british anzani archive:
company which had been established in 1911 under Mr Dominic Santoni (an
aviator himself and previously an aeronatautical advisor to Lloyds) to supply
aircraft and spares for the
emerging British aviation
market and which already
handled the sales of the
French built Anzani
motors. They had been
given 1500 £1 shares as
compensation for the loss
of their sole rights.
British Anzani was then
solely concerned with
making aero engines
which were sold from the
salesrooms of General
Aviation Contractors in Regent Street, London and constructed by Coventry
Ordnance Works Ltd., an engineering company known for their contract
engineering skills.
The first chairman of the new company was Dominic L. Santoni a former
director of British Deperdussin and listed in the company documentation as an
‘aviator’. Many of his fellow directors also had aviation in their blood. Lt. J.C.
Porte was a naval officer and well known pilot who had connections with the
American company Curtiss as well as also being a former British Deperdussin
director. W.R. Prentice was the third director with flying experience as was
Captain J.C. Halahan (Royal Dublin Fusiliers and R.A.F.) and Claude Schofield.
Schofield’s Anzani career wasn’t long-lived as his name was removed from the
company records in 1913 with the word ‘dismissed’ crossed out and ‘resigned’
entered over it!
The original capital investment of £10,000 was enhanced by another £12,000
raised on a debenture in 1915. In December 1916 Hubert Hagens joined the
board along with accountant Richard Simpkin. Hagens was a Belgian
motorcycle racer and an extremely talented engine designer. The engines he
designed and his influence on the company would be significant.
Another important arrival was Gustave Maclure. ‘Mac’ Maclure had joined the
company as Works Manager in 1917 from Rolls Royce car division where he
had been employed as head of the testing department at only 25 years of age.
The addition of Maclure strengthened considerably the engineering expertise
available at British Anzani and many rated his talent among the very best in the
British engineering industry at the time. He had been brought into the company
to oversee the production of the 5 and 10 cylinder aero engines and stayed to
design possibly their most successful engine, the 11.9 hp side-valve car engine.
There were many comings and goings at board level and another well known
executive was it’s general manager Mr A.M. Ramsay (who was later also MD of
Waldo Ridley Prentice (born 14th August 1883 in Kensington, London) was one
of the earliest pioneer fliers in the UK.
His early career was in the merchant marine but his interest in aviation led him
to achieve his pilot’s licence in 1911 and to join London based plane makers
Aeronautical Syndicate Ltd (shortly to become the general manager). When it
closed in 1912 he joined General Aviation Contractors who held the concession
for Anzani engines in the UK and he became a director of the newly formed
British Anzani Engine Co. By 1913 he had become the MD of General Aviation
Contractors. Health problems prevented war service but he joined the diplomatic
service in which he served for 30 years.
He died on the 14th August 1952 aged 68 in Lisbon following a heart attack.
Domenico Lorenzo Santoni was another early aviation pioneer. Born in Italy
on the 13th February 1877 he moved to France at an early age. He
achieved an engineering degree and his interest in aviation began. He took
flying lessons in 1910 and moved to England (anglicising his name to
Dominic Lawrence along the way) with the intention of selling European
aircraft equipment from his new office new Hyde Park. GAC was
established in the same year and in 1911 along with John Cyril Porte he
opened a flying school at Brooklands and Waldo Ridley Prentice joined as
general manager. In 1912 all three became directors of British Anzani. In
late 1912 Santoni returned to Italy to set up a subsidiary of GAC in Milan
and by 1913 had settled in Italy for good. He was very successful and his
web of companies grew. The post war slump meant he moved to France in
1919 and his story begins to fade. It is known he was trying to establish a
flying taxi company in 1925 but nothing is known after that.–
