John Birch (engineer)

John North Birch (1867–1945) was born in Foleshill, Warwickshire, England, and trained as an engineer. He constructed his own pushbikes (bicycle) and automobiles. Birch also used the first names George and William (Bill) while in New Zealand.

Birch was one of 11 children and eldest son of a Foleshill ribbon manufacturer. He completed an engineering apprenticeship with a Coventry engineering firm which produced steam engines. About 1884 he joined bicycle manufacturers Starley Brothers of Coventry. The following year he moved to Sheffield and worked in a railway carriage factory. From there he worked in a steel foundry before returning to Nuneaton in 1888.

Birch married Hannah Taylor of Exhall, near Coventry, in 1892. They had three daughters.

About 1888 Birch built a pushbike with an oil retaining hub, an invention of his which is universally used in cycle production. He named it the Foleshill and this pushbike proved popular and included among its purchasers Dennis brothers of Guildford. Moving his business to Princes Street, Nuneaton, in 1898, Birch renamed his bike the George Eliot after the author of the same name. Here he employed some 20 people, including his brothers Harold and Fred.

About 1900 Birch built his first motorcycle, which he also named the George Eliot. The bike had three innovations: the engine was positioned where the pedals are on a bicycle, the engine was built into the frame, and it had a low-tension magneto superseding the battery type ignition. Two of his bikes were shown at the 1902 Stanley Show. The brochure from the show described them as

one (is) fitted with Simms' Magneto in conjunction with Birch's advance sparking apparatus. This machine is constructed with Birch's patent combined crank chamber and bottom bracket built in the frame; surface carburetter (carburetor), belt drive, Birch's disc hubs, and compound brake. The other has a surface carburetter, wipe contact, accumulator, trembler coil, and self-compenszing contact

In 1903 the bike was awarded a first class diploma for reliability. In July 1904 Birch and F W Marston rode one from John o' Groats to Land's End.

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