Early Life
Frederick Henry Royce was born in the village of Alwalton, in Huntingdonshire, just five miles west of Peterborough on March 27 1863, as the youngest of five children born to flour mill owner James Royce, and his wife, Mary King Royce.
Though his first name was legally Frederick, the young Royce went by “Henry” from an early age.
The Royce family had been millers for several generations, and it was assumed Henry would join the family business when he was old enough. However, these hopes were dashed when his father’s mill went bankrupt in February 1867.
It didn’t take long for the family to fall on hard times and the family split up: Mary took her three daughters to live with her family in another part of the village, whilst James took his two sons – including a four year old Henry – to London to find work.
In 1872, tragedy struck the Royce family as James died suddenly that year, likely due to Hodgkin’s disease (a type of cancer). Despite their father’s death, Henry and his brother stayed in London with an elderly couple that were family friends.
His father’s death also caused Henry to drop out of school to support himself, finding work selling newspapers on behalf of W H Smith & Sons (now one of Britain’s largest retailers) at the Clapton and Bishopsgate railway stations.
Only earning enough to afford a few slices of bread soaked in milk, Henry soon became depressed, partially due to having to go back to school, which Henry despised for being boring. Things would take a turn for the better in 1876.
That year, he was able to leave school and found a job as a telegram delivery boy, working out of the Mayfair Post Office to cover a large portion of central London. Interestingly, among those houses on his beat was 35 Hill Street in the affluent Berkley Square.
Whilst this may not seem significant, 35 Hill Street was the London home of Lord Llangattock, the father of Royce’s future business partner, Charles Rolls.
Indeed, it’s highly likely Royce delivered congratulatory telegrams to the couple on the day their youngest son, Charles, was born, on August 27 1877.
