Spencer Bernau Wilks (26 May 189110 March 1971) was an English manager, administrator and designer in the motor manufacturing industry. He served variously in positions including managing director, chairman, and president of the

Rover Company The Rover Company Limited was a British car manufacturing company originally founded in 1878, beginning car manufacturing in 1904. It primarily operated from its base in Solihull, Warwickshire. Rover also manufactured the Land Rover series from ...

from 1929 until the 1960s. Previously he worked for the Hillman Motor Car Company in

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

. His younger brother

Maurice Wilks Maurice Fernand Cary Wilks (19 August 19048 September 1963) was an English automotive and aeronautical engineer, and by the time of his death in 1963, was the chairman of the Rover Company. He was the founder of the Land Rover marque and respo ...

also worked at Rover as chief engineer, technical director and managing director from 1930.Graces Guide to British Industrial History. Profile of Spencer Wilks
/ref> He is one of Land Rover's founders along with his younger brother Maurice.

Early life and education

Wilks was born in Rickmansworth, a town of south-west

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

to Thomas Wilks (born Balham), a Director of Leather Co and his wife Jane Eliza (born St. Sepulchre, London), a

Suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

. He had one sister and four brothers including Maurice.''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' – Saturday, 10 June 1967.

Career

Wilks was initially trained as a solicitor, but his wife Kathleen Edith was a daughter of William Hillman, founder of the Hillman Motor Car Company, and so he became a joint manager in 1921 on the death of his father in law. In 1929, he left Hillman after disagreement with the Rootes brothers who took it over in 1928. In September 1929, Wilks began employment as Works manager at the

in Coventry, having been invited by the Managing Director Frank Searle to join the board. By 1930, he was joined by his brother Maurice as Chief Engineer.

Land Rover

In 1947, he founded

Land Rover Land Rover is a brand of predominantly four-wheel drive, off-road capable vehicles, owned by British multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), since 2008 a subsidiary of India's Tata Motors. JLR builds Land Rovers in Brazil ...

around Maurice's design for a small, sturdy, economical, four wheel drive utility vehicle modelled on the Willys Jeep.

Managerial career

In 1934, he was appointed managing director of Rover, and became chairman in 1957. In 1962, although retired, he served as a non-executive director; and in 1967, he became President of Rover.

Private life

Wilks married Kathleen Edith Hillman (b. 1891), one of the six daughters of William Hillman. He died on 10 March 1971, aged 79 in Glenegedale, a city of the Scottish Islay Island.

References

* ''

'' – Saturday, 10 June 1967. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilks, Spencer 1891 births 1971 deaths British automobile designers British founders of automobile manufacturers Land Rover Rover Company People from Rickmansworth