George Smith’s 1914 Triumph Model C
Triumph DX 1047 was manufactured in early January 1914 and dispatched to the Triumph agent in Ipswich, Suffolk.
It was registered on 19th February 1914.
Harry Gould Cannam brought the motorcycle and obtained his driving licence on 28th February
1914. He was a trained optician, married with a young daughter. He enlisted in the Royal Army Medical Corps on the outbreak of war in August 1914. He probably spent the war checking the eyesight of people that were enlisting.
Harry put the motorcycle up for sale in March 1915. It passed to William Hunebell a jobbing gardener of Bradfield Essex.
In 1916 William was called up and joined the 13th East Surrey Regiment at the age of 37 and went to France on June 4th 1916. He was wounded in the battle for Villers Plouich and evacuated back to England to the Fulham Military Hospital where he died on July 11th 1917. He is buried in St. Lawrence Churchyard, Bradfield, Essex.
The motorcycle would have passed to his father George Hunebell who died on 26th September. His passing was brought on by the death of his son. He is buried in the same grave as his son.
The motorcycle then passed to William's elder brother George Herbert Hunebell on 26th June 1919. It was taxed at the onset of taxation in 1921 and probably received limited use.
George Herbert Hunnebell passed away in 1932. The motorcycle then passed to Stuart Knill Wade a garage owner in the village of Bradfield. It remained in his ownership for the next 20 years probably as a curio in his garage.
It was then briefly in the ownership of Dennis Roy Gilbert before being passed on to Leslie Goldsmith in the 1960's who had a collection of motorcycles and cars of the Veteran Era.
On his death it was sold through the Vintage/Classic motorcycle dealer 'Verralls' to John Waghorn, the then Sunbeam Motorcycle Club Pioneer Registrar in 1985.
George became its latest owner in 2020 after riding it for many years on loan in the Pioneer Run®. All the paintwork and plating are original. Only the saddle has been recovered. A comprehensive set of documentation is kept.
George aims to keep DX 1047 as original as practical, commensurate with still being able to use it on the road. He is currently the registrar for the Sunbeam Motorcycle Club’s London to Brighton Pioneer Run®.
George is pictured below with some of the documentation along with images of the Triumph.
