Eadie tricycles

As readers of this blog know, George Townsend set up a business in Redditch in 1851 to make needles. In 1882 his sone George started making components for bicycles and in 1886 complete bicycles were sold. The company ran into financial trouble and Albert Eadie and Robert Walker Smith were chosen by the bankers to run the company. In 1892 the company was re-incorporated named Eadie Manufacturing Company Limited based in Birmingham. A subsidiary, the New Enfield Cycle Company Limited was incorporated in 1897. A motorized quadricycle and a tricycle were introduced around 1898. They were either badge-engineered De Dion machines or perhaps contained parts manufactured by Eadie/Enfield. Interestingly, it appears some tricycles were manufactured as Eadie and some as Enfield. In the 1902 Stanley show, both companies had separate booths. The above picture appeared in the Motorcycles 1867-1930 Facebook page.