Sir Ernest Willoughby Petter (26 May 1873 – 18 July 1954) was an English industrialist and unsuccessful politician. Ernest and Percival Waddams Petter (1873–1955), were

identical twins Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...

born on 26 May 1873 in High Street,

Yeovil Yeovil ( ) is a town and civil parish in the district of South Somerset, England. The population of Yeovil at the last census (2011) was 45,784. More recent estimates show a population of 48,564. It is close to Somerset's southern border with ...

, Somerset, the third and fourth of the fifteen children of James Bazeley Petter, ironmonger and

iron founder An iron founder (also iron-founder or ironfounder) in its more general sense is a worker in molten ferrous metal, generally working within an iron foundry. However, the term 'iron founder' is usually reserved for the owner or manager of an iron foun ...

, of Yeovil, and his wife, Charlotte Waddams. Ernest, along with his twin Percy, had built the Petter Horseless Carriage in 1894, the first British car with an internal combustion engine. The car, using a converted four-wheel horse-drawn phaeton and a 3 hp (2 kW) horizontal

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

engine, had a top speed of .Lukins, A. H. ''The Book of Westland Aircraft'' (Leicester: Harborough, 1944), p. 5 The vehicle weighed 9 cwt (457 kg) including the 120 lb (55 kg) of the Petter engine with its flywheel and side bars.http://www.southsomersetmuseums.gov.uk/monographs/monograph01.htm In 1915, the Petters constructed the first British seaplane, the Short Type 184 to take part in a naval battle. Ernest Petter was chairman of the

Petters Limited Petters Limited (known as JB Petter & Sons of Yeovil until 1910), were a maker of stationary petrol and diesel engines from 1896 onwards.Petter, Percival. ''The Story of Petters Limited'' (Westbury: David Edgington, 1989) In 1915 Petter founded ...

engineering company from which

Westland Aircraft Westland Aircraft was a British aircraft manufacturer located in Yeovil, Somerset. Formed as a separate company by separation from Petters Limited just before the start of the Second World War, Westland had been building aircraft since 1915. D ...

was separated in 1935. Petter was knighted in 1925.http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/33020/pages/1070 He retired the following year. In 1938, he built The Fort, a large manor house in

Comox Valley The Comox Valley is a region on the east coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, that includes the city of Courtenay, the town of Comox, the village of Cumberland, and the unincorporated settlements of Royston, Union Bay, Fann ...

on the east coast of

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest by ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...

, Canada. His son William Edward Willoughby 'Teddy' Petter was an aircraft designer.

Political career

Petter twice fought Bristol North: in 1918 as a National Party candidate and in 1923 as a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

, both times coming third. He fought the

1931 Westminster St George's by-election The Westminster St. George's by-election, 1931 was a parliamentary by-election held on 19 March 1931 for the British House of Commons constituency of Westminster St. George's. Vacancy and electoral history The seat had become vacant on 14 Feb ...

as an Independent Conservative opposed to

Stanley Baldwin Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, (3 August 186714 December 1947) was a British Conservative Party politician who dominated the government of the United Kingdom between the world wars, serving as prime minister on three occasions, ...

's leadership of the Conservative Party. Though he claimed to be free of party and running at the request of the electors, he was strongly backed by the Beaverbrook and Rothermere papers, including the ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet ...

'' and ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...

''. He was defeated by the official Conservative,

Duff Cooper Alfred Duff Cooper, 1st Viscount Norwich, (22 February 1890 – 1 January 1954), known as Duff Cooper, was a British Conservative Party politician and diplomat who was also a military and political historian. First elected to Parliament in 19 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petter, Ernest 1873 births 1954 deaths People from Yeovil Knights Bachelor Conservative Party (UK) parliamentary candidates