22 replies to this topic

[Doug Nye]

My friend Richard Williams sent me this today - which he took this morning in Putney Vale Cemetery, London - on the 100th anniversary of Dick Seaman's birth near Chichester, Sussex. Seaman is the subject of new work Richard is presently beginning. Today also marks the first run in a new Grand Prix Mercedes for the factory team's fourth English driver.



Photo Strictly Copyright: Richard Williams

DCN

Edited by Doug Nye, 04 February 2013 - 19:42.

[P.Dron]

Today also marks the first run in a new Grand Prix Mercedes for the factory team's fourth English driver.

Ah, this week's pub quiz. Seaman, Moss, Hamilton, and, er, um...?

[David McKinney]

Collins

[Doug Nye]

Ah, this week's pub quiz. Seaman, Moss, Hamilton, and, er, um...?

Dave just beat me to it - P.J. Collins - 1955 Targa Florio

Any other Englishmen (hence Des Titterington does not qualify)?

DCN

Edited by Doug Nye, 04 February 2013 - 22:41.

[Tim Murray]

Zborowski?

[P.Dron]

Ah well, trick question. I thought you were talking about Grands Prix. I'm going to sulk now.

[Doug Nye]

Zborowski?

Clever Dick?

DCN

[D-Type]

Zborowski?

Wasn't he American?

[Tim Murray]

I've always assumed he was British - his father had taken British citizenship - but I don't know definitely.

[bradbury west]

...... I thought you were talking about Grands Prix. ....

If we are broadening the field, didn't Reg Parnell demo a pre WW2 MB at Silverstone? And we can include C A S Brooks in another demo at Oulton, (and OT somewhat , British Empire citizen Jack Brabham once tested a W154 too ISTR)
Roger Lund, exits stage left, hurriedly

[Roger Clark]

Gary Paffett? I don't think you can include demonstrations, otherwise you'd have to add Surtees and others to the list.

I look forward to Richard Williams' book on Seaman. He recently left his job as chief sports writer (or something similar) at The Guardian and is much missed. He is, of course, a non-specialist motor sport writer but his work on the subject has always been well researched, entertainingly written and shows a good understanding of the sport's history.

[Doug Nye]

Yep - what he said... Good bloke too.

DCN

[paulsenna1]

Were Colin Crabbe's races at VSCC Oulton in the early '70s in a pukka Merc?

[Odseybod]

Were Colin Crabbe's races at VSCC Oulton in the early '70s in a pukka Merc?

And at Silverstone, of course. But not as a pukka works driver, Shirley?

[Vitesse2]

I've always assumed he was British - his father had taken British citizenship - but I don't know definitely.

When Lou was born, even though his parents were American, his place of birth meant that he was entitled to dual US/UK nationality. The 1901 census didn't ask for nationality - although his mother did mention on the form that she was a US citizen - and on the 1911 one, although the question was asked, it was left blank. This would normally indicate that you were British, but as Lou was then a boarder in the home of a vicar, presumably either Lou considered himself British at that point or whoever filled in the form didn't ask!

All the travel records I can find show him as American, although one oddity is that the original form in the Reports of Deaths of American Citizens Abroad database says he was a naturalized American. However, that may have been either an error perpetrated by Clive Gallop, who seems to have been the person who notified the death to the US Consulate in Milan, or perhaps an assumption based on his birth outside the US, which would have been recorded on his passport.

(Of course, a cynic might suggest that Lou opted for US citizenship in order to avoid conscription during the Great War.)

Edited by Vitesse2, 05 February 2013 - 15:52.

[Doug Nye]

And would he be considered - mmmm - English...?

DCN

[Michael Ferner]

I've always assumed he was British - his father had taken British citizenship - but I don't know definitely.

I've seen the elder Zborowski mostly/exclusively? refered to as American, and the younger mostly/exclusively? as British.

[Vitesse2]

I think the nearest we could go would be "English-born of foreign parents". Realistically he was about as English as Hans Stuck was Polish (or as Libyan as Lorenzo Bandini.)

[Michael Ferner]

Ah, Richard posted while my computer was busy sorting itself out. It is interesting to note, however, that when Zborowski went to Indy in 1923, he was always (?) refered to as a "foreign speed king"!

[Michael Ferner]

And would he be considered - mmmm - English...?

DCN

The Americans certainly considered him English!

[kayemod]

...when Zborowski went to Indy in 1923, he was always (?) refered to as a "foreign speed king"!

Zborowski is certainly a good old English name, Spalding is full of them...

[Doug Nye]

[Dennis Hockenbury]

Thanks for adding this thread as it prompted me to give RJBS some thought again after a good while. Thus prompted, I pulled a few books from the shelves and had an enjoyable skim of the familiar story.

For some reason I had completely forgotten that he was only 26 at the time of his accident at Spa.