Frederick Richard Simms
| Frederick Richard Simms | |
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Frederick R Simms 1909
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| Born |
August 12, 1863 Hamburg, Germany |
| Died | April 22, 1944 (aged 80) Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Engineer, inventor, businessman |
| Known for | Founding the Royal Automobile Club and the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders |
| Notable work |
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Frederick Richard Simms (12 August 1863 – 22 April 1944) was a British mechanical engineer, businessman, prolific inventor and motor industry pioneer. Simms coined the words "petrol" and "motorcar". He founded the Royal Automobile Club, and the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.
Simms was born in Hamburg Germany "of an old Warwickshire family", the son of Frederick Louis Simms and his wife Antonia née Hermans. His Birmingham-born grandfather had established a trading company there to support the Newfoundland fishing fleet. Frederick Richard Simms' first wife was Austrian, his second, married 1910, was Mabel Louise, daughter of cotton merchant Joseph Worsley and they had two daughters, one of which was Rosemary Mabel who married the Artist Dennis Ramsay. He was educated in Germany and London and at the Polytechnischer Verein in Berlin after completing an apprenticeship with AG fur Automatischen Verkauf in Hamburg and Berlin.
In a 1907 trip to the Alps, Simms discovered a waterfall near the village of Holzgau, now called the Simmswasserfall.
Simms may have spread his talents a little thinly to be able to show a single outstanding achievement. His lasting significance is in his role as a catalyst and intermediary between Britain and Europe and to a lesser extent USA.
He died in his 81st year, at Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire, while living at Storth Oaks, Chislehurst, Kent. His wife predeceased him.
In 1889, the 26-year-old Simms met and became firm friends with Gottlieb Daimler, from whom in 1890 he purchased the rights for the use and manufacture of Daimler's high-speed petrol engine and other patents, in the British Empire – 'England and the colonies' (excluding Canada). They were first used in motor launches but soon paved the way for the start-up of the British motor industry. In May 1890 his mechanic Johann van Toll was sent ahead to look after their borrowed launch at Putney and van Toll obtained premises in the new Billiter Buildings at 49 Leadenhall Street, London for Simms & Co Consulting Engineers. There had been no purpose in Simms bringing a car with him because of the restrictions in Britain.
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