Rolls Royce team celebrates Sir Charles Stewart Rolls' 144th birthday with a special event
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars celebrate the 144th birthday of the co-founder of the company, Charles Stewart Rolls on the 37th of August, 2021. In honor of the birth date, the double-R team will make a pilgrimage around London and will visit notable locations that are associated with the gentleman's life and career.
The following stops are:
35 Hill Street, Mayfair
This is the birthplace of Hon Charles Stewart Rolls. As the third son of Lord and Lady Llanattock, he had the chance to be well-educated and yet enjoy his passion for aviation and motorsports.
On the other hand, his business partner, Henry Royce, came from a humble family. He used to work as a telegram delivery boy and it is possible that he delivered letters and telegrams to the Rolls Family.
119 Piccadilly
There was the home of the Royal Aero Club, in which Rolls co-founded back in 1901 with Frank Hedges Butler, and his daughter, Vera. Rolls began his career as a balloonist, making over 170 flights, and even winning the Gordon Bennett Gold Medal in 1903 for the longest sustained time aloft.
Also, back in 1910 he became the second person in Britain to be awarded an aeroplane pilot's license. This very same year he became the first Englishman to fly one such across the English Channel and the first aviator to ever fly non-stop from England to France and back again.
Royal Automobile Club (RAC)
Rolls was also a founder member of the Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland, which later became the Royal Automobile Club.
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The Club took up residence in its current home at 89 Pall Mall in 1911, a year after Rolls' tragic early death in a flying accident, aged just 32.
14-15 Conduit Street
This building on Conduit Street, which connects Bond Street and Regent Street, was the headquarters of Rolls-Royce Ltd for much of the twentieth century. From 1905 until his death in 1910, Rolls had his office there and used it as a base for demonstration drives. On 22 March 2010, its historic significance was marked with an English Heritage Blue Plaque, unveiled by Lord Montagu of Beaulieu.
Berkeley Street
Close to Rolls' birthplace and one of the most prestigious places in London, Berkeley Street is regarded as the heart of Mayfair. Today, it is the site of Rolls-Royce's flagship UK store, the first in the world to be transformed with the marque's new corporate identity.