The real drive of his life

Never one to idle time away, Sir Henry Royce-co-founder of Rolls-Roycespent his spare moments working on a farm bought through the pages of COUNTRY LIFE, reveals Russell Higham

- Russell Higham

THE designer of the finest cars in the world had only one regret: that he didn’t work harder. Sir Henry Royce’s obsessive pursuit of perfection and his almost ascetic-like dedi- cation to efficiency is the stuff of legend in both automotive and aviation circles. However, the co-founder of Rolls-Royce, whose engines powered the Spitfire and Hurricane aircraft that helped win the Battle of Britain, was also a respected countryman, farmer and agriculturist.

It was most likely the poverty of his childhood that made Sir Henry (March 27, 1863–April 22, 1933) strive for success in everything he did. The financial failure of his father, a miller in Alwalton, Huntingdonshire (now Cambridgeshire), dictated an impecunious existence in which his meals were ‘often two thick slices of bread soaked in milk’ and his bed ‘an outside dog kennel, complete with its canine occupant’. As well as providing warmth, this nocturnal arrangement also nurtured Sir Henry’s love of Nature and animals, especially dogs. In later life, his black labrador Rajah was a constant companion, whose loyalty was exceeded only by that of the engineer’s faithful nurse Ethel Aubin (who was also believed to have become his partner after he and his wife separated).