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Midland Red Early Days

"Peter" is a rather unusual female nickname: the normal feminine form is "Peta". Bertrand Russell's third wife was Patricia "Peter" Spence, and her nickname apparently stemmed from the fact that her parents had wanted a boy! Perhaps a clue as to Ethel Wyndham Shire's nickname, but who knows?
 
Ethel May Lewin (1877-1947) was born in Leicester and spent much of her childhood at addresses in Titchbourne Street, Belgrave, Leicester. She married three times in all, firstly at 22 to John Lindsay Wood (1865-1908) of Wigan, in Nottingham on 17 May 1899. He was 12 years her senior, and they lived in Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire until his death in Barrow on Soar. They had one child, son James Lindsay Wood (1900-?, 1963 at least), whose name appears as notifier on our LGW Shire's death certificate in 1963.

Next at 33 she married George Granville Clarke (1867-1926) of Durness, Sutherland, Scotland, in Paddington, London on 12 Nov 1910. They do not seem to have had children, but by 1915 were living at 233 Hagley Rd, Edgbaston, Birmingham. Whilst there they took in LGW Shire as a boarder, the address being on his Army discharge papers in 1916.

By 1917 they had all moved to no 331 Hagley Rd, the first house north west of the bridge carrying the road over the Harborne Railway Co's line, immediately south of Hagley Rd station. (The previous owner had been a Mr Tedstone, [a descendant of whose I knew at school!] who may have been the builder, developer or landlord of several properties in the area.) G.G. Clarke disappears from the radar for a while, but is almost certainly the same George Clarke who became a traffic manager for the Potteries Electric Traction Company (PET, later when the trams were replaced by buses PMT - Potteries Motor Traction) and who died on 29 Oct 1926 and is buried in the churchyard of Berkswich parish Church, Baswich Lane, Weeping Cross, Stafford (just down the road from where another schoolfriend and I used to visit his grandfather - travelling by train [in the last of the steam days] to Stafford and then by the Midland Red S82 local service, one of the last outposts of the pre-war FEDD type double deckers in their last years of 1960/1).
At some point the house passed from the Clarkes' to Shire's ownership, and he became their landlord in reverse of the previous arrangement.

Mr Shire and Mrs (later the widow Clarke) remained at 331 Hagley Road during this time, and LGWS eventually married her on 10 May 1928, she at 51 and he 43, the ceremony taking place at St Augustines Church, Lyttleton Road, Edgbaston - which, incidentally is the background to the official photographs of Shire's SOS FS prototype, HA 2500 (see Midland Red history pt1, pp 60-1 - note the war memorial visible on both P 60 pictures). It is also halfway between their house and Carlyle Rd Works.

Now, returning for a moment to George Granville Clarke. His father was George Granville Leveson Clarke (1832-1904) of Eribol, Durness, Sutherland, Scotland; his family being landowners in the area. His mother was Elizabeth Anne Sutherland Clarke (1839-1870) - the name similarity is confusing and may indicate they were cousins - certainly the families came originally from the same area although Elizabeth was born in Glendhu on the Ouse, Tasmania, Australia. Her parents were James Clarke and Jane, nee MacKenzie. Again the family are supposed to have been landowners in the area, possibly very early settlers. Can you discover anything about her and/or the Clarke family in Tasmania, Thylacine? [He asks, while humming this catchy tune!]
 
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Great work, Lloyd! :thumbsup: I love the little details. And another "down under" connection! I'll see what I can discover about the Clarkes in Tasmania.

[As for that catchy tune: very good, but I prefer the original version. ;)]
 
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According to the Mackenzie of Altibuie website [search on "James Clarke"], James Clarke, "a farmer from Assynt", married Jane Mackenzie, and they emigrated to Tasmania in the 1820s. They eventually settled at "Glendhu" (a 1,400 acre property) on the Ouse River near Hamilton.

Jane Mackenzie (daughter of Kenneth Mackenzie of Ledbeg, Sutherland) died 8 March 1847 at Macquarie Street, Hobart, aged 42 (death notice) or 45 (headstone) and was buried at St Andrews cemetery [search for "Mackensie"; there's a link to a picture of the headstone]. James Clarke (who was apparently nicknamed "Long") died 10 February 1853 at 4 Nile Terrace, Hobart.

Of their many children, at least five died young (they are listed on their mother's headstone). For example, Charles William Scobie Clarke died 23 October 1844 (aged 7), drowned in the river Derwent [Colonial Times 5 November 1844]. I can find no mention of their daughter Elizabeth Anne Sutherland Clarke (1839-1870), or when she travelled to the UK.
 
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Thanks! Your link to this page has given lots of family connections, including the complicated inter-family marriages.
Glendhu and its history are mentioned here, from which I deduct the farmstead is here some distance from Hamilton, but that township is still the area's administrative base. A 'Big Clarke' is tantalisingly mentioned.
 
Very interesting link re "Glendhu", Lloyd, and I'm sure you've found the right place, much nearer Ouse than Hamilton. "Big Clarke" or "Long Clarke" (a remarkably tall man, perhaps) was certainly a big land owner / manager with 300,000 acres under his control! He might have over-extended himself, though, as he was legally insolvent by 1845, and in April 1851 his beloved "Glendhu" was sold to a Mr P Whyte for £2,500 [Colonial Times 9 April 1851]. This must have been when he moved to Hobart. We're certainly digging deep into Wyndham Shire's family background here! ;)
 
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LGWS was one of the first 'Busmen' we started out to investigate, some years ago now. Once we discovered he had been married, a whole new family to trace opened up - with quite a few interesting results!

£2500 in 1851 was not a small sum, although today's value depends vastly on how you calculate it.
Measuringworth.com's comparison calculator gives:
£218,000.00 using the retail price index
£288,000.00 using the GDP deflator
£1,930,000.00 using the average earnings
£2,580,000.00 using the per capita GDP
£5,810,000.00 using the share of GDP
(I would assume a value between that of the RPI and the AE, certainly about £1 million.)

Elizabeth Anne Sutherland Clarke had journeyed to Scotland by the time of her marriage to George Granville Leveson Clarke on 2nd November 1865, which ties in with the family's loss of (some, at least) fortune. She died in 1870, at 31 years of age having delivered at least three children in her marriage - George Granville Clarke, b. 1867; Elizabeth Jane Mackenzie Clarke, b. 1868; and John Charles Clarke, b. 1869.
 
On 22 April 1974, Midland Red acquired Harper Brothers (Heath Hayes) Ltd, along with 50 vehicles. One of these was registered OLD820 (an ex-London Transport Leyland RT with Park Royal body, new as fleet number RTL1600 in September 1954). This bus is seen here (thanks to Walsall1955 at flickr) in Midland Red service in August 1974 on the Cannock to Birmingham route. Not the clearest of pictures, but it does illustrate the purpose of the lowbridge double-deck body.

[Note added: Despite the low bridge, I don't think the bus has a lowbridge body: it's a Park Royal RT8. Ian's Bus Stop does not give much of a history for this bus. Does anyone know the details?]

Actually, the Harper take-over didn't formally take effect until 7 September 1974, so the bus is technically still in Harper Brothers service (and livery). The ex-Harper buses and coaches were given Midland Red fleet numbers in the 22xx series, where "xx" was the former Harper fleet number. Does anyone know the fleet number of OLD820? I suspect that it didn't survive long with Midland Red.
 
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Sorry, for some reason the Harper fleet takeover details are missing from my otherwise comprehensive listings. Some catching up to do there methinks!
 
Charles W Baroth​
Charles W Baroth’s biography as detailed by his son Eric in the Omnibus Society’s booklet “Characters of the Bus Industry” (2004, ISBN 0 946265 37 2) tells of his early life in the Royal Army Service Corps, and training as a Mining Engineer after WW1, then entering the bus industry as a driver for United Automobile Services.
By 1924 he was in charge of the Clowne depot of the associated W T Underwood company, moving within a year to run Boston depot and then in 1927 moving to the National Omnibus Company in charge of operations at Taunton.
His later career at Newport Corporation in 1944 and then Salford Corporation from 1946 although dynamic does not interest us here (other than his very close to Birmingham-style specification for Metro-Cammell bodied Daimlers for Salford in the 1950s), but before that he was at Midland Red from 1928 in the traffic department at Bearwood, soon becoming Birmingham Area Divisional Superintendent, responsible for Bearwood, Digbeth, Sutton Coldfield and Oldbury’s 300+ vehicle operation.
He was BMMO’s representative in the Black Country tramway replacement programme, where Midland Red services replaced both BET company and Birmingham Corporation trams running on the former company routes outside of the city’s boundary, as well as supervising the day-to-day operation of the company’s long distance express and holiday coach cruise operations centred around Digbeth Coach Station.

Charles William Baroth (CWB) was born in Shanghai, China on 13th of January 1900. As yet I have been unable to find his parentage, but assume they must have had a diplomatic connection to be in China in 1900.
In the 1911 census CWB is a pupil boarder at Colet Court preparatory school, Hammersmith Road, London – and his nationality is given as “Russian”. That yields no clues either!
He is known to have been in the RASC between 1916 and 1918, and his medal roll card in the National Archive shows him as ASC Dvr T4/088044, and that he was awarded the Victory medal and British War medal.
In the first quarter of 1920 CWB married Lois Buckley in Bakewell, Derbyshire (there is mining, particularly of Lead in that area) and their son Charles was born later the same year. (He subsequently married Joan Palmer in Caerleon, Monmouthshire in 1948 and they had a son in 1954 who I will not name as he is possibly still alive.)
Had there been a split? Lois died in Sheffield in the 4th quarter of 1930, but the Birmingham Electoral roll for that year shows CWB along with a Hilda May Baroth at 116 Willow Avenue, Edgbaston – just off Sandon Road and within easy walking distance of Bearwood garage – and the marriage is recorded of CWB to Hilda May Clements in the 1st quarter of 1931. Son Eric was born in 1932.
Her death is recorded as at Cheltenham in early 1972, and CWB is known to have lived in Gloucestershire after his retirement in 1965, later moving to Norfolk where he married for the third time, in Downham in 1975 to Elinor (sic) Elizabeth Hopwood nee Nabarro who was 64.
[Elinor Nabarro shared the same grandparents as Gerald Nabarro MP (1913-1973), Jacob David Nunes Nabarro (1845-1913) from Reusel-de Mierden, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands; and Hannah David Israel Nabarro nee Ricardo from Amsterdam.]
Charles William Baroth died in November 1985, in Downham, Norfolk.

Pictured - Charles William Baroth: Sir Gerald David Nunes Nabarro, MP.
 
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Lloyd, thanks for that fascinating bio-pic of Charles William Baroth, with a few unanswered questions for us to investigate. Surely the only Midland Red man to have been born in China (though surprises are frequent on this thread!).
 
On the subject of second-hand vehicles acquired by Midland Red (BMMO and Midland Red Omnibus Co Ltd) in the 1970s, my records (like yours, Lloyd) are fragmentary. MidlandRed.net doesn't help us much here either. Here's a summary of what I have (corrections, additions and comments are welcome):
Stratford Blue Motors Ltd (1 January 1971): fleet numbers 2001-2059 (with gaps).
R G Cooper (1973): 2140-2143.
Green Bus Co (November 1973): 2150-2154.
T Hoggins and Sons (6 January 1974): 2181-2185.
Harper Brothers (7 September 1974): 2201-2278 (with gaps).
London Country (1977): 2121-2125.
Trent Motor Traction Co Ltd (August 1981): 2541/2543/2545/2547.​
I have not included vehicles acquired after the break-up of Midland Red on 6 September 1981.
 
I can find only two mentions of Charles William Baroth in the London Gazette (there's nothing on his service in World War 1):
6 April 1934: Naturalization ... Baroth, Charles William; No Nationality; Divisional Omnibus Superintendent; 18 Sandyhill Crescent, Shirley, near Birmingham. 3 March 1934 [date of his Oath of Allegiance.]
18 April 1972: Re deceased estates: Hilda May Baroth, "Green Acres", Dumbleton, Gloucestershire, wife of Charles William Baroth. Died 11 March 1972.​
 
Lloyd said:
... Charles William Baroth (CWB) was born in Shanghai, China on 13th of January 1900 ... In the 1911 census CWB is a pupil boarder at Colet Court preparatory school ... his nationality is given as “Russian” ...
Click to expand...

Just a thought: if CWB's parents were Russian Jews, they might have fled Russia after the pogroms of the 1880s and subsequent antisemitic laws. Wikipedia's History of the Jews in China lends some support to this hypothesis.
 
Not very early days, but about 30 years ago now! Here is a picture of Midland Red Omnibus Co Ltd fleet number 2255 (MRF420L), seen at Victoria Coach Station (London), probably in the late 1970s / early 1980s (courtesy of John Law at fotopic).

Anorak supplement:
MRF420L was a Leyland Leopard PSU4B/4R (7202381) with Duple C45F body (252/1). It was new in August 1972 to Tudor Rose Coaches (Sutton Coldfield), a subsidiary of Harper Brothers (Heath Hayes) Ltd, as fleet number 55. On 7 September 1974 it passed to Midland Red as fleet number 2255, allocated to Heath Hayes garage. Later allocations were: Cannock (February 1977), Bromsgrove (June 1978) and Digbeth (December 1978). On the break-up of Midland Red on 6 September 1981 it passed to Midland Red Express Ltd. Withdrawn in July 1982, it passed to dealer North (Sherburn-in-Elmet, North Yorkshire) in December of the same year, probably for scrap.​
 
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Here is a much more beautiful coach, seen in splendid preservation in 2008 (courtesy of Martin Alford at flickr). It is Harper Brothers fleet number 60 (registered 1294RE: 1959 Guy Arab LUF with Gardner 6HLW engine and "Seagull" body by H V Burlingham of Blackpool). This coach was on the Midland Red books for a short time as fleet number 2260, before passing into preservation. Harper had an identical coach (fleet number 59 registered 1293RE), which apparently passed to the Severn Valley Railway, but I have been unable to trace its later history.
 
I remember the takeover of Harpers happening whilst I was at Digbeth, much of the older fleet went straight into store and was sold. A small deputation of drivers took buses from Carlyle works to Heath Hayes and returned with a selection of, well to most drivers at the time, rubbish. A few were temporarily parked on Digbeth's 'patch' in Mill Lane, and I did ask to use a Bristol Lodekka on the 144 once - only to be answered with raised eyebrows and a stern NO!
The newer fleet did continue to work though, gradually acquiring red livery (or National white, if appropriate) and when Digbeth became the coach unit, the ex-Harper coaches were shared between Digbeth and Cannock (which was a small outstation existing on contract hire for the coal mines in the area - the operation of which is where I cut my teeth in learning to do schedules and rotas, although still only a driver by grade. A story for another day, perhaps!).
I drove them on occasions, and although not in the first flush of youth they were interesting because they were different. Some still had the Harper blinds in, and I would wind up and display "Tudor Rose Coaches" if I could!
 
Thanks indeed for those recollections, Lloyd! All part of the rich tapestry of Midland Red history. I wish there had been a photographer at the Mill Lane "patch" to record the old Harper Brothers fleet for posterity. (Perhaps there was!).
 
Because of the various acquisitions, it was possible in the 1970s to see some unusual buses and coaches in Midland Red livery. From John Law's fotopic collection:
[1] 2056: registered AAC21B; Leyland L2T (L04272) Plaxton C41F (642978); ex-Stratford Blue 56 new May 1964; withdrawn January 1976. Seen at Stratford garage in the early 1970s (alongside TNX454: 1956 Leyland Titan PD2/12 Willowbrook H35/28RD ex-Stratford Blue 20).
[2] 2247: registered NRF420L; Bedford SB5 (1T492260) Willowbrook B40F (72253); ex-Harper Brothers 47 new 1972; withdrawn April 1977 and sold to Brodyr Richards (Dyfed). Seen at Cannock in 1975.
[3] NRF420L seen on service with Richards at Fishguard in 1978.​
[At this point, I think I'd better stop raiding John Law's photographic collections. He has other Harper examples, and an ex-Green Bus (Rugeley) coach, amongst other interesting pictures.]
 
I think the colour saturation in the last photo is a bit off. Either that or the passewr by has got some nasty liver disease or something
 
On the "Archive Footage" thread, formula t has discovered this movie of Birmingham in 1935 (from the Brian Trenerry archive, probably taken during celebrations of the Silver Jubilee of King George V and Queen Mary on 6 May 1935). A couple of fairly new Midland Red FEDDs can be seen weaving their way through the crowds, together with Birmingham Corporation buses and trams, one of W Hunter's "De-Luxe Coaches" (can anyone read the address?), white-uniformed traffic policemen, and many other items of interest. Such a lot of activity in such a short movie! Does anyone recognise the location?
 
Thylacine - Thanks for that link, so many interesting things to see in it. I could not read the address on the coach, but noticed two St Georges flags fluttering on it's roof. I tried to read the sign on a board a man was carrying round his neck about 52 seconds in but could not. I used to love the top front seat on those FEDDs. It looks like Corporation St to me, but even I wasn't around then.
oldmohawk:)
 
Yes, oldMohawk, it's one of the best movies of old Brum that I've seen. I was also very fond of that FEDD top front seat (albeit in the late 1950s / early 1960s).
 
Well found, Lloyd! It's wonderful to discover a previously unknown (to me at any rate) Birmingham independent public transport operator. Very smart coach, too, with the elliptical rear window we've seen before.
 
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