#RALEIGH CHOPPER BICYCLE FOR SALE SOUTH AFRICA SERIES#
In January 1889, it became the first of a series of limited liability companies with Raleigh in its name. The company established by Bowden in December 1888 was still privately owned with unlimited public liability. In recent years, the Raleigh company has cited 1887 as a foundation date but, whilst this pre-dates Bowden's involvement, the Raleigh brand name was created by Woodhead and Angois and the enterprise can, as demonstrated above, be traced back to 1885. The 1888 foundation date is confirmed by Bowden's great-grandson, Gregory Houston Bowden, who states that Frank Bowden "began to negotiate with Woodhead and Angois and in December 1888 founded 'The Raleigh Cycle Company'." The December 1888 foundation date is also confirmed by Nottinghamshire Archives.
Thus, Raleigh's 30th anniversary was celebrated in 1918. In Frank Bowden's own lifetime, Raleigh publicity material stated that the firm was founded in 1888, which was when Bowden, as he himself confirmed, first bought into the enterprise. He bought out William Ellis's share in the firm and was allotted 5,000 £1 shares, while Woodhead and Angois between them held another 5,000 shares. He concluded that the company had a profitable future if it promoted its innovative features, increased its output, cut its overhead costs and tailored its products to the individual tastes and preferences of its customers. That visit led to Bowden replacing Ellis as the partnership's principal investor, though Bowden did not become the outright owner of the firm. It is clear from Frank Bowden's own account that, although he bought a Raleigh ‘Safety’ in 1887, he did not visit the Raleigh workshop until autumn 1888. Woodhead and Angois, the originators and makers of the Raleigh … In the autumn of the latter year, happening to pass through Nottingham, and with the idea of, if possible, getting a still more up-to-date machine, I called upon Messrs. Its patent changeable gear and other special features struck me as superior to all the others I had seen, and I purchased one upon which I toured extensively through France, Italy and England during 18. In the early part of 1887, while looking for a good specimen of the then new safety bicycle, I came across a Raleigh in London.
Bowden described how this led to him visiting the Raleigh works: įrank Bowden, a recent convert to cycling who on medical advice had toured extensively on a tricycle, first saw a Raleigh bicycle in a shop window in Queen Victoria Street, London, about the time that William Ellis's investment in the cycle workshop was beginning to take effect. It was one of 15 bicycle manufacturers based in Nottingham at that time. By 1888, the company was making about three cycles a week and employed around half a dozen men.
Thanks to Ellis, the bicycle works had now expanded round the corner from Raleigh Street into former lace works on the adjoining road, Russell Street. He was a lace gasser, a service provider involved in the bleaching and treating of lace, with premises in nearby Clare Street and Glasshouse Street. Like Woodhead and Angois, Ellis's background was in the lace industry. Russell Street Cycle Works.’ William Ellis had recently joined the partnership and provided much-needed financial investment. Nearly two years later, the 11 April 1887 issue of The Nottingham Evening Post contained a display advertisement for the Raleigh ‘Safety’ model under the new banner ‘Woodhead, Angois, and Ellis.
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