Ernest E. Baguley (1863–1948) was a British engineer.

Career

Employment

Baguley served an apprenticeship with R & W Hawthorn Leslie, initially at their Tyneside shipyard and later at their Forth Bank, Newcastle, locomotive works. In 1890 he moved to

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...

and became Chief Draughtsman for W G Bagnall Ltd. While at Bagnalls, he invented the

Baguley valve gear The Baguley valve gear is a type of steam engine valve gear invented by Ernest E. Baguley, the Chief Draughtsman of the W.G. Bagnall company of locomotive manufacturers and patented in 1893. It was used by Bagnall during Baguley's time there, t ...

for steam locomotives. Baguley became interested in motor vehicles and, in 1901, he joined the Ryknield Engine Co Ltd of

Burton-on-Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. In 2011, it had a population of 72,299. The d ...

. This company failed in 1905 and Baguley became Manager of its successor, the Ryknield Motor Company. In 1907 Baguley moved to

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

as Manager of the newly formed Motor Division of the

Birmingham Small Arms Company The Birmingham Small Arms Company Limited (BSA) was a major British industrial combine, a group of businesses manufacturing military and sporting firearms; bicycles; motorcycles; cars; buses and bodies; steel; iron castings; hand tool, hand, po ...

Baguley Cars Ltd

In 1911 he set up

Baguley Cars Ltd Baguley Cars Ltd (later Baguley (Engineers) Ltd, then E. E. Baguley Ltd) was a British engineering company, specialising in railway locomotives. it was founded in 1911 by Ernest E. Baguley and subsequently acquired by Drewry Car Co to form B ...

which took over the assets of the (then defunct) Ryknield Motor Company. The new company started out manufacturing

road vehicles A vehicle (from la, vehiculum) is a machine that transports people or cargo. Vehicles include wagons, bicycles, motor vehicles (motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, mobility scooters for disabled people), railed vehicles (trains, trams), wa ...

, but branched out into locomotive manufacturing just before the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

War Service

In the years leading up to the

, Baguley served in the Territorial Army and became Second-in-Command, 6th Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment, rising to the rank of Major. He served in France from 1914 to 1915.

Baguley (Engineers) Ltd

After the War there was a decline in the production of road vehicles (probably due to competition from other manufacturers) and an increase in the production of railway equipment. The name of the company was changed from Baguley Cars Ltd to Baguley (Engineers) Ltd on 10 April 1923. Following a dispute with their partners Drewry Cars. Ltd, Baguley (Engineers) Ltd went into decline and entered liquidation in 1931. Most of the plant and effects, including Major Baguley's own Baguley car, were sold at auction on 10 November 1931.

E. E. Baguley Ltd

Major Baguley was a great survivor and, he set up a small repair business for Baguley products at Clarence Street, Burton-on-Trent. A new company, E. E. Baguley Ltd, was registered on 30 April 1932 and was soon building locomotives again. In 1934 E. E. Baguley Ltd moved to larger premises at Uxbridge Street, Burton-on-Trent. The company merged with Drewry to form Baguley-Drewry Ltd in 1962.

Personal life

In June 1921, Baguley married E.G.M. Coussmaker, the daughter of the Rector of

Hamstall Ridware Hamstall Ridware is a village and civil parish in the Lichfield district of Staffordshire, England. It is in the Trent Valley, and lies close to the villages of Hill Ridware, Mavesyn Ridware and Pipe Ridware. It is eight miles north of the c ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

. He retired in 1946, and died on 14 November 1948.

Sources

* Baguley Locomotives 1914-1931 by Rodney Weaver, published by the Industrial Railway Society in 1975, * The Railway Products of Baguley-Drewry Ltd by Alan Civil and Roy Etherington, published by the Industrial Railway Society in 2008,

References

External links

Baguley Petrol Locomotive No. 680

Abbey Light railway, Leeds
has the only working 10 hp Baguley in the world {{DEFAULTSORT:Baguley, Ernest E. British mechanical engineers Locomotive builders and designers 1863 births 1948 deaths