Reg Bainbridge & The Steamroller

Charles “Reg” Bainbridge was born in the village of Newton on Ouse, North Yorkshire, to parents John Henry Bainbridge of Tollerton and Adelaide Edgar of York. The first of five children, Reg arrived in 1915 shortly before his father’s departure for WWI service with the Royal Ambulance Corp. His mother was left to raise a new born and run the grocery store in her husband’s absence.

In 1929, the fourteen year old Reg had a desire for mobility, to escape the village, but lacked access to a motor car. Not to be daunted Reg passed his driving test on a steam roller borrowed from his neighbour, similar if not the same one as pictured above.

License in hand, Reg procured himself a BSA motorcycle, and proudly recounted his adventures to an enthralled grandson many years later. The only issue was how to take his best friend, Lance, and their respective dates into York for a night out. Apparently four young people could ride on one motorcycle. Reg steered while sat on the petrol tank, his date balanced on the handlebars, while Lance and his date squeezed onto the seat.

With the introduction of the compulsory driving licenses and changing age limits, Reg had to return his license, losing his freedom for six months, until he turned eighteen. The years and laws for driving licenses in England do not align with Reg’s account but the Bainbridge’s are not a family to let truth get in the way of a good story.

Reg left the village aged sixteen to find employment as the family grocery store could not support an additional paid employee. In 1931 Reg joined a grocery business, William Thompson of York, in Goodramgate and thereafter found lodgings around the corner on College Street with a co-worker and her husband.

Reg’s address at 10 College Street was listed on the September 1939 Register of UK residents in the build up to WWII and also on the death certificate of his father, John Henry BAINBRIDGE, in June 1940.

Family Tree

• Charles BAINBRIDGE 1861-1935 & Elizabeth Ann HEADLEY 1863-1935
  • Mary Jane Bainbridge 1884-?
  • Elizabeth Isabel Bainbridge 1886-1964
  • Charles Ernest Bainbridge 1887-1965
  • Arthur Bainbridge 1890-1939
  • John Henry BAINBRIDGE 1892-1940 & Adelaide EDGAR 1861-1935
    • Charles Reginald BAINBRIDGE 1915-1994 & Winifred May THOMPSON (1920-1977)
      • Our direct line…
    • Kenneth Norman Bainbridge 1920-2007
    • Ronald Geoffrey Bainbridge 1924-2022
    • Donald Edgar Bainbridge 1926-1972
    • Doreen May Bainbridge 1928-2013

References

• ROAD GANGS AND STEAM: 11 great photos of steam rollers at work in York from the 1880s onwards, 6th November 2017, Photo Archive, York Press
• BSA Model E & F, Wikipedia
• BSA Motorcycles for 1922, CyberMotorcycle.com
• Ordnance Survey, OS 25 inch England and Wales, 1841-1952, Maps NLS
• Goodramgate in old photos, 23rd September 2016, Photo Archive, York Press
• Charles R. Bainbridge in the 1939 England and Wales Register, Ancestry.com