Southern National was a bus company operating in

South West England South West England, or the South West of England, is one of the nine official regions of England, regions of England in the United Kingdom. Additionally, it is one of four regions that altogether make up Southern England. South West England con ...

from 1929 until 1969, and again from 1983 until 1999.

History

Original company (1929–1969)

Bristol_Harbourside_-_Southern_National_334_C896GYD

Southern National Omnibus CompanyArriva Northumbria Limited formerly Northumbria Motor Services Limited formerly The Southern National Omnibus Company Limited started in 1929 as a joint venture between the Southern Railway and the National Omnibus & Transport Company. The National company had originated in 1909 as the National Steam Car Company, started to run

steam bus A steam bus is a bus powered by a steam engine. Early steam-powered vehicles designed for carrying passengers were more usually known as steam carriages, although this term was sometimes used to describe other early experimental vehicles too. H ...

services in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. The London services ceased in 1919, when the company was renamed National Omnibus & Transport Company. The company expanded outside London, into

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

(1913),

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

(1919),

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

(1919),

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 ...

(1920),

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

(1921), and

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

(1927). Southern National was formed to improve co-ordination of road and rail passenger services in the operating area of the Southern Railway. The railway had very little involvement in bus services, but the National Omnibus transferred its operations in the operating area to the new company. The result was an operating territory split into two areas: Dorset (based at Weymouth) and north Devon and north Cornwall (based at

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon, England. The town lies at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool from ...

). The two areas were separated by the operating territories of

Devon General Devon General was the principal bus operator in south Devon from 1919. The name was first used by the Devon General Omnibus and Touring Company which was created in 1919. In 1922 it was purchased by the National Electric Construction Company wh ...

and

Western National Western National (originally the Western National Omnibus Company) was a bus company operating in South West England from 1929 until the 1990s. Early history The Western National Omnibus Company was founded in 1929 as a joint venture between ...

. In 1931 a controlling interest in the National Omnibus was acquired by the

Tilling Group The Tilling Group was one of two Conglomerate (company), conglomerates that controlled almost all of the major bus operators in the United Kingdom between World Wars I and II and until nationalisation in 1948. Tilling, together with the other ...

. From then on Southern National was run as a Tilling company, although the railway retained its shares until 1948. Western National and Southern National shared a common management, based in

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

. At the end of 1934, Western National and Southern National bought

Royal Blue Coach Services Royal Blue Express Services was a coach operator in the south and west of England from 1880 until 1986. History Origins The Royal Blue business was founded in 1880 by Thomas Elliott in Bournemouth. The business, at first known as Royal Bl ...

. On 1 January 1948, the Southern Railway was nationalised, and shortly after, the Tilling Group sold its bus interests to the government. Southern National therefore became a state-owned company, under the control of the

British Transport Commission The British Transport Commission (BTC) was created by Clement Attlee's post-war Labour government as a part of its nationalisation programme, to oversee railways, canals and road freight transport in Great Britain (Northern Ireland had the s ...

. On 1 January 1963, Southern National was included in the transfer of the British Transport Commission's transport assets to the state-owned

Transport Holding Company The Transport Holding Company (THC) was a British Government–owned company created by the Transport Act 1962 to administer a range of state-owned transport, travel and engineering companies that were previously managed by the British Transpo ...

, which in turn passed to the state-owned National Bus Company (NBC) on 1 January 1969. One year after its formation, the NBC rationalised its operations, transferring those of Southern National to Western National, and Southern National ceased to operate as a separate entity.

Revival (1983–1999)

In preparation for privatisation Western National was divided into four companies in January 1983. One of these was Southern National. The territory of the new Southern National was the old Southern National Dorset area together with the south and west Somerset area, which had not previously been Southern National territory. On 29 March 1988, Southern National was sold in a

management buyout A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or individual. Management- and/or leveraged buyouts became noted phenomena of 19 ...

. On 4 April 1999, it was sold to

FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.First Hampshire & Dorset First Hampshire & Dorset is a bus operator providing services in the counties of Hampshire and Dorset. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup. History Formation First Hampshire & Dorset was created out of various different smaller companies which ...

, and the Somerset operations part of First Somerset & Avon.

The Buses of Somerset

In 2014, First's operations in

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England. It is a market town and has a Minster (church), minster church. Its population in 2011 was 64,621. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century priory, monastic foundation, owned by the ...

and

Bridgwater Bridgwater is a historic market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. The town had a population of 41,276 at the 2021 census. Bridgwater is at the edge of the Somerset Levels, in level and well-wooded country. The town lies along both sid ...

was rebranded under the new name of

The Buses of Somerset The Buses of Somerset was a brand used by FirstGroup for its buses in Somerset from its depots in Taunton and other towns from 2014 until 2024. The services were initially operated by its First Somerset & Avon subsidiary but were soon transferr ...

. Whilst the name and brand were entirely new, the livery is reminiscent of Southern National utilising two tones of green and cream. It is the first major departure from the FirstGroup corporate identity and livery for the bus group.

2015 revival

The Southern National brand was revived in 2015 by Somerset transport firm, JJP Holdings SW Limited who already operated buses under the revived

Crosville Motor Services Crosville Motor Services was a bus operator based in the north-west of England and north and mid-Wales. History On 27 October 1906, Crosville Motor Company was formed in Chester by George Crosland Taylor and his French business associate Ge ...

brand. It was granted an operator's licence in 2015. In celebration of the news, one of the original Southern National buses has been restored by JJP Holdings, bringing it back to its former glory.Southern National Returns ''Bus & Coach Buyer'' issue 1365 12 February 2016 page 9

Legal Entity

The original legal entity, Southern National Omnibus Company Limited that was incorporated in 1929, was recycled by the National Bus Company in 1986, renamed Northumbria Motor Services Limited and used as one of the companies into which

United Automobile Services United Automobile Services was a bus company, which operated local and regional bus services in County Durham, Cumbria, Northumberland, North Yorkshire and Tyne & Wear, England. It provided bus services across a wide geographical area, stretch ...

was divided in preparation for privatisation. It is now

Arriva Northumbria Arriva Northumbria operates in Northumberland, using the "Arriva serving Northumbria" name. They are considered now to have merged with Arriva North East. Brief history United Automobile Services split into two parts in 1986, making it ready ...

Limited.

References

*Morris, C (2007) ''Southern National Omnibus Company'' Ian Allan

External links

*
Southern National Buses, Somerset
{{Defunct British Bus Companies Companies based in Exeter 1929 establishments in England 1999 disestablishments in England Former London bus operators Former bus operators in Essex Former bus operators in Bedfordshire Former bus operators in Somerset Former bus operators in Dorset Former bus operators in Devon Former bus operators in Cornwall