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The Leckie Family and Car Around 1937 |
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Around 1937
© Reproduced with acknowledgement to Winnie Lisowski, Dunbar, East Lothian, Scotland
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Around 1937
© Reproduced with acknowledgement to Winnie Lisowski, Dunbar, East Lothian, Scotland
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Recollections 1. Winnie Lisowski Dunbar, East Lothian, Scotland |
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Thank you to Winnie Lisowski for allowing me to reproduce the photo above. |
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Winnie wrote: The Family "The people standing in front of the car in Photo 1 are (from left to right): - Mary Leckie, my Grandmother - Annie, my mother. Annie is a daughter of Mary Leckie - Duncan Leckie, my Grandpa, Duncan is husband of Mary Leckie." - Willie Carson, a friend of the family and owner of the car. The child in front is my cousin Mary, daughter of Peggy Leckie." Date and Location "I was told this photo is taken at the Waverly Station, but don't know who took it. It must have been taken around 1937 as my cousin, Mary, was born 1932 and looks around 5 years in the photo, and my grandmother died 1938" Winnie Lisowski, Dunbar, East Lothian, Scotland: February 1+6, 2012 |
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Questions The Car and Location Can anybody suggest what make and model of car this might be. Also, can you confirm the location, or suggest where else the photo might have been taken. It may well be at Waverley Station, but if so, I don't know just where it would have been. The ironwork on top of the wall behind the car looks quite distinctive, but I don't recall having seen it in any other photos. Peter Stubbs, February 7, 2012 |
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Question in 1. Reply 1. Allan Dodds Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England |
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Allan Dodds wrote: |
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The Car "This is an enormous vehicle! It is an eight light and its wheels look like Austin 'easyclean' style. It would have been a seven seater with two occasional folding seats in the rear. If the picture was taken in 1937, then the vehicle would have been new when the picture was taken. I would say that an Austin Ranelagh is my closest guess but the radiator mascot doesn't match up with this vehicle, nor do the chrome trims along the side of the bonnet, so that can't be right. It was obviously chauffeur driven, and by the looks of the passengers, not privately owned by them! Car buffs please respond!" Allan Dodds, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England |
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Humber? Might this have been a Humber Pullman or Humber Super Snipe? Peter Stubbs, Edinburgh: February 9, 2012 |
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Question in 1. Reply 2. Peter Stubbs Edinburgh |
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Humber? Might this have been a Humber Pullman or Humber Super Snipe? Peter Stubbs, Edinburgh: February 9, 2012 |
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Question in 1. Reply 3. Allan Dodds Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England |
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Allan Dodds wrote: |
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Humber? "That's more like it! But the 1938 model still had wire wheels, whereas this one has Easyclean wheels in 1937. Also, the Pullman did not have two chrome strips alongside the bonnet." Allan Dodds, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England: February 9, 2012 |
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Question in 1. Reply 4. Allan Dodds Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England |
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Allan Dodds wrote: |
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Humber? "I've been looking at images of 1930s Humbers and I think it may be a Pullman. The Super Snipe didn't come onto the market until the following year, 1938, so it can't be that. Some Humbers were bodied by Thrupp and Maberley, and King George VI ordered one. Winston Churchill also preferred the big Humbers, especially the Imperial. These cars were fabulously expensive, costing as much then in 1935 as my house in Warriston Avenue- £685 new. By today's money that's around £275,000!" Allan Dodds, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England: February 9, 2012 |
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Question in 1. Reply 5. Peter Stubbs Edinburgh |
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Year Winnie Lisowski mentioned in 'Recollections 1' above that her gran (one of the people in the photo) died in 1938. I don't know how old the car would have been when the photo was taken. However, we can safely say that the car would have been built in 1938 or earlier. Peter Stubbs, Edinburgh: February 9, 2012 |
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Question in 1. Reply 6. George Smith Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada |
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George Smith wrote: |
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Wolesley? "Just an informed guess. Could the car be a Wolesley? They had ribs on the bonnet sides and family resemblances to Austin, Morris family of cars." George Smith, Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada: February 9, 2012 |
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Question in 1. Reply 7. John Dickson Royston, Edinburgh |
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Thanks to those who have contributed comments about this photo today. John Dickson has now contacted me after finding three good photos of a 1936 Humber Pullman. John wrote: |
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Humber Pullman "Hi Peter, I agree with you. The car is a Humber Pullman. The mascot on the bonnet is a flying horse and the side lights are on the top of the wing match those in as shown in this photograph." John Dickson, Royston, Edinburgh: February 9, 2012 |
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Three Photos I've sent an email to John asking if he can tell me the source of the photos that he found, so that I can either seek permission to reproduce them on the EdinPhoto web site or add links to them from the EdinPhoto web site. Peter Stubbs, Edinburgh: February 9, 2012 |
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Question in 1. Reply 8. John Dickson Royston, Edinburgh |
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Thank you to John Dickson for letting me know where on the Internet he found the three photos of the 1936 Humber Pullman Landaulette. The photos were all taken by Richard Doody, and appear on the PBase web site. Here are links to these three photos: 1) Whole Car Peter Stubbs, Edinburgh: February 10, 2012 |
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Question in 1. Reply 9. Richard Gruet Surrey/Kingston Border, South London, England |
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Thank you to Richard Gruet who wrote: |
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Hillman 80 "The car in the photo is in fact a 1936-37 Hillman 80. The car was built on the Pullman chassis but with a 3 litre engine rather than the Pullman 4 litre engine. The most well known Hillman 80 is the one Neville Chamberlain drives away in from Croydon Airport after waving the piece of paper and making the “Peace in Our Time” speech in 1938. This is a 1938 model which was a facelift of the 1936-37 model. I have the only surviving Hillman 80 convertible." Richard Gruet, Surrey/Kingston border, South London, England: April 23, 2012 |
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Question in 1. Reply 10. Winnie Lisowski Dunbar, East Lothian, Scotland |
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Winnie Lisowski added: |
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Owner of the Car "I've been thinking about what Richard Gruet (Reply 9 above) said about the car, and how Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, had one - and I think someone told me that Churchhill had one." I'm now wondering if, maybe, it could have belonged to Holyrood Palace as I can't see anyone else being able to afford such a car, and its only a stone through away from where my folks stayed in Abbeyhill. Maybe, they just knew the chauffeur! Winnie Lisowski, Dunbar, East Lothian, Scotland: May 16, 2012 |
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Recollections 2. Winnie Lisowski Dunbar, East Lothian, Scotland |
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Thank you to Winnie Lisowski for writing again after having found Photo 2 above. |
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Winnie wrote: Chauffeur "Just to confuse things, another photo has turned up with the Leckie family in front of the car. It looks as though it was taken the same day but this time with a chauffeur also standing in front of the car, would you believe! I must admit,I thought Willie Carson did look a bit old for driving. A chauffeur! these folk didn't have the money for things like that. Could it be a works car? I know Willie Carson worked in the gas company in George Street (according to my Mum). This is like detective work trying to work everything out." Winnie wrote again, adding: Who was the Chauffeur? "I've been thinking. Could the chauffeur have been Willie Carson's son 'Lennie'? Maybe he was a chauffeur, and had been taking the family out for a treat" Winnie Lisowski, Dunbar, East Lothian, Scotland: February 8, 2012 (2 emails) |
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Recollections 3. Winnie Lisowski Dunbar, East Lothian, Scotland |
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Winnie Lisowski, who sent these photos to me, added: |
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Location "My hubby has just pointed out that if you look at the photo of the Leckies in front of the car, you can see that the photo has been taken from inside of a yard, as you are looking at the back of the gate Perhaps they just went along to get their photos taken and never actually got a ride in the car" Winnie Lisowski, Dunbar, East Lothian, Scotland: February 11, 2012 |
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Recollections 4. Winnie Lisowski Dunbar, East Lothian, Scotland |
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Winnie Lisowski added: |
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Location "I went to see my Mum this morning. I asked her if she knew anyone in her young days that had a car, and she instantly said, Willie Swan. Her father's sister married into the Swan family. She told me that he had a garage down 'The Pend' (with flats above) in Cadzow Place, Abbeyhill and it was called Swan's garage. Not sure if this was a business or just a private garage. I would think its worth checking, if such a existed then, and maybe that would reveal the story about the car in the photo, perhaps being in the garage for repair or something like that." Winnie Lisowski, Dunbar, East Lothian, Scotland: February 11, 2012 |
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Trade Directories I only have two trade directories for that period to hand. They are for 1930-31 and 1940-41. I've checked them both but not found a Swan'd Garage listed and not found anybody or any company by the name of Swan listed in Cadzow Place then. Peter Stubbs, Edinburgh: February 12, 2012 |