John Kemp Starley (24 December 1855 – 29 October 1901) was an English inventor and industrialist who is widely considered the inventor of the modern safety bicycle, and also originator of the tradename Rover.

Early life

Born on 24 December 1855 Starley lived on Church Hill,

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a town within the London Borough of Waltham Forest in east London. The town borders Chingford to the north, Snaresbrook and South Woodford to the east, Leyton and Leytonstone to the south, and Tottenham to the west. At ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. He was the son of a gardener, John Starley, and Mary Ann (née Coppen).Biography at Vestry House Museum, Walthamstow In 1872 he moved to

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

to work with his uncle James Starley, an inventor. He worked with his uncle and William Hillman for several years building Ariel cycles.

Career

In 1877, he started a new business ''Starley & Sutton Co'' with William Sutton, a local cycling enthusiast. They set about developing bicycles that were safer and easier to use than the prevailing

penny farthing The penny-farthing, also known as a high wheel, high wheeler or ordinary, is an early type of bicycle. It was popular in the 1870s and 1880s, with its large front wheel providing high speeds, owing to it travelling a large distance for every ro ...

or "ordinary" bicycles. They started by manufacturing

tricycle A tricycle, sometimes abbreviated to trike, is a Human-powered transport, human-powered (or gasoline or electric motor powered or assisted, or gravity powered) Three-wheeler, three-wheeled vehicle. Some tricycles, such as cycle rickshaws (for pa ...

s, and by 1883 their products were being branded as "Rover". In 1885, Starley made history when he produced the Rover Safety Bicycle. The ''Rover'' was a rear-wheel-drive, chain-driven cycle with two similar-sized wheels, making it more stable than the previous high wheeler designs. ''

Cycling Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

'' magazine said the Rover had "set the pattern to the world" and the phrase was used in their advertising for many years. Thinktank Birmingham - Starley

In 1889, the company became ''J. K. Starley & Co. Ltd'' and in the late 1890s, it had become the Rover Cycle Company Ltd.

Death

Starley died suddenly on 29 October 1901, in

, and was succeeded as managing director of the firm by Harry Smyth. Soon after Starley's death the Rover company began building

motorcycles A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

and then cars.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Starley, John Kemp 1855 births 1901 deaths English inventors Rover Company British cycle designers British motorcycle pioneers British founders of automobile manufacturers Sustainable transport pioneers 19th-century English businesspeople

Early life

Career

Death

See also

References