Sir
William Letts (26th February 1873 to 25th February 1957)
Here I am under a blue sky and
strong sunlight at a quaint cemetery up off the Great Orme
hill in Llandudno in North Wales.
I’m at the grave of Sir William Malesbury Letts a pioneer of the British motor industry and
founder member of the AA (Automobile Association). He ended his days here in his
beloved Llandudo (his luxurious home is nearby at 51,
Church Walks Llandudno if you want a look.) He was born in 1873 and his wee
walnut of an idea of the AA has since grown to be worth many hundreds of
millions of pounds.
Though his name is synonymous with cars he didn’t
drive one until he was 24 - a belt-driven
Cannstatt Daimler. Cars were in his blood and by aged
25 he a salesman extra ordinaire and appointed
manager of the Coupe Company (having sold nearly 1,000 steam cars in just a few months.)
Publicity always helped his salesmanship and he drove an Oldsmobile up and down
the steps leading to the terrace of London’s Crystal Palace and in 1904 he
drove the same vehicle to the Snowdon summit in under 90 minutes.
Through
his thirties he seized on the facts that cars running on petrol were starting
to become popular so he turned his focus on them and by aged 37 he was co-owner
of Crossley Motors. Massive orders and fortunes
followed. He had a commodious factory built in Stockport for their growing business
which boomed as the First World War raged. He showed the War Office that cars
would soon replace horses fully. Business boomed louder and Crossley
Motors were soon manufacturing aeroplane engines and vehicles for the war
effort.
Nowadays
the Automobile Association is a colossus but William only started it off as
motorists were being prosecuted for speeding. The police had started laying
police traps and William thought this would seriously hamper the future of car
(and his company turnover.) He formed a squad of 20 cyclists who went out onto
the Brighton Road every Sunday morning to operate a private system warning
motorists of the whereabouts of police traps. Over three decades this would
grow into a nationwide lucrative animal that we all know today (personally I’ve
always found them to be expensive.)
Despite
his success William didn’t go to “big London” as he loved Llandudno. A lovely
life was maintained in lovely Llandudno (they had a happy family life with
their children. A few famous folk of the day came to stay; the Lett’s were Llandudno Royalty. They raised money for the
local hospital, Horticultural and Gardener’s Society and Amateur Operatic
Society.
In
1922 aged 49 William became High Sheriff of Caernarvonshire and was knighted.
This would have topped a highly successful gold-tinted life but misery had come
a year before when his eldest son Charles died of heart failure aged
nine following rheumatic fever. He’s also in this grave.
Sir William died just before his 84th
birthday. The AA he started is now worth £760 million. It’s quite a modest
grave, not a look-at-me monstrosity the size of a woolly mammoth.
Grave near William’s…
You can’t blame him for wanting to
stay in Llandudno …
I love a bonny bay…
