Tragically killed at 32, Charles Rolls accomplished plenty in his short life, including founding Rolls-Royce.
‘Dirty Rolls!’ the Etonians called him, but they won’t be laughing now. Charles Stewart Rolls (1877–1910), son of Lord and Lady Llangattock of The Hendre, the grand Victorian estate of Monmouthshire, Wales, developed an enthusiasm for ‘tinkering’ with engines when at Eton and, in 1895, he enrolled at Trinity College, Cambridge, to study mechanical engineering and applied science.
At 18, Rolls travelled to Paris to buy his first car, spending £225 on a Peugeot Phaeton. It was the first motorcar in Cambridge and one of the first three to be owned in Wales — when Monmouth townsfolk heard he was driving home, they waited two days and nights to glimpse the car crossing the Monnow bridge.
The first driving excursion of the Duke and Duchess of York, later George V and Queen Mary, was with Rolls at the wheel, from The Hendre in October 1900. By graduation, he was an accomplished motorist, taking part in races around the world. To fund his sporting activities, he established C. S. Rolls & Co, one of the first car dealerships in Britain, selling Peugeot and Minerva motorcars.
Side profile drawing of the Silver Ghost, first produced in 1906. Credit: Dorling Kindersley via Getty Images
In May 1904, Rolls, who was determined his name would be associated with the finest cars in the world, met Henry Royce, an electrical engineer, and the first Rolls-Royce was unveiled at the Paris Salon in December. In 1906, Rolls-Royce Limited was formalised, the Silver Ghost made its inaugural appearance and awards have been won ever since.
He was was a founding member of the Auto-mobile Club of Great Britain, which successfully campaigned against the 4mph speed limit imposed by the Loco-motive Act 1865, raising it to 14mph in 1896. The engineer was a pioneer aviator and balloonist, and the first to fly a non-stop double crossing of the English Channel. Sadly, he was also the first Briton to be killed in an aeronautical accident, at the age of only 32.
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