Death of Mr. Singer, tke Cycle King.

Progress, Volume IV, Issue 5, 1 March 1909, Page 161

Death of Mr. Singer, tke Cycle King.

Mr. Singer, who died of apoplexy on January 4th last, had a remarkable career. He started as a mechanic in the works of Perm and Co., of Lewisham, spent the late sixties in the sewing machine department of the Manchester Company, and started in the early eighties as a cycle maker on his own account. Being one of a very few in the business at the time, and having very inventive brains and much enterprise, he soon made a fortune. About the middle eighties he got into the hands ol the notorious Hooley, who floated the business into a company on a capital of £600,000 and debentures £200,000. The rush for shares was phenomenal, but the subsequent profits were not. At the outset of his career as a manufacturer Mr. Singer owed a great deal to his name, the world having got it into his head that he was the Singer of the sewing machine celebrity, and the mistake proved worth a good deal to him financially and from the advertisement point of view. The world only learnt the truth at Mr. Singer's Jubilee celebration in 1907, when he assembled a vast number of friends at the Hotel Metropole in London. There were toasts and reminiscences as usual on such occasions, and the truth about the name came out then. In later years Mr. Singer had a distinguished connection with the motor industry. His magnificent mansion in the suburbs of Coventry has long been the talk of the Midlands, where gorgeous stories are current of the hospitalities of the Cycle King, Alderman, and generous subscriber to the funds of the Liberal Party. Among the guests who have there been entertained royally was Lord Morley, for whom the late Mr. Singer had much veneration.

There is a movement afoot in England to help deserving girls into the motor-driving business. As to the ability of girls to drive there can be no doubt whatever, since many ladies are expert drivers. But the coming of the chauffeuse — if she is to come — opens a fertile field for conjecture.