19th industrialised West Midlands
West Midlands (county)
The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...
towns of Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
and Willenhall
Willenhall
Willenhall is a town in the Black Country area of the West Midlands of England, with a population of approximately 40,000. It is situated between Wolverhampton and Walsall, historically in the county of Staffordshire...
, probable ancestors of Harry.
James Shelvoke, Harry's grandfather, (born by 1815, location unknown) headed the family centred in nearby West Bromwich
West Bromwich
West Bromwich is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, in the West Midlands, England. It is north west of Birmingham lying on the A41 London-to-Birkenhead road. West Bromwich is part of the Black Country...
and Aston
Aston
Aston is an area of the City of Birmingham, in the West Midlands of England. Lying to the north-east of the Birmingham city centre, Aston constitutes an electoral ward within the council constituency of Ladywood.-History:...
, part of Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
. James married Catharine Harper in Aston in 1833. They had three children:
- James (c1834; m. 1854 = Kate; children: Elizabeth (c1859), Florence (c1867) & Kate (c1869)) - an extinct line
- Mary Ann (c1837)
- George (c1838; m. by 1868 = Emma; children: Annie (c1869), Charles (c1871), George Edwin (c1874), & Harry (c1877)). They were living in Trinity Road, HandsworthHandsworth, West MidlandsHandsworth is an inner city area of Birmingham in the West Midlands, England. The Local Government Act 1894 divided the ancient Staffordshire parish of Handsworth into two urban districts: Handsworth and Perry Barr. Handsworth was annexed to the county borough of Birmingham in Warwickshire in 1911...
in 1881 and ShenstoneShenstoneShenstone may refer to:* Shenstone, Staffordshire, a village in the UK* Shenstone, WorcestershirePeople with the surname Shenstone:* William Shenstone * Beveley Shenstone, Aerodynamicist who designed the Spitfire wing...
in 1901. Emma died in January 1921 at Kingsbury Road, Birmingham.
(George Edwin Shelvoke, Harry's brother, married Charlotte and had Gwyneth (born in Cape Colony, South Africa c1900) & William George (c1907; who is believed to have married but had no issue). In the West Midlands, 1907 appears to be the last birth year of any Shelvoke.)
The firm of Accles & Shelvoke
Accles & Shelvoke
Accles & Shelvoke is a company based in the English Midlands. It is a manufacturer of humane slaughtering pistols, and has developed them since the early twentieth century....
was formed in 1913 to commence the manufacture of cartridge-powered captive bolt stunning equipment to become a world leader in humane animal killing. This resulted from a history of manufacturing and engineering by the Shelvoke's which include:
- 1876: James Shelvoke, Weaver; mail maker at Talford Street Works (Hulley's Directory)
- 1890: George & James Shelovke, Weavers; mail makers at Talford St Works (Kelley's Directory)
- 1891: Phillips Street Nos. 49-57 inclusive plus "shop" various tenants under the owner George Shelvoke (Poor Rate, Vol. 2).
- 1896: Charles Shelvoke & Co. was also working in a part of the same Works
- 1898: George Shelvoke retired from his business at the Talford Street Works and let the Works to another company.
William Charles, s/o Charles, above, was the founder of Shelvoke Pickering and Janney. The firm was originally based in Birmingham and he used to 'commute' between the two. The firm was established sometime in the 1920s. The Birmingham office was closed after a takeover. The Cannock branch still survives.
Harry (c1877), who appears to have been named Harry Clifford,, became a part of two families that settled in the Croydon
Croydon
Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...
area, south of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in the early C20th, where he worked for the Lacre Motor Company of London. A Harry Clifford married there in 1902 and had three daughters (Dorothy Edna (c1903), Lilian Brenda (c1906) & Eileen Nora (c1908)). These girls married in 1929, 1931 & 1937 respectively, which ended the Shelvoke name for Harry's line. (A possible brother of Harry C., Frank also married in 1911 Croydon and had one daughter Barbara M (c1914)). As noted elsewhere in Shelvock
Shelvock
Shelvock is a name of Saxon origins - from the Old English scelf meaning a shelf of level ground, or flat topped hill, and ac meaning oak, taken from the ancient Manor of Shelvock, near Ruyton-XI-Towns, Shropshire, England originally pronounced "shelf'ac", "shelv'ak" or "shelv'oak", but today as...
families, there was a genetic tendency towards more girls than boys that is the root cause to the rareness and then extinction of the family name.
Harry Shelvoke (1878 - 1962) and James Drewry
James Sidney Drewry
James Sidney Drewry was a British engineer, born at Clapton, London.-Family history:James Sidney Drewry was the son of Charles Stewart Drewry and Julia Fava Wood. He married Mabel May Hyde and they had two daughters, Barbara and Christine.-Career:J. S...
(1883 - 1952) are given as employed by the Lacre Company (Lacre was apparently a contraction of Long Acre
Long Acre
Long Acre is a street in central London, England. Starting from St. Martin's Lane it runs from west to east just north of Covent Garden piazza, one block north of Floral Street. The street was completed in the early 17th century. It was once known for its coach-makers, and later for its car dealers...
, London, where the business started) that moved to Letchworth
Letchworth
Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England. The town's name is taken from one of the three villages it surrounded - all of which featured in the Domesday Book. The land used was first purchased by Quakers who had intended to farm the...
Garden City in 1910, where Shelvoke was General Manager, and a Mr. Drewry as Chief Engineer. Between them they conceived a design for an ingenious lorry and built the prototype in Harry's barn. As the Lacre Company wasn't interested in this enterprise, they set up Shelvoke & Drewry in October 1922 to manufacture their design.
The following information about Harry Shelvoke, taken from "Kaleidoscope of Shelvoke & Drewry" by Nick Baldwin and William Negus, contains some information that does not match historical records:
"Harry Shelvoke (1877 or 1878 - 1962) came from Melverley
Melverley
Melverley is a village in Shropshire, England, situated on the River Severn and the River Vyrnwy, near the Powys hills and the border with Wales...
in Shropshire. He served in the Boer War (1899-1902) with the Staffordshire Light Infantry. He worked with Herbert Austin
Herbert Austin
Herbert 'Pa' Austin, 1st Baron Austin KBE was an English automobile designer and builder who founded the Austin Motor Company.-Background and early life:...
in the early years of the Wolseley Motor Company
Wolseley Motor Company
The Wolseley Motor Company was a British automobile manufacturer founded in 1901. After 1935 it was incorporated into larger companies but the Wolseley name remained as an upmarket marque until 1975.-History:...
. In 1911 he joined Lacre Ltd., who were an important early commercial vehicle manufacturer, as General Manager. In 1910 Lacre moved from Long Acre in London to the expanding Letchworth Garden City. Along with James Drewry he designed and built an ingenious lorry. When Lacre were uninterested in producing this vehicle, Shelvoke & Drewry left to form their own company in 1922. In 1937 the Company became a public company with Harry Shelvoke as Managing Director. He held this position until 1949 when he became Chairman. He remained as Chairman of the company until 1957. He died at Letchworth in 1962 at the age of 84."
"His home was a mock Tudor house named Melverley, where he lived until his death surrounded by armour and swords. Similarly the boardroom at the works, in Icknield Way, was wood paneled to resemble a baronial hall. Mr. Shelvoke drove the ex-Prince of Wales' Daimler Double Six motor car. He is represented as: "a fiercesome gentleman of the old school, with a flair for showmanship." He expected high standards from his employees, but many remained loyal to the company over many years."
(Note: The reference to Melverley is interesting. Although Harry's birth was in Birmingham, he knew of some connection to his ancient family roots. A coats of arms for the C15th Thornes of Shelvock & Melverley exists in heraldic records).
At the turn of the C20th the 1901 census reveals that the Birmingham family are all accounted for, with no suggestion of other families anywhere else. The future of the family name at that time was in the hands of Harry & George the younger, but they were unsuccessful in producing male offspring to continue the line.
William George Shelvoke also died by the 1960s, which left his widow as the sole surviving Shelvoke in name. With her death the family name becomes extinct. Mrs. Edythe Diana Shelvoke, aged 89, is still alive in 2008.