Arthur Sidgreaves
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Sir Arthur Frederick Sidgreaves (12 June 1882 – 7 June 1948) was a British businessman who was head of
Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...
, notably during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.


Early life

He was born 12 June 1882 in the
Malay States The monarchies of Malaysia exist in each of the nine Malay states under the constitutional monarchy system as practised in Malaysia. The political system of Malaysia is based on the Westminster parliamentary system in combination with features ...
, the son of Sir
Thomas Sidgreaves Sir Thomas Sidgreaves (25 October 1831 – 23 December 1889) was a British colonial judge who was Chief Justice of the Straits Settlements from 1871 to 1886. Sidgreaves was born in Preston, Lancashire into a Catholic family, the second son of Ge ...
, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the
Straits Settlements The Straits Settlements () were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia. Originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Company, the Straits Settlements came under control of the ...
, and Barbara Catharine. His father, suffering from financial problems, committed suicide in 1890. He attended
Downside School Downside School (formally The College of St Gregory the Great, Downside but simply referred to as Downside) is an 11–18 mixed, Roman Catholic, independent, day and boarding school in Stratton-on-the-Fosse, Somerset, England. It was establish ...
in
Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...
. In the First World War, he served in the
RNAS The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps ...
and RAF.


Career


Rolls-Royce

He joined Rolls-Royce in July 1920, where he was export manager in the London offices. In 1926 he became General Sales Manager. In 1929 he became managing director, where he was managing director for 17 years, and throughout the war. From 1935, the British government introduced its shadow factory programme, and he jointly instigated the Rolls-Royce factory to produce the
Rolls-Royce Merlin The Rolls-Royce Merlin is a British Coolant#Liquids, liquid-cooled V12 engine, V-12 Reciprocating engine, piston aero engine of 27-litre (1,650 cu in) Engine displacement, capacity. Rolls-Royce Limited, Rolls-Royce designed the engine an ...
engine in
Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...
. Another factory was built at
Hillington, Scotland Hillington (, )
is an area on the southwestern edge of ...
, which went into production six months after commencement of being built. He helped get the Merlin engine manufactured in the US, under licence. It was his decision that the Merlin engine was developed. He also took a part in developing the jet engine. He had no vast technical knowledge, but was an astute, and no-nonsense, businessman.


Personal life

He lived at
Penn, Buckinghamshire Penn is a village and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of Beaconsfield and east of High Wycombe. The parish's cover Penn village and the hamlets of Penn Street, Knotty Green, Forty Green and Winchmore Hill. The po ...
. He was appointed the OBE in 1918. In 1938 he married Dorothy Jessica in
Hove Hove ( ) is a seaside resort in East Sussex, England. Alongside Brighton, it is one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove. Originally a fishing village surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th century in respon ...
,
Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...
. An earlier marriage in 1916 in Kensington had produced two sons in 1917 and 1921. In the
1945 New Year Honours The 1945 New Year Honours were appointments by many of the Commonwealth realms of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1945 for the Britis ...
, he was knighted for his services during the war. On Monday 7 June 1948, disturbed by an unfavourable medical report, he threw himself under a train at Green Park underground station.Flight International 17 June 1948
/ref> He had a throat infection and was 66.


References


External links


Grace's Guide
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sidgreaves, Arthur 1882 births 1948 deaths British manufacturing chief executives Knights Bachelor Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Downside School People from Chiltern District Rolls-Royce people Royal Air Force personnel of World War I Royal Naval Air Service personnel of World War I 20th-century British businesspeople British people in British Malaya