A barn-find Cinderella story

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Just think about it: you open a barn and you find 6 Edwardian Wolseley cars. Would be amazing right?! For many years Charles Neville heard the stories about the grandfather of his neighbour, a man with multi-faceted interests, and a huge passion for classic cars. One evening he visited this neighbour and she told him that her grandfather, Henry Bowyer, had passed away.

This happened in 1959 and Charles was eager to visit the ‘junk-filled barns’, as they had been described to him, in Huntsville (Ontorio, Canada). Sometime later it became possible and he went to see the farm. He stepped out to the row of barns adjacent to the house and unlocked the first barn door. "It was as if I had suddenly found myself in another era. As my eyes adjusted to the gloom, there before me were two very large and stately limousines. So this was a Wolseley", he said. In the barn, a total of 13 cars were tucked away with plenty of parts and other collectables. The cars were in a remarkable state of preservation in the barns, as the storage conditions had been ideal, with a deep sandy soil on elevated ground and plenty of ventilation through the cracks in sides of the barn.

It was more than a year before Charles was able to make an offer on all seven Wolseleys and all related parts. His offer was accepted and the big adventure started.

You are perhaps wondering why we are telling you this? Well, one of the seven recently came for sale in our online marketplace and we were intrigued by the description of the seller which resulted in buying the book about the Wolseley find of the 20th century.

Cinderella

The car for sale here is a 1912 Wolseley 16/20 Coupe Landaulette with chassis number 19780. This four-cylinder car was in good condition compared to the other cars in the barn when Charles took her out of there. In such a good condition that they replaced the wheels and added a good dose of oil and grease to critical parts before they not only pulled it out of the barn but also back home, 150 miles away!

16780 is a car that is well documented. Charles found photos of the car when its portrait was taken as it stood brand new outside the Birmingham factory in early 1912.

A friend of Charles, Gerry Rolph, expressed great interest in buying the car, named ‘Cinderella’ by now, and he managed to convince Charles to part with it. Gerry took 16780 to Fort Worth, Texas in the 1960s, where he completed its restoration. It is a two-seater car and the top can be in either up or down position. The windshield frame is fixed, but the upper or lower part of the windshield may be swung open. It was fitted with acetylene headlights, with oil side-lights and tail-lights (we are of the understanding that they are now electric), and a compressed air starter.

Cinderella, ordered by Col A.E. Gooderham, was delivered to the Toronto Depot on 30th April 1912, according to the car record sheet, and was one of the Colonel’s several Wolseleys. More old papers were discovered showing it was licensed in 1927 to a Geo. A. Elliot and the same Mr. Elliot sold it to Henry Bowyer on 6th August 1927 for $10. The receipt was on the back of his business card.

Gerry Rolph took Cinderella with him when he moved to England before selling it on at auction in 1982. It changed hands several times within the UK before it came into the possession of a Dutch collector in 2007.

The quality of the car is outstanding, as is the design, and you can understand the excitement of Charles when he first saw these cars. We hope this Cinderella will find a new passionate owner and the story will be one with a happy ending!

For more information, see the advertisement here.

Source: Wolseley cars in Canada by Charles G. Neville.

Originally published: February 24, 2021

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