Bernard Percy - Peugeots and ladies

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19th-century three wheeling - part 3

Thomas Bernard Percy was the son of James Percy, a wealthy toll-bridge owner, who also owned and ran the Hythe and Southampton Steam Ferries Hotspur and Hampton. Thomas worked as a clerk in the family business and was clearly well in the money too (he would later be involved with the ownership of skating rinks and cinemas). Living at Ealing, it was from there that Bernard drove his first car, a Léon Bollée (or possibly the British-built Coventry Motette). In The Autocar, he reported of a trip in September 1899: 'Last Sunday four friends and myself journeyed from here to Molesey and back by means of a one and three-quarter horsepower Bollée and trailer. Hearing so much of the necessity of more power: some motorists recommend two horse-power per person carried – I thought it might interest you to know that the motor ran most of the way on the top speed; occasionally the second speed was necessary, but only for starting, and perhaps once or twice near the summit of a hill was the low gear used. The only troubles experienced were connected with tyres, both on the motor and trailer.' From Ealing to Molesey was only about 10 miles, and the picture shows four female friends, Bernard clearly still a bachelor!

But it was not only ladies that Bernard Percy transported. The Car Illustrated wrote in an article about Percy in 1903: 'Of the varied uses to which a motor-car may be put by a private owner, that of boat carrying is surely one of the most novels.' In 1900, he owned a De Dion Bouton Vis-à-Vis, the first car which he used to convey his 16 feet canoe to the upper reaches of the Thames. The year after, he used a 7 hp twin-cylinder New Orleans, followed later by a 12 hp Peugeot.

In 1904, he undertook a trip to Switzerland, from Paris to Lucerne and then back home to London, and that 'in a fortnight'. Percy and a few friends took a train to Paris and there took delivery of a new 18-24 hp Peugeot. They went via Auxerre and Dijon, entering Switzerland at Medun. 'All this time, and, in fact, during the whole tour, the car gave no trouble, and the engine ran with such monotonous regularity that a spanner was never once used upon it.' On their way back they stayed at Hôtel d'Europe in Sedan, 'where Napoleon III slept the night before he surrendered his sword to the Germans.'

Peugeot seems to have been the eventual favourite marque, as Percy owned at least a 5 hp Baby Peugeot, an 8 hp, a 12 hp and the mentioned 18-24 hp. In most pictures, we see Percy with lots of female friends, clearly using his flashy cars to impress (and transport). He married Edith Petrie in 1910, and we didn't find many reports of Bernard Percy and his happy motoring anymore... Petticoat government?

Words by Nick Jonckheere.

Thanks to the Nicholas Young Collection for the information and photographs, taken from his book Car Number Classics.

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