Sir John Paul Black (10 February 1895 – 24 December 1965) held several senior positions in the
British motor industry
The automotive industry in the United Kingdom is now best known for premium and sports car marques including Aston Martin, Bentley, Caterham Cars, Daimler, Jaguar, Lagonda, Land Rover, Lister Cars, Lotus, McLaren, MG, Mini, Morgan and Ro ...
including chairman of
Standard-Triumph.
He was born in
Kingston upon Thames
Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...
on 10 February 1895 the fourth son of Ellen (Smith) and her husband John George Black, a clerk in the
Public Record Office
The Public Record Office (abbreviated as PRO, pronounced as three letters and referred to as ''the'' PRO), Chancery Lane in the City of London, was the guardian of the national archives of the United Kingdom from 1838 until 2003, when it was m ...
now Britain's national archives. He studied law at the
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
. During the First World War he served first in the
Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve
The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original R ...
before transferring to the
Royal Tank Regiment
The Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) is the oldest tank unit in the world, being formed by the British Army in 1916 during the First World War. Today, it is the armoured regiment of the British Army's 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade. Formerly known as th ...
, where he gained the rank of captain.
Hillman
After the war he joined
Hillman Motor Car Company
Hillman was a British automobile marque created by the Hillman-Coatalen Company, founded in 1907, renamed the Hillman Motor Car Company in 1910. The company was based in Ryton-on-Dunsmore, near Coventry, England. Before 1907 the company had b ...
as sales manager in 1918 and was appointed a director in 1919. In 1921 Black married Daisy Hillman one of the daughters of owner
William Hillman
William Hillman (13 November 1848 – 4 February 1921) was a British bicycle and automobile manufacturer. In partnership with Louis Coatalen he founded the Hillman-Coatalen Company in 1907, later the Hillman Motor Company after Coatalen's defe ...
, the marriage was dissolved in 1939. He was appointed joint managing director alongside his brother-in-law
Spencer Wilks
Spencer Bernau Wilks (26 May 189110 March 1971) was a British manager and administrator in the motor manufacturing industry. He served variously in positions including Managing Director, Chairman, and President of the Rover Company from 1929 unt ...
, who had married one of Daisy's sisters. When Hillman amalgamated with
Humber
The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between th ...
and
Commer
Commer was a British manufacturer of commercial and military vehicles from 1905 until 1979. Commer vehicles included car-derived vans, light vans, medium to heavy commercial trucks, and buses. The company also designed and built some of its own ...
in 1928 Black joined their boards.
[Captains of Industry. ''The Times'', Tuesday, 26 Sep 1933; pg. 29; Issue 46559]
Standard
He resigned his posts in July 1929 after Hillman fell under the control of the
Rootes brothers and in September 1929 took up a new position at the Standard Motor Company. He was appointed Standard's joint managing director (with founder
R W Maudslay) in September 1933.
[ Maudslay died little more than a year later.
With the possibility of war again looming he enthusiastically backed the government scheme for ]shadow factories
British shadow factories were the outcome of the Shadow Scheme, a plan devised in 1935 and developed by the British Government in the buildup to World War II to try to meet the urgent need for more aircraft using technology transfer from the mo ...
and managed two, at Banner Lane
Banner Lane was the site of a wartime shadow factory in Coventry, England, run by Standard Motor Company and dedicated to making Bristol Hercules aero engines. The war-surplus plant was taken over by Standard in 1946 to make Ferguson tractors ...
and Canley
Canley is a suburban neighbourhood located in CV4, south-west Coventry, England. Canley became part of Coventry as a result of successive encroachment of the latter's boundaries between 1928 and 1932, having historically been part of the St ...
built by the government for the manufacture of aero engines and for aircraft.[Graham Robson: ''The Book of the Standard Motor Company'', Veloce, 2011, ]
In July 1941 Black was appointed chairman of the Joint Aero Engine Committee. He performed so well he was given a knighthood
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...
in July 1943 and thereafter he insisted that his title be used by all staff and employees.[ At the end of the war he organised Standard's purchase of ]Triumph
The Roman triumph (Latin triumphus) was a celebration for a victorious military commander in ancient Rome. For later imitations, in life or in art, see Trionfo. Numerous later uses of the term, up to the present, are derived directly or indirectl ...
. Alick S. Dick took control of day-to-day operations in 1953 and Black was appointed chairman of Standard-Triumph. He was injured in late 1953 in an accident when being given a demonstration of the Swallow Doretti. His fellow board members believed this affected his judgment and he was forced to resign in January 1954, officially because of his health.
In December 1954 Black accepted an appointment as deputy chairman of Enfield Cables Ltd
Enfield Cables Ltd was a British manufacturer of electric cables.
The company was founded in 1913 by James Grimston as the Enfield Electric Cable Manufacturing Co Ltd, located on the River Lea in Enfield Lock. In 1959, as Enfield Cables Ltd, it w ...
.[ In his retirement he took up farming. He died suddenly at Cheadle Hospital, ]Cheadle, Cheshire
Cheadle () is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Cheshire, it borders Cheadle Hulme, Gatley, Heald Green and Cheadle Heath in Stockport, and East D ...
on 24 December 1965 at the age of 70.
Black married a second time in 1943 to Alicia Joan Pears[ ] Linton, daughter of the Bishop of Persia later rector of Handsworth, with whom he had three sons.[ The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography incorrectly identifies both father and daughter.
Shortly after Black died in 1965, Alick Dick, his successor at the helm of Standard-Triumph, recalled Black with obvious affection as an "extrovert and exciting, if somewhat controversial personality".] Recalling cars introduced under Black such as the Triumph TR2
The Triumph TR2 is a sports car produced by the Standard Motor Company in the United Kingdom between 1953 and 1955. It was only available in roadster form.
The car had a 121 cid (1991 cc) four-cylinder Standard wet liner inline-fou ...
, Dick candidly stated that "the emphasis was on the chassis nd on the car's performancerather than the body. lsotypical f Blackwas the fact that all his cars had very little leg room and lots of head room because he was a six footer with short legs".[
]
References
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External links
portrait, National Portrait Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Black, John Paul
1895 births
1965 deaths
Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War I
Military personnel from Surrey
People from Kingston upon Thames
Royal Tank Regiment officers
British Army personnel of World War I
Knights Bachelor
Businesspeople awarded knighthoods
People in the automobile industry
Alumni of the University of London
20th-century English businesspeople