Motorcar Correspondence

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Date:7th of March 1910

Description:William Watson was responsible for managing Cromartie Sutherland-Leveson-Gower (1851-1913), the fourth Duke of Sutherland's motorcars. Based at Lilleshall House, Shropshire, Watson oversaw the Duke’s motorcar finances and also the cars themselves, dealing with repairs and co-ordinating the use of the vehicles. The Sutherland Papers contain a number of letters sent by Watson to the fourth Duke’s Private Secretary Alexander Simpson relating to the Duke’s motorcars. The letters are packed with detail about the cars which the Duke owned and how vehicles were used in the early twentieth century.

The Duke’s Daimler and Problems with Drivers

Watson wrote to Simpson on 7th March 1910 asking for permission to send ‘the Albion car’ to some ‘competitions’. Watson informs Simpson that the Duke’s ‘Daimler Car’ had returned to Springfield but there were problems with finding a driver. Watson was worried that sending a driver named Kusere to drive the Daimler ‘would leave Lilleshall without a second driver should the Duchess require Cars’.