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).
Draft letter from F.H. Royce to Mr. Brookes offering condolences on the death of his son and discussing a car's trial performance.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 181\M10\ img077 | |
| Date | 15th April 1936 guessed | |
| Dear Mr Brookes, It was with extreme regret and Sadness that I heard of the loss of your excellent Son. Owing to Trevorrow's health I have not been allowed to attend at the Derby works for some years so I did not know your Son, so slight, but I thought him very worthy of the trust that was placed in him. I only heard of accident when too late to do anything from here (600 m away). The cause of the accident has not yet been decided. Tell whether it was Traffic trouble, greasy surface on road or failure of machine or judgement, but as you probably know the car the car has been through a long trial of about 12000 miles of which I rode in the front & the back, over some very difficult roads here & the general opinion was that during the trial & examination that it was the best specimen that we had ever produced; I believe now the chassis using all the parts has also completed 4000 miles on extraordinarily bad roads during the winter. Unfortunately, the sudden pressure on some change in the road surface when wet might by the tyre appear to slip sideways. May be regrettable. Again bending springs are very desirable. This & Mr Rolls accidents are the greatest I have known experienced in a long life amongst dangerous machinery. F H RoyceSir Henry Royce | ||