Michael C. Sedgwick (1926–14 October 1983) was a British motoring writer.
Motoring Author
Michael Sedgwick was educated at Winchester and
Corpus Christi,
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
. He started writing on motoring subjects in 1959 when he became an assistant editor of 'Veteran & Vintage' magazine. For much of that time he held the appointment of curator of the then Montagu Motor Museum at
Beaulieu now the
National Motor Museum. He also created the museum's library master index and began writing books in his own name. In addition, he did much of the extensive research for major works by
Lord Montagu of Beaulieu on the subject of 'Jaguar Cars', 'Rolls of
Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to:
* Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct
Automobiles
* Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...
', 'The
Gordon Bennett Races' and the three- volume set, 'Lost Causes of Motoring'. Michael resigned his museum post in 1966 to give more time to writing, albeit he retained links with the
Montagu Motor Museum as Director of Research and as a member of the Advisory Council of the museum at Beaulieu.
[Obituary, Mr Michael C. Sedgwick. ''The Times'', Tuesday, Oct 25, 1983; pg. 14; Issue 61672]
From 1966, a series of books followed. He also made extensive contributions to the 'Encyclopedia of the Motor-Car' and other motoring
encyclopedia's, edited by
Nick Georgano
George Nicolas "Nick" Georgano (29 February 1932 – 22 October 2017[Nick Georgano](_blank)
Alvis Archive Bl ...
which also covered commercial vehicles and motor sport. He wrote regularly for magazines published in Britain, Australia, France, Germany and the United States. The overwhelming aspect of his books and articles was his tenacious research and his ability to see any era of the motor vehicle in a social or commercial perspective was widely acknowledged.
Christie's
Michael's devotion to research coupled with a retentive and photographic memory made him an outstanding repository of knowledge, which was always freely shared with others. This was especially valuable for his work as an auction consultant to Christie's International Auction house in London from 1972. In this field as in his writings, his expertise became renowned internationally.[
]
The Michael Sedgwick Memorial Trust
Michael Sedgwick died unexpectedly at his home in Midhurst
Midhurst () is a market town, parish and civil parish in West Sussex, England. It lies on the River Rother inland from the English Channel, and north of the county town of Chichester.
The name Midhurst was first recorded in 1186 as ''Middeh ...
, West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ...
, on 14 October 1983 at the age of 57.[Deaths. ''The Times'', Wednesday, Oct 19, 1983; pg. 26; Issue 61667] The Michael Sedgwick Memorial Trust was created in 1984 and exists to encourage new and original research into any aspect of motoring history and also to see this research reach the public domain. This can be through the publication of the research as a book, other printed medium or publishing on the World Wide Web. Today the Trust gives advice to would-be authors and tries to bring together authors and publishers. The Trust’s view is that even books with a very limited sales potential should be published if the subject matter is worthy and the research is new and comprehensive. In cases where the publisher believes that the subject is worthy of publication but is not going to be a viable commercial proposition, the Michael Sedgwick Trust can often offer some financial help to bridge the gap.
Bibliography
Some of the hardbound books either written by or with significant contributions by Michael Sedgwick include:
*A-Z of cars 1945-1970 (Temple, 1986) with Mark Gillies
*A-Z of cars 1930s (Bay View, 1989) and Mark Gillies
*Antique Cars (John Wiley and Sons, 1980)
*Cars (Piccolo, 1986)
*Lord Montagu, The Gordon Bennett Races (Cassell,1963) research by Sedgwick
*Denis Jenkinson, The Schlumpf Obsession (Hamlyn,1977)historical consultant.
*Lord Montagu, Lost Causes of Motoring (Cassell, 1960) research by Michael Sedgwick
*Lord Montagu, Jaguar - a biography (Cassell, 1961) research by Michael Sedgwick
*Lord Montagu, Lost Causes of Motoring - Europe (Cassell, 1969–1971) research by Michael Sedgwick, in 2 volumes.
*Veteran Motor Cars (Salmon / Beaulieu, 1960)
*Early Cars (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1962)
*Cars in Colour (Batsford, 1968)
*Cars of the 1930s (Batsford, 1970)
*Veteran and Vintage Cars in Colour (Batsford, 1968)
*Cavalcade of Motoring (Macmillan, 1972)
*Fiat (Batsford, 1974)
*Passenger Cars 1924-1942 (Blandford, 1975)
*The Motor Car 1946-1956 (Batsford, 1979)
*Cars of the Thirties and Forties (London: Hamlyn, 1974)
*Veteran Cars (London: Ward Lock, 1980)
*Vintage Cars (London: Ward Lock, 1980)
*Bedford – GM's British Commercial (Dalton Watson / Beaulieu Books, 1980)
*Vauxhall (Dalton Watson / Beaulieu Books, 1981)
*Cars of the Fifties and Sixties (Feltham: Temple Press, 1983)
*The Veteran Car Club–50 Years Pictorial History (The VCC of Great Britain, 1981) with Elizabeth Nagle
References
External links
The Michael Sedgwick Memorial Trust.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sedgwick, Michael C.
British motoring journalists
Historians of motorsport
1926 births
1983 deaths
20th-century English historians