Henry Sturmey (1857–1930)

John James Henry Sturmey (1857–1930), known as Henry Sturmey, is best remembered as the inventor with James Archer of the Sturmey-Archer three-speed hub for bicycles, but he was a technical editor and journalist heavily involved as a pioneer of the cycling and automotive industries. Born at Norton-sub-Hamdon, Somerset, he died aged 72 at his home in Coventry on 8 January 1930.

Henry Sturmey rode his first bicycle while at school in Weymouth when in his mid-teens in 1872 and became a keen cyclist. He was a touring enthusiast rather than interested in track racing. Sturmey's first post was an assistant-master at Brixton Hill College, London S.W. He resigned in 1877 to devote himself to writing a book on cycling published as The Indispensable Bicyclist's Handbook. Dealing with every bicycle on the market and 300 pages long the first edition was sold out within a month. Following an unsuccessful attempt to sell bicycles made to his own design he took up the post of mathematics and science master at Brynavor Hall College, Towyn but continued to develop material for another book on cycling. He then moved to Coventry to The British Boys School in King Street near the heart of the new cycle industry.

Becoming associated with the publishing firm of Iliffe & Sons he edited the Cyclist later The Cycle and Motorcycle Trades Review and frequently contributed to other cycling papers. Sturmey was from 1879 an early leader in what became the Cyclists' Touring Club. In 1893 he founded the International Cycling Association to hold the World's cycling championships each year. It was superseded in 1901 by the French-inspired Union Cycliste Internationale.

Sturmey became one of the first editors of , printed by Iliffe, in 1895. Walter Staner took over the editorship from Sturmey in July 1901 following his premature retirement from injuries received while road-testing a car. Sturmey then founded The Motor first published in January 1903.

The first commercially successful compact epicyclic hub gear was a two-speed designed by William Reilly. It was simply called The Hub and was launched in 1898 by The Hub 2-Speed Gear Company of Salford. William Reilly signed away his rights to any of his future bicycle gear inventions to The Hub company and soon left them to work at Royce of Manchester.

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