From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Private letter addressing an information leak about a projected motor-car and a subsequent inquest.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 170\1\ img067 | |
| Date | 23th March 1939 | |
| Ten. RM{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}11/R.{Sir Henry Royce} 23rd March, 1939. PRIVATE. S.S. Tresilian, Esq., Templewood Engineering Co.,Ltd., 490, Ipswich Road, Trading Estate, SLOUGH, Bucks. Dear Ten., It is quite correct that a sensation was caused at Derby because Jack Barclay knew about one of our projected motor-cars, and mentioned it to one of the Conduit Street Staff before we had even decided to produce it experimentally ourselves. Naturally, my Department was accused of giving the information away. As a matter of fact, the car was not the one which did the run at Montlhery. It is perfectly true that at the inquest which I held upon the subject your name was brought up as one of the few people who had been in the Experimental Dept. and with whom we had discussed one or two of our experimental cars rather freely. No one could accuse you of giving away this information because no one had any evidence whatever on the subject. I am exceedingly glad to hear that it was nothing to do with you. On the other hand, I regard it as being more than unlikely that it could have come through a driver. One thing this leakage of information has brought home to me is, that it is not fair to give people access to the Experimental Dept. and then be surprised if information does get out, because, however careful they may be, they are likely, unintentionally, to give away information by a chance remark. This is particularly true where they come in contact with our competitors. | ||