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Fullwood Tyres - Harold Thomas Fullwood
James Treen Fullwood; his family and the business he
founded
By David Fullwood
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| Introduction
Harold, born in 1893, was James Treen Fullwood's second
eldest son who ultimately took over running of the
family business on his father's death in 1939. Harold
became Managing Director of the Staffordshire Motor Tyre
Company but during World War I he was seconded into
engineering work and finished the war in 1918 as a
qualified engineer.
Traffic Signal designer?
Family legend states (described to me by Harold's son
Jim Fullwood b.1919) Harold was involved in 1927 with
the design and installation of the first set of
automated traffic lights/signals in the UK located at
Princes Square Wolverhampton. I was also told Harold
went on to design an even more complex traffic
signalling system to accommodate several junctions all
along Oxford Street in London. |
Harold Fullwood. |
| I can only assume that Harold, on his trips to the
USA visiting tyre suppliers such as the Goodyear Tyre
Co, saw for himself the benefits of the American traffic
control systems at busy road junctions and perhaps
decided to build and implement his own version here in
Wolverhampton. However, this anecdote is unconfirmed by
external sources at the moment as Wolverhampton Borough
Council cannot locate any records to substantiate
Harold's or anyone else's involvement in this project. |
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A scene taken in 1927 showing
the first traffic light system in the UK at Princes
Square Wolverhampton. |
| As seen earlier in this biography, Harold became
Alderman and a Mayor of Wolverhampton with an interest
in transport issues effecting Wolverhampton. I fondly
remember Harold in the mid 1960s because he would
collect me every Saturday from my grandfather's shop
(Frederick Fullwood) in Newhampton Road West to take me
up to the Molinuex to watch Wolves games from the
Directors box.
Harold T Fullwood's Home - The Grove Tettenhall
Wolverhampton
During World War II, it is believed a German bomber
looking for the nearby aircraft factory of Boulton Paul,
dropped its bombs by mistake on "the Grove" a large
Victorian house on Wood Road Tettenhall. Harold Fullwood
MD of Staffordshire Motor Tyre Company subsequently
bought the house soon after the war and then set about
rebuilding "the Grove" to its former glory.
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On the left is "The Grove". In the
centre is the house after the direct hit by a German
bomber in W.W.II. On the right the restored building
which had views over Henwood Road, Compton and
Wolverhampton. |
| Harold Fullwood standing next
to his wife Ethel (nee Yardley) and my grandmother
(right) Dorothy Fullwood at the front door of the Grove.
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On the left is "The Grove's" back
garden looking down towards Compton and on the right an
aerial view of the house and grounds. |
On the left is a Christmas card
drawing of the Grove done by the well known and famous
local artist Arrowsmith. On the right is a drawing of
the front entrance to the Grove, again from another
Christmas card. |
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