Description
1890 Hillman Herbert Cooper THE PREMIER
‘Model I’ Convertible (Removable top tube)
18″ Frame. 30″ Front Wheel. 28″ Rear Wheel. Frame No 57375.
This Premier has a removable top tube to make it a ‘convertible’ model for either a lady or gentleman to ride. Though other companies experimented with ‘convertibles’ I’ve never seen another Premier like this.
Its most astounding feature is its original HILLMAN HERBERT COOPER steering head transfer (decal). The company was renamed Premier Cycle Co in 1891.
The top tube has been replaced, otherwise it is cosmetically original, unrestored. It has original pedals though the rubbers are missing, and so are the handlebar grips. (Will be replaced on sale). Apart from that it’s ready to ride. You can see it at The Museum -
- details above HILLMAN was one of the founders of the cycle trade. He
served his apprecnticeship at John Penn’s marine steam engine
works in Greenwich, which is presumably where he met James
Starley who was Penn’s gardener.
Starley moved to Newton Wilson’s sewing machine works
where he was joined by William Hillman and George Singer,
another ex-Penn apprentice. By 1863 a group of Newton Wilson
employees including the manager, Josiah Turner, plus Starley,
Hillman and Singer, had moved to Coventry. Starley and Turner
started a new sewing machine company, which subsequently
became the Coventry Sewing Machine Co.
In 1869, the company changed its name to
Coventry Machinists Co to make velocipedes.
They were Britain’s first major bicycle
manufacturer. While there, Starley and Hillman
designed a radical new machine with metal
wheels, which they patented on 11 August
1870 and named the ‘Ariel’ (the spirit of the
air). It was the first ‘Ordinary’ bicycle.
