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Granville Eastwood Bradshaw OBE, AFRAeS (1887–1969) was an English engineer and inventor who designed motorcycle, auto, and aero-engines.
He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for his war work in 1918.
At the end of 1918 it was announced that ABC Motors Ltd had transferred its motor cycle manufacturing and selling rights to Sopwith Aviation Co Ltd, with Granville Bradshaw of ABC Motors Ltd concentrating on design. This allowed him to sell his designs to other companies. He designed a number of engines for Panther motorcycles. He also designed motorcycle engines where the cylinder barrels were oil cooled, and these were made under licence by J Walmsley & Co (Preston) Ltd."Bradshaw Oil-Cooled Engines on the Market", The Motor Cycle, 10 November 1921 The flat-twin 500cc version of this engine was utilised from 1921 on the Zenith-Bradshaw motorcycle. A single cylinder 348cc version was optional for
Granville Bradshaw
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradshaw, Granville 1887 births 1969 deaths English aerospace engineers English aviators Officers of the Order of the British Empire Engineers from Preston, Lancashire 20th-century British inventors 20th-century British engineers
History
Bradshaw was born inPreston, Lancashire
Preston () is a city on the north bank of the River Ribble in Lancashire, England. The city is the administrative centre of the county of Lancashire and the wider City of Preston local government district. Preston and its surrounding distri ...
in 1887 as the son of William and Annie Bradshaw. His father was a jeweler and optician.
Bradshaw's early work was involved with the early pioneers of flight, which led him to become an expert on stressing. He designed the Star Monoplane
The Star Monoplane was an early British aircraft built by the Star Engineering Company of Wolverhampton. A tractor configuration monoplane resembling the French Antoinette aircraft, its most remarkable feature was the arrangement of the rear cont ...
including the engine for Star Aircraft when he was 19, which he later flew. He then started to work on aero-engines and was the co-founder of the All-British Engine Company (later ABC Motors
ABC Motors Limited ("All British (Engine) Company") of Hersham, Surrey, England was a manufacturer of cars, aircraft, motor scooters, and engines for road and air. Established by Ronald Charteris in Hersham, Surrey in 1912, its chief designer ...
then Walton Motors).
The ABC radial aero-engines designed and built during the First World War were extremely advanced and the government placed large orders for the Dragonfly. A number of aircraft were designed to use the Dragonfly, but the engines were plagued by problems and failed to live up to the promises. The design was taken over by the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough to try to resolve the issues, but with the end of the war, it was abandoned.
He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for his war work in 1918.
At the end of 1918 it was announced that ABC Motors Ltd had transferred its motor cycle manufacturing and selling rights to Sopwith Aviation Co Ltd, with Granville Bradshaw of ABC Motors Ltd concentrating on design. This allowed him to sell his designs to other companies. He designed a number of engines for Panther motorcycles. He also designed motorcycle engines where the cylinder barrels were oil cooled, and these were made under licence by J Walmsley & Co (Preston) Ltd."Bradshaw Oil-Cooled Engines on the Market", The Motor Cycle, 10 November 1921 The flat-twin 500cc version of this engine was utilised from 1921 on the Zenith-Bradshaw motorcycle. A single cylinder 348cc version was optional for OK-Supreme
OK-Supreme was a British motorcycle manufacturer from 1899 to 1939 located in Birmingham. Grass-track racing versions of the machines continued to be available until 1946.
History
In 1882 Ernie Humphries and Charles Dawes founded "OK" as bicycl ...
, Sheffield-Henderson, Dot, Orbit, and Coventry-Mascot in 1922; and an 1100cc V-twin version of this oil-cooled engine was adopted for the Belsize light car.
His biggest seller was selling patents for gambling machines, although he lost all the money he made in further business deals. He later concentrated on toroidal internal-combustion engines. Bradshaw produced a long list of inventions and designs, although very few achieved commercial success.
A biography ''Granville Bradshaw: a flawed genius?'' by Barry Jones was published in 2008.
The Omega toroidal engine
The Bradshaw engine was a type ofswing-piston engine
A swing-piston engine is a type of internal combustion engine in which the pistons move in a circular motion inside a ring-shaped "cylinder", moving closer and further from each other to provide compression and expansion. Generally two sets of pist ...
which had a single toroidal cylinder, containing four double-ended curved pistons. The pistons reciprocated in pairs, while the cylinder rotated around them, carrying around the spark plug and inlet/exhaust ports.
Family
In 1911 he married Violet Elsie Partridge in Wolverhampton. Violet petitioned for divorce in 1926. Bradshaw married again in 1927 to Muriel Mathieson in Kensington, London. He died in 1969 at Hitchin in Hertfordshire.See also
*ABC motorcycles
ABC motorcycles was a British motorcycle manufacturer established in 1914 by Ronald Charteris in London. Several British motorcycle firms started up with the name "ABC", including Sopwith. The All British Engine Company Ltd. of London was foun ...
* ABC Motors
ABC Motors Limited ("All British (Engine) Company") of Hersham, Surrey, England was a manufacturer of cars, aircraft, motor scooters, and engines for road and air. Established by Ronald Charteris in Hersham, Surrey in 1912, its chief designer ...
Notes
External links
Granville Bradshaw
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradshaw, Granville 1887 births 1969 deaths English aerospace engineers English aviators Officers of the Order of the British Empire Engineers from Preston, Lancashire 20th-century British inventors 20th-century British engineers