Mystery of Shrewsbury years of motorcycle design ace

A researcher is trying to uncover the story of the early life in Shrewsbury of Jones, the design draughtsman's hand behind some spectacular motorcycle racing success on the legendary Brooklands banked track in the early 20th century.

The quest for information has been launched by Robin Cork, of Fleet in Hampshire, who along with a colleague is looking into the life and work of Jones.

"He was born in Shrewsbury in 1888 or 1889 and died 92 years later in the Shrewsbury area," said Robin.

"Research suggests that his father was a GWR railway man and as a scholar he lived in Shrewsbury, possibly in railway property.

"What we have been unable to establish is where he was trained, possibly as a craft apprentice and afterwards as a draughtsman commencing in 1902.

"In about 1909 he departed Shrewsbury for pastures new at Weybridge in Surrey, with Zenith Motorcycles, who raced their machines at Brooklands' banked race track with great success.

"After Zenith he moved about, working for eminent people as a nomadic design draughtsman with considerable success. During his time he held 18 patents, so he was very inventive. He was also pre-eminent in developing the 98cc Autocycle both pre-World War Two and after.

"What my colleague and I need to concentrate upon are George Herbert Jones' formative years between being a schoolboy and leaving Shrewsbury in 1909 as either a craftsman and, or, a draughtsman."

Robin has been in touch with Shrewsbury Railway Heritage Trust to see if it can help solve the mystery of where Jones cut his teeth in engineering in Shrewsbury.

Looking on the internet, he has already found that the county town had a Mechanics Institute during Jones' time there, and another avenue is that he might have been an apprentice at the Midland Railway & Carriage & Wagon Co near Abbey Foregate Station.

During his varied career Jones worked on a number of developments in motorcycling. In the Great War he worked on multi-fuelled motorcycle engines and also sidecar combinations for military application at Zenith. After Zenith he designed the Whippet Cyclecar, and other inventions included a lightweight motorcycle frame, and designing Lighthouse 250cc and 350cc engines, although neither was particularly successful at the Isle of Man TT.

He worked as a contract draughtsman for a number of firms from the mid-1930s onwards.

Robin said: "GHJ was a good general draughtsman, but a successful engine designer he was not, only a detail draughtsman.

"The problems that Jones faced was that he made sweeping design assumptions on his drawing board concepts."

David Morris of the trust said: "His early years in Shrewsbury are a mystery, as are his retirement years in Shrewsbury, when he returned."

The trust is now considering putting on an exhibition about Jones' work, in the hope that it will help uncover more information about his Shrewsbury links.

* Can you help fill in the gaps in Jones' early life - and retirement and death - in Shrewsbury? Drop a line to toby.neal@shropshirestar.co.uk by email or ring 01952 241458.