I posted the below postcard image up round about a year ago. Shortly after Pete from Occhio Lungo got in touch to say that the bike is a Premier and now I've heard from Andy Loosemore with a whole load more detail.
The bike is indeed a Premier, a 3 1/2 hp model that was first registered 12 July 1912. The rider is a chap called William Kier Little and it is he owned the machine from new. Little lived at 73 Petteril Street in Carlisle, an address that still exists, the street is known in more modern times for having suffered bad flooding on more than one occasion recently. William Little was born 30 July 1879 and unfortunately there is a sad end to the story for he was killed at the Battle of the Somme 5 October 1916 at the age of 37. He was a Private (#4923) in the London Regiment and his death is commemorated at at the Thiepval Monument in France (pier and face 9, D9 C13C).
The information is somehow haunting but it seems fitting to know something of the people who rode the machines we now cherish. The history and story of the riders it has had is something of the soul of a motorcycle. Some folks get excited by racing history and famous riders but the story of Reginald A N Other, BSA Bantam rider, is every bit as valid and potentially interesting and gives us food for thought each time we get out and ride.
Thanks Andy for the story.
The bike is indeed a Premier, a 3 1/2 hp model that was first registered 12 July 1912. The rider is a chap called William Kier Little and it is he owned the machine from new. Little lived at 73 Petteril Street in Carlisle, an address that still exists, the street is known in more modern times for having suffered bad flooding on more than one occasion recently. William Little was born 30 July 1879 and unfortunately there is a sad end to the story for he was killed at the Battle of the Somme 5 October 1916 at the age of 37. He was a Private (#4923) in the London Regiment and his death is commemorated at at the Thiepval Monument in France (pier and face 9, D9 C13C).
The information is somehow haunting but it seems fitting to know something of the people who rode the machines we now cherish. The history and story of the riders it has had is something of the soul of a motorcycle. Some folks get excited by racing history and famous riders but the story of Reginald A N Other, BSA Bantam rider, is every bit as valid and potentially interesting and gives us food for thought each time we get out and ride.
Thanks Andy for the story.
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| in memoriam William Kier Little. |
A great item, it really brings life to the photo. It also adds life to the memory of a man who might have remained just a name on a monument.
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