Jim Jarron's Motoring Pages

1837. Frederick York Wolseley born at Golden Bridge House, County Dublin, Ireland on 16 March.

1854. Frederick York Wolseley moves to Australia.

1866. Herbert Austin born 8 November in Little Missenden, Buckinghamshire, England.

1882. Austin travels to Melbourne, Australia to join his uncle as a works manager of a general engineering firm.

1887. Frederick York Wolseley founds the Wolseley Sheep Shearing Machine Company Limited in Sydney Australia.

1895. Herbert Austin starts making an improved version of a Léon Bollée design he had seen in Paris.

1896. The second car is exhibited at the Crystal Palace, London.

1899. Frederick York Wolseley dies aged 62 on January 8th and is buried in London.

1899. The first 4 seater Wolseley is built (designed by Austin).

1900. The 1899 car is entered in the spring Thousand Miles Trial and wins its class, after which replicas are sold to the public at a price of £270.

1901. Vickers Sons & Maxim Ltd purchase the car manufacturing part of the Wolseley concern for £12,400.  They form a new company called The Wolseley Tool and Motor Car Company Ltd. Herbert Austin is retained as general manager.

1902. Production reaches 800 cars per year.

1905. Austin leaves Wolseley to found his own company. John Davenport Siddeley is appointed as his replacement.  Siddeley discontinues the horizontal engine designs of Austin and the cars are now marketed as Wolseley-Siddeleys.

1906. Ex-cavalry officer and explorer Henry Hugh Peter Deasy establishes the Deasy Motor Car Manufacturing Co Ltd.

1909. Siddeley leaves Wolseley for the Deasy Motor Car Manufacturing Co Ltd.

1910. Wolseley produces motor sleds for Scott's Antarctic expedition and the Deutsche Antarktische Expedition.

1911. The Siddeley name was dropped and the cars are once again known simply as Wolseleys.

1912. One of the most eccentric vehicles ever made, Wolseley makes the gyro-balanced two-wheeled Gyrocar for the Russian Count, Peter Schilovski.

1912/13 A completely new range of purpose designed commercials is launched.

1913. Wolseley is now one of the largest makers in Britain, its 5500 workers producing nearly 5000 vehicles per  year.

1914. On July 4th, 1914, the company becomes Wolseley Motors Ltd.  It subsequently spends most of the war making aero engines, complete planes and aeiroplane parts as well as trucks, arms and munitions.

1919. Wolseley now employs 13,000 workers. £1.7 Million of stock is issued to finance peacetime production and sales offices are opened in many parts of the world.

1920. Production of 12,000 cars makes Wolseley the biggest British manufacturer.

1926. Receivers find that the company is bankrupt to the tune of £2 million, one of the most spectacular failures in the early history of the motor industry.

1927. William Morris purchases the company for £730,000. Other potential purchasers were Herbert Austin and General Motors.

1930. The Wolseley Hornet is introduced.

1931. Introduction of the illuminated radiator badge that was to be seen on all Wolseleys until the end of production in 1975.

1945. The first Wolseley cars after the cessation of hostilities are pre-war designs, the 10hp, Series III and one new model, the Wolseley 8, an upmarket version of the Morris Series E.

1948. Production begins at Ward End in October of 4/50s, 6/80s and Morris Sixes.

1949. Production of Wolseleys relocated to Cowley.

1952. The 4/44, a Gerald Palmer designed vehicle, is introduced. This is the last car to use the 1250cc XP Nuffield Engine.

1952. In April, Morris and Austin merge to become the British Motor Corporation. Subsequent rationalisation sees the use of Austin engines for all new BMC cars.

1953. The 6/90, another Gerald Palmer designed vehicle, is introduced as a replacement for the 6/80. The 6/90 shares its body styling with the Riley Pathfinder and is also the first car to feature the new 2639cc BMC C series engine.

1956. The last Nuffield powered Wolseley, the 4/44, ceases production and is replaced by the outwardly similar 15/50, which is powered by the 1498cc BMC B series engine.

1957. The Wolseley 1500 is introduced.

1958. The new BMC range styled by Pinin Farina is introduced in the person of the Austin A40, which is closely followed by the larger Wolseley 15/60 saloon.

1959. The Wolseley 6/99 replaces the 6/90. The 6/99 was based on the mechanical components and body of the Austin A95 but with a more powerful version of the C-series engine.

1960. The Hornet, a luxury version of the Mini with an enlarged boot, fins and a traditional Wolseley grille is introduced and continues until 1969.

1965. The Wolseley variant of the BMC 1100/1300 range replaces the 1500 and continues until 1973.

1966. The last new Wolseleys are manufactured in Australia.

1966. The Wolseley 18/85, a luxury version of the Austin 1800, is introduced.

1967. The final 6/110 (the last development of the 1958 6/99) leaves the factory.

1968. BMC and Leyland merge to form British Leyland.

1971. The last of the Farina Wolseleys, the 16/60 (a development of the 1958 15/60) leaves the factory.

1972. The Wolseley Six is introduced and continues until 1975.

1975. The last Wolseley, the short lived "wedge" (it did not have a model name, being simply marketed as the Wolseley saloon) and the Austin and Morris variants are introduced. The entire range became known as Princess in 1976 and the Wolseley name disappeared from new car showrooms.