Bernard Docker

Sir Bernard Dudley Frank Docker (9 August 1896 – 22 May 1978) was an English industrialist. Born in Edgbaston, Birmingham, he was the only child of Frank Dudley Docker, an English businessman and financier.

Career

Docker was the managing director of the Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA) group of companies from the early 1940s until 1956. He also chaired The Daimler Company Limited and the Anglo-Argentine Tramways Company. He was awarded a knighthood in 1938 for his ‘energetic work during twelve years as the Chairman of Westminster Hospital.’ He was succeeded by Jack Sangster as Chairman of BSA, following a 1956 boardroom coup.

First marriage

Docker's first wife was eanne Stuart(née Ivy Sweet), a British actress. They married in 1933, but the marriage was soon dissolved after pressure from Docker's parents. His father had her tracked by private detectives, and after finding her with actor avid Hutcheson Docker divorced her. Jeanne later married a member of the Rothschild family.

1933 ROLLS-ROYCE

1934-Bernard Docker took delivery of AYO 867 (UK) FXE 616 (California) Rolls-Royce Phantom 2 50HP Long Continental Limousine, Chassis No. 89RY Engine No. SU85. straight six petrol. One of only 11 "Long Chassis" Ordered from Rolls-Royce Derby on several foolscap sides of personal specifications. The Coachwork was completed by Park Ward, the front wing sidelights were Daimler. This car had a glass divider, full width & height of the interior, to ensure complete privacy (with illuminated drinks pockets), from the front seat occupants.

MY ''Shemara''

Docker commissioned John I. Thornycroft & Company to build a 863 tonne yacht to his specifications in 1938. 'I must stress that she was our home,' Norah: the Autobiography of Lady Docker states. MY ''Shemara'' was requisitioned by the Royal Navy at the start of the Second World War in 1939 and used as a training vessel for anti-submarine warfare. It was during a training exercise with HMS ''Shemara'' that the submarine HMS ''Untamed'' was lost with all her crew. ''Shemara'' left RN service in 1946

Green Goddess

Docker commissioned Hooper & Co. to build a drophead coupé on a Daimler DE-36 chassis for display at the first post-war British International Motor Show at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre in 1948. Named the "Green Goddess" by the press, the car had five seats, three windscreen wipers, and hydraulic operation of both the hood and the hood cover. After the show, the car was further tested and refined, after which it was kept by Docker for his personal use. Six other chassis were bodied with similar bodies. These were all called "Green Goddesses" after the original, which was exhibited with jade-green coachwork and green-piped beige leather.

Second marriage

His second wife was Norah Collins (née Norah Royce Turner), a former showgirl that he married at Caxton Hall in 1949. She was the widow of Sir William Collins, the president of Fortnum & Mason, and also the widow of Clement Callingham, the head of Henekeys wine and spirits merchants. They lived at Heath House in Stockbridge.

Docker Daimlers

Sir Bernard Docker commissioned a series of Daimlers that were built to Lady Docker's specifications for the show circuit.

In ‘Norah: The Autobiography of Lady Docker’, ‘The Golden Daimler’ is given its own chapter. ‘If I could find a single reason for my elevation to the dubious ranks of a celebrity, then I think, I would have a motor car to thank.’ Norah told her husband Sir Bernard Docker of her frustration that no one abroad had heard of Daimler cars. To boost the car’s popularity, she asked Bernard: “Why can’t you manufacture a smaller Daimler, suitable for the family?” Bernard invited her to join the company and to take on the project.

;1951 – The Gold Car (a.k.a. Golden Daimler)
''The Gold Car'' was a touring limousine on the Thirty-Six Straight-Eight chassis. The car was covered with 7,000 tiny gold stars, and all plating that would normally have been chrome was gold. This car was taken to Paris, the United States and Australia.
;1952 – Blue Clover
Also on the Thirty-Six Straight-Eight chassis, ''Blue Clover'' was a two-door sportsman's coupé.
;1953 – Silver Flash
The ''Silver Flash'' was an aluminium-bodied coupé based on the 3-litre Regency chassis. Its accessories included solid silver hairbrushes and red fitted luggage made from crocodile skin.
;1954 – Star Dust
based on the DF400 chassis. In 2014, the Star Dust limo, "finished with 5,000 sterling silver six-pointed stars" was sold after having been found in a barn in Wales in the 1980s.
;1955 – Golden Zebra
The ''Golden Zebra'' was a two-door coupé based on the DK400 chassis. Like the ''Gold Car'', the ''Golden Zebra'' had all its metal trim pieces plated in gold instead of chrome, and it had an ivory dashboard and zebra-skin upholstery.

Separation from Midland Bank

An entire chapter of 'Norah: the Autobiography of Lady Docker' is devoted to the Dockers and their separation from Midland Bank titled 'The B.S.A. Affair'. The book was ghostwritten and edited by Don Short.

Separation from BSA

At the end of May 1956, Docker was removed from the board of Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA), and he was replaced as chairman of BSA by Jack Sangster.

Decline and death

Without their main source of income, the Dockers began to run out of money. In 1965, Docker put ''Shemara'' on the market for £600,000; it was eventually sold for £290,000. In the Norah: the Autobiography of Lady Docker, their isolation was described. 'Now we feel alone in this world, long since forgotten by those we helped, with only a handful of true and trusted friends remaining.'

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Docker, Bernard
1896 births
1978 deaths
Knights Bachelor
People from Birmingham, West Midlands
British motorcycle pioneers
People from Edgbaston
Daimler people
20th-century English businesspeople