Henry Royce

Royce was born in Alwalton, Huntingdonshire, near Peterborough on 27 March 1863 to Mary (née King) and James Royce. He had four older siblings, Emily (born in 1853), Fanny Elizabeth (born in 1854), Mary Anne (born in 1856) and James Allen (born in 1857). On both sides Royce was descended from generations of farmers and millers. His father James started as a farmer before, upon his marriage in 1852 to Mary, the daughter of a farmer, he acquired the lease of a flour mill at Castor in Northamptonshire. James was unable to make a success of the mill at Castor and moved to nearby Alwalton where he took up the lease of a flour mill, which he leased from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. In 1863 financial circumstances forced James to mortgage his lease to the London Flour Company. In 1867 the business failed and due to their reduced circumstances the decision was made to board the three girls in Alwalton while Mary worked as an housekeeper with various families in the area. Meanwhile James took the two boys with him to London where he found work in a flour mill in Southwark operated by the London Flour Company. At some stage James had contracted Hodgkin’s disease, and he died in 1872 at the age of 41 in a public poorhouse in Greenwich. Royce was later to describe his father as unsteady but clever, someone lacking the determination to apply himself single-mindedly to a task. Royce was nine years old at the time of his father's death and his formal education to date had consisted of one year at the Croydon British School.

For a while he stayed with an elderly couple who were family friends in London, but when one died he was forced to move on. He later reminisced that “My food for the day was often two thick slices of bread soaked in milk.” On one occasion he found it warmer to sleep with a dog in its dog kennel. As his mother was able to only provide him with very limited financial help, Royce at the age of 10 got a job selling newspapers for W. H. Smith, firstly at Clapham Junction and later at Bishopsgate Station. He was able to earn sufficient money to allow him to also attend school over the next two years. In 1876 at the age of 13 he obtained a job at the Post Office delivering telegrams. He was paid a half penny for each delivery.

He would occasionally visit his great-aunt Catherine on his mother’s side, who lived in Fletton near Peterborough. Feeling that he deserved a better future she was able in 1878 despite her own limited financial circumstances to obtain Royce an apprenticeship with the Great Northern Railway company at its works in Peterborough in return for paying them £20 a year. Moving to Peterborough Royce boarded with the Yarrow family, who had a son who was already an apprentice at the works. To pay for his day-to-day living expenses Royce continued to deliver newspapers. To make up for his lack of formal education, he also took evening classes in English and mathematics. In November 1880 Royce had to give up his apprenticeship after his great-aunt’s money ran out. Due to a depression affecting the British economy at the time Royce couldn’t find a local job, so he walked from Peterborough to Leeds where he stayed with his sister Fanny Elizabeth and her husband. Royce’s mother was also a member of the household. Within two weeks Royce had found employment at toolmakers Greenwood and Batley in Leeds where he was paid 11 shillings for a 54 hour week. Outside work he studied various technical subjects, including electrics.

Before a year had passed he returned to London where he was able to obtain a position at the Electric Lighting and Power Generating Company in Southwark as a tester, despite having no practical experience in the electric field. The role doubled his wages to 22 shillings a week, though he continued to work long hours and to neglect his diet. The company changed its name to the Maxim-Weston Company after it expanded into manufacturing lamps designed by Hiram Maxim and Edward Weston. In his spare time Royce began attending evening classes at the City and Guilds Institute for the Advancement of Technical Education. Among his tutors was the highly respected physicist and electrical engineer William Edward Ayrton.

In 1882 at the age of 19 Royce was promoted to chief engineer of his employer’s subsidiary the Lancashire Maxim-Weston Electric Company in Liverpool. The under-capitalised company was involved in lighting streets and theatres. Despite winning a major contract with the Liverpool City Council the company was forced into liquidation on 24 March 1884. In May 1884 the Maxim-Weston Company purchased the assets of its subsidiary, with the aim of obtaining further contracts with the Liverpool City Council, who had expressed confidence with both Royce and the company’s work to date. Until these could be obtained Royce would be unpaid if he stayed with the new company. Royce decided instead to start his own business.

Royce was notorious for working long hours and poor eating habits. To ensure he ingest something company secretary John De Looze had boys regularly take him glasses of milk, with instructions not to return until they had seen Royce drink it.

Royce married Minnie Grace Punt, sister of his business partner Claremont, on 16 March 1893 at the Church of St Andrew in Willesden, Middlesex, England, when Royce was 29 years old. The death of the sister’s father, Alfred a licensed victualler left them both financially secure. Both sisters disliked emotional and physical intimacy, and had a fear of becoming pregnant. Royce and his wife separated in 1912. With their marriage at an end in 1912 his wife remained in Westwood until 1921 with Royce continuing to financially support her until her death, including after she left Westwood, purchasing for her a house called “Woodside” in Boxhill.

Following his serious illness in 1911 his nurse Ethel Aubin took increasing control of Royce’s private life. Her concern for his wellbeing and professional skills allowed Royce to live for a further 22 years from when she entered his life. In his will Royce stated "my nurse for over 20 years, and who has done so much to prolong my life", and left her his house Elmstead, its lands and furniture, as well as two-fifths of his remaining estate in trust. He also left his wife two-fifths of his estate in trust.

As per Royce’s request there were no mourners or flowers at his funeral and only two were allowed at his cremation, George Henry Richards Tildesley who was a partners in his solicitors, Claremont Haynes and Albert Claremont. He left custody of his ashes to Aubin. His cremated remains were initially buried under his statue at the Rolls-Royce works in Derby, but in 1937 his urn was removed to the parish church of Alwalton, his birthplace.

In 1935 Aubin married Tildesley, though the couple had separated by 1937.