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EDWARD LISLE AND HIS COMPANIES Information provided by Peter Lisle Edward was soon into making cycles, with his eldest brother, Alfred, at the tinsmithing and japanning works. In 1868 a catalogue of bicycles by Edward Lisle was produced and it therefore seems that he had started in the business by the age of 16. It is certain that by 1876, at the age of 24, he started a bicycle manufacturing partnership with Edwin John Sharratt, called Sharratt and Lisle, with premises in Stewart Street. In 1883 the Star Cycle Company (Sharratt and Lisle) Ltd. was formed. In 1896 this company went public. It seems that, at this point, Sharratt decided he did not want to follow the same business path as Lisle and left the partnership to start his own separate business, Sharratt and Co.. This company is listed in the Wolverhampton Red Book of 1896 but not thereafter (or before). Both firms were in Pountney Street, but whether they were in separate buildings or had split one building between them is not known. It could well be, though there is no proof, that when the partnereship ended Sharratt's share could well have been the main building that Star used before transferring to the Frederick Street works in 1904. In 1896 Edward’s Star Cycle Company (Sharratt and Lisle) Ltd. registered the Star Motor Co. Ltd.. This company seems never to have traded though its name was, on rare occasions, used in advertising. At the same time the Star Cycle Company (Sharratt and Lisle) Ltd. changed its name to the Star Cycle Co. Ltd.. 1896 appears to be the date when Lilse and Sharratt went their separte ways. At this point the company had seven shareholders, each holding a nominal £1 share:
By the 6th May this company was floated as a public company with a nominal capital of £120,000, consisting of 70,000 ordinary £1 shares and 50,000 preferential £1 shares. These were held as follows, the numbers indicating the ordinary and preference shares held:
It will be seen from this that, by number, most of the shareholders were family. Levi Johnson was a local businessman and sometime Mayor of Wolverhampton, who was probably investing his own money. Thomas Dallow, a solicitor, is unlikely to have been investing that amount of his own money and was probably acting in some representative capacity. The same may be true of William Edwin Clark. (Dallow and Dallow were Star's solicitors, throughout the company's life). The register of directors or managers shows the following:
Shaw remained the Chairman of the company for many years. In 1896 also Presto Gear Case Company Ltd., was formed as a public company, with a nominal capital of £30,000. Edward Lisle Senior was a director. The New Brotherton Tube Company Ltd. was also formed and Edward Lisle Senior was made Chairman. Both of these companies were set up to supply the Star Cycle Co. Ltd. but they also supplied other manufacturers. Edward also became a director of Hughs-Johnson Stamping Co. Ltd.. No doubt this company also manufactured parts of Star cycles. Later the Stuart two speed hub was also part of the Star Cycle Co. Ltd. range of parts. Lisle was also a director of Day’s Sanitary Pipe Co. Ltd.. In effect this was a group of companies controlled by Edward Lisle. Cycle manufacture continued until, with changing markets, motor car manufacture took over, Edward Lisle having seen that as the future. So on 10th April 1909 that Star Cycle Co. Ltd. changed its name to the Star Engineering Co. Ltd.. That year Star sold off the part of the company which made the Briton, Star and Starling (the cheaper ranges of cars) to the Briton Motor Co. Ltd., which Edward Lisle had set up for this purpose. Its nominal capital was £50,000. In 1912 the company went public under the title The Briton Motor Company (1912) Ltd. (the "1912" later being dropped from the name). Edward Lisle Junior was the Managing Director of this company. Joseph Lisle was now the Managing Director of the Star Engineering Co. Ltd., In 1910 Edward Lisle formed the Star Aeroplane Company Ltd, with registered offices in Pountney Street. Early experiments seemed to show that the company was not going to make a great impact in this market and production was stopped. By 1917 the Star Engineering Co. Ltd. had a share capital of £140,000, evenly split between preference and ordinary shares. The Directors at that time were:
Of these companies, Briton was the first to fall. The Company claimed that the government had not fully paid it for its war contracts and in 1919 made a call for £50,000. In 1921, blaming the recession and a need to re-equip, a call for a further £50,000 was made. The company appointed a receiver and was closed down. In 1921 Star made a new share issue for £300,000, again citing the recession, severe competition and the need to re-equip. This company continued. Edward Lisle Senior had contributed largely to the Briton share calls and he knew that the situation at Star was not good. On the 14th February 1921 Edward Lisle was found dead in the canal at Coven. An inquest, having heard evidence of his depression in recent months, recorded a verdict of suicide. (Those quick to judge might bear in mind that little was known of "depression" in those days; and that depression is not necessarily caused by externalities). Star Engineering lasted another 11 years after the death of Edward Lisle. The company could not, or would not, adapt to changing conditions. Mass production had never been the style at Star. The market for luxury cars was badly hit by the great depression. In 1927 Star took up negotiations with Guy Motors and Guy became major shareholders, though Star continued as a separate company. The register of directors, dated 3rd June 1928, tells much of what happened:
It seems that the first five names on the list are Star people: Cathie had been the sales director and occasional racing driver (but Fletcher is not known). The second five are the Guy people. Jo Lisle and S.S.Guy were joint managing directors until Jo Lisle's retirement in 1930. On 24th January 1930 the name of the company was changed from The Star Engineering Company Ltd. to The Star Motor Company Ltd. By this time there were further changes to the directors in that Owen, of Guy Motors had died, but Levi Johnson, of the original Star company, had retired, as had Joseph Lisle, the last remaining contact with the Lisle family. By 1932 it was all over and the company closed down and the assets were sold off. |
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