Catalogue description Papers relating to Joseph Lucas and family, Joseph Lucas Limited and Lucas Industries plc.

This record is held by British Motor Industry Heritage Trust

Details of LU-ADM-01 to LU-WIR-16; LU-AC-01
Reference: LU-ADM-01 to LU-WIR-16; LU-AC-01
Title: Papers relating to Joseph Lucas and family, Joseph Lucas Limited and Lucas Industries plc.
Description:

The collection is an exceptionally comprehensive company archive containing extensive business and family records, product development papers, catalogues and manuals, company publications, photographs, moving film, audio and artefacts. These go back to the foundation of Lucas & Son 1860, and then Joseph Lucas Ltd in 1898 (later renamed as Lucas Industries) The collection also contains a wealth of material about the family which founded it, their business practices, and what it was like to work for them. Includes information on subsidiary companies owned by Lucas - CAV, Girling, Rotax, Rists Wires & Cables, Simms, Powell & Hammer, Thomson Bennett, G&E Bradley, Bryce Berger
Date: 1838 - 2015
Held by: British Motor Industry Heritage Trust, not available at The National Archives
Legal status: Not Public Record(s)
Language: English, Russian, Spanish, French, Norwegian, German, Italian, Danish. Swedish, Arabic, Japanese, Chinese
Creator:

Joseph Lucas; Joseph Lucas Limited; Lucas Industries plc;
Physical description: 1227 boxes; 26.9m³
Physical condition: Collection contains photographic negatives which are not accessible to the public
Access conditions:

To consult material please contact archive@britishmotormuseum.co.uk to book a Reading Room appointment. Appointments must be made 7 days in advance. Copyright owned by BMIHT. Documents (not photographic material) can be copied for research purposes, but subject to conservation and data protection restrictions.
Immediate source of acquisition:

After a number of takeovers, Lucas was purchased by US company TRW in 1999. Following the takeover the Lucas Collection was donated to BMIHT in 2002
Accruals:

No further accruals expected
Subjects:
  • Lucas Industries; Industrial History; Social History; Birmingham; Automotive History; Electrical; Engineering: Mechanical;
Unpublished finding aids:

No additional Finding Aids

Administrative / biographical background:

Lucas was a leading supplier of electrical equipment to the British motor industry for nearly 100 years and – together with notable subsidiaries such as CAV, Girling and Rotax – played a major role in the development of the motor car, commercial vehicle and aircraft industries. In the 1850s, Joseph Lucas began selling paraffin oil from a basket skip which he wheeled round the streets of Birmingham to support his family. Twenty years later he was manufacturing a range of items, most famously the ‘Tom Bowling’ ship lamp. Soon Joseph's eldest son, Harry, joined his father’s enterprise and they began trading as Joseph Lucas & Son. Together they exploited the newly developing cycle industry, marketing a hub lamp for the ‘ordinary’ bicycle which they called ‘King of the Road’ – a name which quickly became associated with other Lucas products. The company grew with the transport industry and Joseph Lucas Limited was formed in 1897 before developing into the major supplier of electrical equipment known as Lucas Industries.

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