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  1. Perkins was born in Peterborough, the son of John Edward Sharman Perkins, a manufacturer of agricultural machinery, and his wife Margaret Charlotte Long. His brother Christopher Perkins became a noted artist, and both boys were educated at Gresham's School, Holt, Norfolk. Frank attended Rugby School (1902–1904), Gresham's (1904–1907), and ...

    • A Significant Meeting
    • A Company Is Born
    • Growth and Success
    • An Honoured Figure
    • Happy Retirement

    After a few years, he moved back to Peterborough with Gwyneth and their young family and began learning the engineering business at his father’s firm, which had become part of the Agricultural and General Engineers (AGE) group. He was personally responsible for developing dairy and sterilising machinery. By 1929, he was works director at another AG...

    At that time, diesel engines were popular for agricultural machinery, but considered too big, heavy and slow-running for road vehicles. In 1932, Frank and Charles Chapman agreed that a smaller engine that could fit into private cars, vans and light trucks would have an enormous and expanding market. In June 1932, their new company, F Perkins Ltd, m...

    Frank began to handle dealings with potential customers and signed an agreement for Perkins engines to be used in the Commer van. Humber, the manufacturing company responsible for the Commer, became the company’s first Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). Perkins and Chapman led the company through several financial crises during the early years,...

    Frank’s role in the wider engineering industry was recognised with his appointment first as vice-president and then president of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). By now he was one of the most influential businessmen in the country, running one of the key companies in the crucial engineering sector. However, in 1959, with the t...

    Outside the company, Frank had maintained his interest in agriculture throughout his life, running a small arable farm near Peterborough. He was also active in charity work, particularly with the Peterborough Council of Boys' Clubs, and was made an honorary freeman of the city in 1962. He also served as High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdon...

  2. Barford & Perkins motor roller 1907. Frances, Thomas’s wife, died on 10th May 1906, and Thomas himself died on 4th September 1908, and both were buried in Hitchin cemetery. Thomas left an estate worth £80,000 – a very large sum in those days. Thomas and Frances had a grandson , Francis Arthur Perkins (Frank), who was born in 1889 in ...

  3. Frank Arthur Perkins (1889-1967), founder of Perkins a manufacturer of diesel engines Francis Arthur (Frank) Perkins, was born in Peterborough on 26 February 1889 the son of J. E. S. Perkins. His father and grandfather were engineers; the family firm, Barford and Perkins, manufactured agricultural machinery and road rollers. Graduated from ...

  4. Francis Arthur "Frank" Perkins (20 February 1889 – 15 October 1967) was a British engineer, businessman, creator of the Perkins Diesel Engine, and founder of Perkins Engines. Perkins was born in Peterborough, the son of John Edward Sharman Perkins, a manufacturer of agricultural machinery, and his wife Margaret Charlotte Long. His brother Christopher Perkins became a noted artist, and both ...

  5. 1889: This day saw the birth of Francis (Frank) Arthur Perkins at Clifton Villa, Park Road, Peterborough.His name resonates still throughout twenty-first-century Peterborough - remembered and recognised as the founder and driving force of the company known throughout the world today as Perkins Engines.

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  7. With wife Frances (age 48) and children Eleanor (age 13), John Edward Sharman (age 11), Arthur Thomas (age 8) and Francis Leonard (age 5) plus four servants. [2] 1881 Living at West Lane, Hitchin (age 59 and born at Hilmorton, Warwickshire), Agricultural Engineer employing 40 men and 8 boys.

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