| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
NZ_monty
New Zealand
76 Posts |
 Posted - 20/04/2025 : 00:41:34
|
I'm hoping some of the learned folk here might be able to help me with a history query on my new to me J2.
I have a factory file, which has thrown up more questions than it has resolved!
So J2701 was delivered on 12-12-32 to one D Richardson (ironically my name!) of Toszer, Kemsley & Millbourn. Who as far as I can tell exported cars to NZ and Australia. There is no record of any UK registration.
In the file there is a “claim under guarantee” via Halloway Bros, Market Drayton for a broken crankshaft, is this dated 12-9-1936 (which does seem a long time later for a guarantee), it states the car was purchased on July 1933 and has now travelled 20,000 miles! (amazing, well seems amazing to me.)
Then May 1938 there is a letter to R. E. Green Esqre, The park Garage (Moseley) ltd, Birmingham, from Mr Thornley (following a request from Mr Slingsby, stating Mr Green is an old friend of his) the letter explains the benefits of fitting the additional crankshaft bearing.
The next correspondence is to Len Harrington in NZ in Jan 1939, via Morris Industries Exports, about a copy of a J2 Manual – I know about Len.
The MMM register records, state that the car was exported to NZ and R.E. Green was the first owner.
But as you can see something doesn’t add up here. If the car was exported to NZ via Toszer, Kemsley & Millbourn 1932, early 1933, why would there be a guarantee claim in 1936 from Halloway Bros, Market Drayton, and then further correspondence in May 1938 to a company near Birmingham? What am I missing?
One thought I have was the car wasn’t exported until mid to late 1938, the time frame would work for Len Harrington buying it later 1938 early 1939 (not sure how long letters took between NZ and the UK back then) but if that is the case why is there no UK registration number recorded or referenced anywhere on the UK paper work?
I also don’t think Mr Green was an owner, rather the contact as the Garage, and Mr Slingsby states trying to “link him up with the MG product" I don’t believe The park Garage (Moseley) ltd was an MG agent.
Anyone got any bright ideas?
I'm also interested how the register knows it was exported new to NZ, is there some other record somewhere I don't have or is prehaps just an assumption based off it going to Toszer, Kemsley & Millbourn and ending up in NZ?
Many thanks
Daniel
J4213 / J2701
|
|
|
Bathurst
Australia
30 Posts |
Posted - 21/04/2025 : 08:28:56
|
Hi Daniel, You certainly have a puzzle and while I have no answers I can add a little as Mike Allison sent me his 2014 summary of exports to Oceania and J2701 is there as the 12th export of MMM cars. Incidentally the 10th and 11th were J2302 and J2312 also NZ bound but they were consigned through Morris Industries Export not TKM. This was TKMs only export to NZ All three of these J2s were blue/blue! J2302 is now in UK in the Gaydon Museum so it came back which sort of begs the question did J2701 also come back for a few years? As so many of the documents clearly state the chassis number I think it very unlikely in this case that a digit or two were transposed as has happened in the past when I have tracked the history of MGs.
I would have thought that you would have been passed on some info from Ted Loveridge as he owned it and was a fastidious MG owner.
The other two J2s were bought by two young ladies in Wellington but no first owner on Mike's summary.
Sorry not to have helped but thought this info might be of interest.
All the best Rob
Rob |
 |
|
|
NZ_monty
New Zealand
76 Posts |
Posted - 21/04/2025 : 20:49:32
|
Thanks Rob, that is really interesting! And does at least confirm it was exported straight to NZ (any chance of getting a copy of Mike’s summary?) I hadn’t thought of the possibility of it coming back to the UK. However, that would have been less than three years later and then why would it have come back again to NZ in 1938. Seems odd, and I doubt it would have been sent back for repairs alone. It took 3 months plus each way (as far as I can tell J4213 was at sea for over 6 months with boat delays) and must have cost a bit. Getting a car on and off a ship looked like an exercise back then.
I wonder if the companies in the UK were working as agent for someone in NZ….
I know J2302, as I was looking into it when I was hunting for my mother’s J2, J4213, I’ll need to check my notes but I think it came back to the UK much later.
I did get a little bit of Ted’s history but nothing this far back.
How do you know this was TKM’s only export to NZ?
We do have some paper records in the NZ archives in Wellington, it list all the cars imported into NZ. Sadly all it states is basic information like “MG two seater” and the name and address of who it went too (and not dealers from memory) so I need to plan a trip down to Wellington and troll all the books of the relevant time periods.
Thanks again,
Daniel
|
|
|
|
Andrew Fock
Australia
399 Posts |
Posted - 22/04/2025 : 09:43:27
|
Unfortunately not so simple.
While Rob has an Excel spreadsheet from Mike of exported cars, it appears to have been edited by Mike and has cars on it that we know were not exported to Australia and is missing cars that we have photographic evidence that were! He seems to have added some cars that appear on the Australian Register on the basis of information from the registrar or other people. So without access to the Primary export document or information the presence of J2701 does not prove that it was exported prewar to NZ though remains suggestive.
Regards,
Andrew
NA 0279
PA 1294
L2061 |
|
|
|
NZ_monty
New Zealand
76 Posts |
Posted - 22/04/2025 : 20:06:26
|
Well bugga! But thanks for the extra information Andrew.
Daniel
J4213 / J2701 |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
|
|
J2701 Puzzle
Forum Locked
