Whirlwind

Dorman Whirlwind premises just before demolition in 1967

There is an area in Northampton called Mayorhold and back in 1886 it was home of a small engineering company called the Patent Manufacturing Company which produced anything from sheet metal to the elaborate decoration for sewing machines. A change of name to the Dorman Engineering Company (DEC) then occurred as did the production of a complete sewing machine called the Whirlwind in 1891; selling for 16 shillings it came with a three year warranty and some still survive today – Bonhams sold one back in 2009, presumably without a warranty. Alan Burman, journalist and section member, tells us that the senior partner of DEC was one T.P. Dorman, initially accompanied by Mr. H.W. Dover but he left in 1897 to set up his own company, Dover Gear Case Company at St James End. The only Dorman with those initials found is Thomas Phipps Dorman who was born in 1857 and who became something of a name in Northampton; in 1881 he was described as a beer and wine merchant but twenty years later he was not only senior partner at DEC but also managing director of a brewery company. He may have been part of the Phipps family who had started brewing in nearby Towcester in 1801 but also had a large presence in Northampton; he was certainly a director of brewers P Phipps & Co Ltd. in 1899. In any event DEC started manufacturing bicycles called the Whirlwind towards the end of the 19th century and even ran a bicycle school, with three or four teachers, to support their production. From there it was only a short step to a motorised vehicle and in 1899 they built a quadricycle with a 2¼hp De Dion engine which was shown at the National Cycle Show at Crystal Palace; it was said that the tank was “handsomely finished” in silver with bottle green panels and named, unsurprisingly, the Whirlwind.

If you find references to DEC’s next venture then you will see that their Whirlwind motorcycle production is described as “a few primitive machines in the form of that period, with the engine hung from the downtube or within the frame. They had belt drive and were of basic construction”. However this is not entirely correct – DEC’s Whirlwind was arguably a ground breaking machine, or at least one of its models was. By 1902 DEC were manufacturing 1¾, 2 and 2¼hp motorcycles which could probably be described as “primitive machines” but the firm had been joined by one N.L. Adams from Lowestoft who had a lot of experience of boat engines.

Extract from catalogue - the first water-cooled engine machine?

It is believed that Mr. Adams was largely responsible for the 3hp water-cooled engine that DEC used for its most powerful model and which may have been the first such machine successfully marketed. The machine had a tiny radiator at the top of the tank along with separate tanks for oil, water and petrol. So much for “primitive” – Northampton had arguably produced the first commercially available water-cooled motorcycle and in 1903 it was being used by local cycling hero, Spencer Downing, for pacing cycle races at Northampton’s county cricket ground. It is also believed that DEC would sell you castings so that you could build your own engine which is rather enterprising.

Period advertisement

Of course it could not last; not only was the demand for motorised bicycles falling as supply increased but a Mr. Phipps, presumably part of the brewing family and a sleeping partner in DEC, made a decision that led to the end of DEC. Mr. Phipps also had an interest in a firm that made bicycles from, bizarrely as it would seem today, bamboo, the carbon fibre of its day; the frame, forks and wheel rims were made from the wood. Anyway he decided to move this operation from Wolverhampton to DEC but demand for these lightweight machines had evaporated. This was enough to sink DEC which was liquidated in 1903 when a firm brought in to manage the process, A C Taylor, sold everything on the 6th and 7th of April. As well as enough parts to assemble dozens of motorcycles, Alan Burman records that the sale included 139 dozen pairs of trouser clips, a steam railway complete with rails and seven model steam boats – makes you wonder how DEC could possibly fail with this type of stockpile.

Where are they today? Well Alan Burman mentions that no complete Whirlwind motorcycles were thought to remain but there was a rumour of a single engine believed to be located somewhere in Gloucestershire. The VMCC also have a letter from the executor of an estate in 1993 who understood his client had donated a Whirlwind motorcycle to the city of Leicester but he had been unable to locate its whereabouts. T.P Dorman had retired by 1911, became a very senior freemason and died in September 1930. Finally you will be pleased to hear that the Phipps Northampton Brewery Company still exists today – thank goodness somethings have stayed the course.

Some things remain the same

Photo Details & Credits

Whirlwind Factory - Northampton Chronicle & Echo

Whirlwind Advertisement - Sheldons EMU

Phipps Advertisement – Chocolate Gibbon