Walter Charles Bersey (15 October 187421 April 1950) was a British electrical engineer who developed electric-driven vehicles in the late 19th-century. He developed a new form of
dry battery
Dry or dryness most often refers to:
* Lack of rainfall, which may refer to
**Arid regions
**Drought
* Dry or dry area, relating to legal prohibition of selling, serving, or imbibing alcoholic beverages
* Dry humor, deadpan
* Dryness (medical)
* ...
that enabled him to build, in 1888, an electric bus that he ran successfully for at least . In March 1894 he built an electric parcel van that was used in central London and later developed electric private cars. Bersey also developed an
electric cab design, 75 of which were built and used by the London Electrical Cab Company to run a service between 1897 and 1899. They were not financially successful owing to noise and vibration leading to excessive damage to tyres and batteries. In his later career Bersey developed designs for internal combustion engine cars and during 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 ...
served with the
Royal Flying Corps
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
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and
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
.
Early life and inventing career
Bersey was born on 15 October 1874. He studies at the Finsbury College of Engineering, attending courses given by physicist and electrical engineer
Silvanus P. Thompson
Silvanus Phillips Thompson (19 June 1851 – 12 June 1916) was a professor of physics at the City and Guilds Technical College in Finsbury, England. He was elected to the Royal Society in 1891 and was known for his work as an electrical eng ...
.
Early in life he developed a new type of
dry battery
Dry or dryness most often refers to:
* Lack of rainfall, which may refer to
**Arid regions
**Drought
* Dry or dry area, relating to legal prohibition of selling, serving, or imbibing alcoholic beverages
* Dry humor, deadpan
* Dryness (medical)
* ...
that allowed him to construct a working electric bus in 1888.
By mid-August 1894 he had run the bus successfully over a distance of .
In March of that year Bersey had developed an electric parcel van for use in the
City of London
The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...
. This had an effective range of and running costs said to be half that of a horse-drawn van. The prototype covered in the following 11 months and was well received in the press; though it was derided as dangerous by
crossing sweeper
A crossing sweeper was a person working as a street sweeper who would sweep a path ahead of people crossing dirty urban streets in exchange for a gratuity. This practice was an informal occupation among the urban poor, primarily during the 19th ...
s, bus and cab drivers.
Bersey constructed his first electric car in 1895; this was a two-motor chain-driven design with a 2-speed clutch gearbox.
Bersey exhibited a vehicle at the International Horseless Carriage Exhibition at the
Imperial Institute
The Commonwealth Education Trust is a registered charity established in 2007 as the successor trust to the Commonwealth Institute. The trust focuses on primary and secondary education and the training of teachers and invests on educational pro ...
on 15 May 1896, it was described as "smooth but slow". Bersey designed a number of such electric vehicles for the private motorist, though none survived to the modern day.
Bersey noted at the time that "there is no apparent limit to the hopes and expectations of the electric artisans…..in short
tis the natural power which shall be the most intimate and effective of all man's assets".
[
Bersey became an Associate Member of the ]Institution of Electrical Engineers
The Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) was a British professional organisation of electronics, electrical, manufacturing, and Information Technology professionals, especially electrical engineers. It began in 1871 as the Society of Te ...
in December 1895 and in 1896 he issued a publication entitled ''‘Electrically Propelled Carriages’'' which featured several electrically propelled carriages, designed by Bersey and as well as carriages by other manufacturers.
Bersey fell foul of the restrictive Locomotive Acts
The Locomotive Acts (or Red Flag Acts) were a series of Acts of Parliament in the United Kingdom regulating the use of mechanically propelled vehicles on British public highways during the latter part of the 19th century.
The first three, the Lo ...
of the time which limited self-propelled road-going vehicles to 2 mph in towns and 4 mph in the countryside. They also required all such vehicles to be preceded by a man waving a red flag. Bersey was summonsed to court at least twice for breaking the law, by exceeding the speed limit and not having a flag man. In May 1896 he was fined £2 plus costs for driving on Parliament Street, London, in excess of the speed limit. The Locomotive Acts were superseded, after much lobbying and campaigning, by the Locomotives on Highways Act 1896
The Locomotives on Highways Act 1896 removed the strict rules and UK speed limits that were included in the earlier Locomotive Acts which had greatly restricted the adoption of motorised vehicles in the United Kingdom. It came into operation on ...
on 14 November 1896 which removed the requirement for a flag man and raised the speed limit to 12 mph.[ At around this time Bersey predicted that "whilst petroleum may become the motive power in country districts, and steam will probably be used for very heavy vehicles, there is no doubt that electricity will be the most advantageous where the traffic can be located within a radius".]
Bersey electric cab
In 1896 Bersey developed an electric cab, intended for use in central London. The cab was exhibited at a South Kensington
South Kensington, nicknamed Little Paris, is a district just west of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with ...
motor show and the 14 November 1896 London to Brighton emancipation race.[ A batch of 12 cabs entered service for the London Electrical Cab Company on 19 August 1897.] The cabs, which charged the same rate as the horse-drawn alternative, proved popular and the fleet expanded to 75 vehicles.[ However the heavy weight of the vehicle's batteries caused excessive tyre wear, vibration and increased noise.][ The vibration damaged the delicate glass plate batteries and the cost of replacements for these and the solid rubber tyres caused the company to report a loss of £6,200 in its first year.] The cabs were withdrawn from service and the company closed in August 1899.[
]
Later career
In his later career Bersey switched to designing and selling internal combustion engine cars. His firm of W C Bersey & Co of Hythe Road, Willesden, Middlesex, went into liquidation on 4 January 1900. He then entered into a partnership with Augustus Sebastian Pereno as a motor dealer in Long Acre, London, which lasted until 24 February 1903. A subsequent partnership with Percy Lloyd Hanmer Dodson, again as motor dealers, at Copthall Avenue, London, was dissolved on 5 October 1903. Some of his patents were later acquired by Harry John Lawson
Henry John Lawson, also known as Harry Lawson, (23 February 1852–12 July 1925) was a British bicycle designer, racing cyclist, motor industry pioneer, and fraudster. As part of his attempt to create and control a British motor industry Lawson ...
's The Great Horseless Carriage Company
The Great Horseless Carriage Company Limited was formed in May 1896 with a capital of £750,000 in shares of £10 each "of which £250,0000 was for working capital". The company was formed to carry on the horseless carriage industry in England and ...
.
During 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 ...
Bersey was appointed a second lieutenant in the Royal Flying Corps
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
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, decorations ...
on 29 October 1917. He was confirmed in rank as a 2nd class equipment officer on 29 November 1917 and on 15 March 1918 was appointed to the temporary rank of lieutenant-colonel whilst on special employment. Bersey transferred to the Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
upon its foundation on 1 April 1918 and was appointed a 1st class staff officer. He relinquished his rank on 30 September 1918 and was appointed a temporary major in the administrative branch; he ceased to be employed on 25 April 1919 after the war had ended.
Bersey died on 21 April 1950, by which point he was living at Sandbanks, Bournemouth, and left an estate valued at around £9,800.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bersey, Walter
British automotive pioneers
British automobile designers
British electrical engineers
1874 births
1950 deaths