Bernard Docker

Sir Bernard Dudley Frank Docker (9 August 1896 – 22 May 1978) was an English industrialist. Born in Edgbaston, Birmingham, he was the only child of Frank Dudley Docker, an English businessman and financier.

Career

Docker was the managing director of the Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA) group of companies from the early 1940s until 1956. He also chaired The Daimler Company Limited and the Anglo-Argentine Tramways Company. He was awarded a knighthood in 1938 for his ‘energetic work during twelve years as the Chairman of Westminster Hospital.’ He was succeeded by Jack Sangster as Chairman of BSA, following a 1956 boardroom coup.^[1]

First marriage

Docker's first wife was Jeanne Stuart (born Ivy Sweet), a British actress. They married in 1933, but the marriage was soon dissolved after pressure from Docker's parents. His father had her tracked by private detectives, and after finding her with an actor (David Hutcheson), Docker divorced her.^[2]

MY Shemara

 

MY Shemara seen at Southampton Docks.

Docker commissioned John I. Thornycroft & Company to build a 863 tonne yacht to his specifications in 1938, names Shemara. 'I must stress that she was our home,' Norah: the Autobiography of Lady Docker states.^[1] MY Shemara was requisitioned by the Royal Navy at the start of the Second World War in 1939 and used as a training vessel for anti-submarine warfare. It was during a training exercise with HMS Shemara that the submarine HMS Untamed was lost with all her crew.^[3] Shemara left RN service in 1946^[4]

Green Goddess

 

1949 Daimler DE 36 "Green Goddess" drophead

Docker commissioned Hooper & Co. to build a drophead coupé on a Daimler DE-36 chassis for display at the first post-war British International Motor Show at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre in 1948. Named the "Green Goddess" by the press, the car had five seats, three windscreen wipers, and hydraulic operation of both the hood and the hood cover. After the show, the car was further tested and refined, after which it was kept by Docker for his personal use.^[5] Six other chassis were bodied with similar bodies. These were all called "Green Goddesses" after the original, which was exhibited with jade-green coachwork and green-piped beige leather.^[5]

Second marriage

His second wife was Norah Collins (née Norah Royce Turner), a former showgirl that he married at Caxton Hall in 1949. She was the widow of Sir William Collins, the president of Fortnum & Mason, and also the widow of Clement Callingham, the head of Henekeys wine and spirits merchants. They lived at Heath House in Stockbridge.^[1]

Docker Daimlers

Main article: Docker Daimlers

 

Blue Clover, the 1952 show car

 

Golden Zebra, for the 1955 Paris Show

Sir Bernard Docker commissioned a series of Daimlers that were built to Lady Docker's specifications for the show circuit.

In ‘Norah: The Autobiography of Lady Docker’, ‘The Golden Daimler’ is given its own chapter. ‘If I could find a single reason for my elevation to the dubious ranks of a celebrity, then I think, I would have a motor car to thank.’ Norah told her husband Sir Bernard Docker of her frustration that no one abroad had heard of Daimler cars. To boost the car’s popularity, she asked Bernard: “Why can’t you manufacture a smaller Daimler, suitable for the family?” Bernard invited her to join the company and to take on the project.^[1]

1951 – The Gold Car (a.k.a. Golden Daimler)

The Gold Car was a touring limousine on the Thirty-Six Straight-Eight chassis.^[6] The car was covered with 7,000 tiny gold stars, and all plating that would normally have been chrome was gold.^[7] This car was taken to Paris, the United States and Australia.

1952 – Blue Clover

Also on the Thirty-Six Straight-Eight chassis, Blue Clover was a two-door sportsman's coupé.

1953 – Silver Flash

The Silver Flash was an aluminium-bodied coupé based on the 3-litre Regency chassis. Its accessories included solid silver hairbrushes and red fitted luggage made from crocodile skin.^[8]

1954 – Star Dust

based on the DF400 chassis. In 2014, the Star Dust limo, "finished with 5,000 sterling silver six-pointed stars" was sold after having been found in a barn in Wales in the 1980s.^[9]

1955 – Golden Zebra

The Golden Zebra was a two-door coupé based on the DK400 chassis.^[10] Like the Gold Car, the Golden Zebra had all its metal trim pieces plated in gold instead of chrome, and it had an ivory dashboard and zebra-skin upholstery.^{[10][11][12][13]}

Separation from Midland Bank

An entire chapter of 'Norah: the Autobiography of Lady Docker' is devoted to the Dockers and their separation from Midland Bank titled 'The B.S.A. Affair'. The book was ghostwritten and edited by Don Short.

Separation from BSA

At the end of May 1956, Docker was removed from the board of Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA), and he was replaced as chairman of BSA by Jack Sangster.^[1]

Decline and death

Without their main source of income, the Dockers began to run out of money. In 1965, Docker put Shemara on the market for £600,000; it was eventually sold for £290,000 to British businessman Harry Hyams.^[1] In the Norah: the Autobiography of Lady Docker, their isolation was described. 'Now we feel alone in this world, long since forgotten by those we helped, with only a handful of true and trusted friends remaining.'^[1]

References

1. Docker, Norah; Short, Don (1969). Norah: the Autobiography of Lady Docker. ISBN. London: W.H. Allen. ISBN 0491006993.
2. Martin, Douglas (24 February 2003). "Jeanne de Rothschild, 94, Who Came From Stage, Dies". The New York Times. New York, NY USA. Obituaries. ISSN 0362-4331. OCLC 1645522. from the original on 17 June 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2013. In 1934, she married the industrialist Bernard Dudley Docker. Mr. Docker's father was so upset that he hired private detectives to track his son's new wife. The son divorced her after discovering her with the actor David Hutcheson.
3. . Submarine Losses 1904 to Present Day. Gosport, Hampshire, UK: Royal Navy Submarine Museum. Archived from the original on 14 July 2013. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
4. Helgason, Guðmundur, "HMS Shemara (FY 026)", uboat.net
5. "The 1948 London Motor Show, Earls Court Exhibition, ex-Sir Bernard Docker – from the Estate of the Late John H. Sweeney – 1948 Daimler DE-36 'Green Goddess'-'The Chairman's Car' – Registration no. LJJ11 (UK) – Chassis no. 51233". Bonhams. 14 August 2009. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
6. Sewell, Brian. "Brian Sewell's Docker Daimlers". Brian Sewell. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
7. . The Independent. London, UK: Independent Print. 10 February 2004. ISSN 0951-9467. OCLC 185201487. Archived from the original on 5 March 2013. Retrieved 25 May 2012. Nora's first design, of 1951, was known as The Gold Car, a limousine embellished with 7,000 gold stars; from bonnet to tailpipe all that should have been chrome was gold, and the interior was trimmed in golden camphor wood and gold brocade.
8. Lewin, Tony; Borroff, Ryan (2003). "03.04 The Ten Best Forgotten". How To: Design Cars Like a Pro: A Comprehensive Guide to Car Design from the Top Professionals. St. Paul, MN USA: Motorbooks International. p. 181. ISBN 978-0-7603-1641-2. Retrieved 23 June 2013. Based on the Daimler Regency model, it sported slightly more restrained solid silver hairbrushes and propelling pencils built into the interior, plus fitted red crocodile skin luggage.^{[permanent dead link]}
9. "Luxury post-war limo is auctioned". BBC News. 13 September 2014.
10. "632 The ex-London Motor Show 1955 Daimler DK400 'Golden Zebra' Coupé Coachwork by Hooper & Co Registration no. TYL 575 Chassis no. 92705 Engine no. 48771". Auctions at Bonhams. 4 December 2006. from the original on 14 July 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2012. In 1966 Golden Zebra, which cost £12,000 to build (many times the value of the average semi-detached house at the time) was offered for sale by Daimler distributors Henlys of Chester with 25,000 miles on the clock for only £1,400.
11. . Mechanix Illustrated. 52 (8). Fawcett Publications: 49–51. August 1956. ISSN 0025-6587. Archived from the original on 27 June 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2012. Undaunted, Lady Nora (sic) ordered a Bentley Continental, also a plush job.
12. Tutor, Chris (28 November 2006). "Auction Action: 50-year-old blingmobile on the block". AutoBlog. AOL. from the original on 27 June 2009. Retrieved 26 May 2012. The four-liter coupe featured gold plated exterior trim, an ivory dashboard and, of course, authentic zebra-hide seats. When asked why she chose zebra, Lady Docker replied: "Because mink is too hot to sit on."
13. Buckley, Martin (25 November 2006). "The gear box: Christmas on wheels – Docker Daimler Golden Zebra". The Daily Telegraph. London, UK. ISSN 0307-1235. OCLC 49632006. from the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2012.