Thornycroft in historic photographs

The Thornycroft family have been integral to Hampshire's industrial and engineering history throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Whether they were building vehicles in Basingstoke or building ships in Southampton, the influence of Thornycroft vehicles around the world is huge.

The images in this article are taken from Hampshire Cultural Trust's extensive Thornycroft archive and shows great examples of Thornycroft vehicles that can be found at Milestones Museum, Basingstoke.

Thornycroft Sturdy & J-Type lorries built for Wethered & Sonsbrewers of High Wycombe.
A flat-bed Thornycroft lorry manufactured for Boots in the 1920s.
A Thornycroft Antar Mk II lorry leaving the works in Basingstoke. 
An early Thornycroft tractor, built for Rubery and Co, Darlaston, West Midlands, c.1900.
Four Thornycroft paraffin tractors, c.1905.
A Thornycroft double-decker bus built for Portsmouth City Council being driven on a trailer around the works in Basingstoke.
HMS Speedy, a Thornycroft built torpedo gunboat with a max speed of 20.55 knots, showing the ship at sea from the side view, 1893.
A single-decker Thornycroft bus being driven in central Sau Paulo, Brazil.
John Isaac Thornycroft sitting in the music room and reading a book at the Thornycroft residence on Chiswick Mall in London.

See more of our photographic collection on our Facebook pages or search through our online collection through the following links:

Hampshire in Old Photographs

Transport in Old Photographs

Photographs | Hampshire Cultural Trust Online Collections
Photographs Our photographic collection contains topographical views of the county, its industries and inhabitants dating from the 1850’s to the present day, including representations of local photographers such as Terry Hunt of Basingstoke and William Savage of Winchester.

This article was written by:
Author image

Ben Murrey

Collections Assistant/Collections Programme Coordinator who looks after objects and makes them accessible to the public.
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