Siegfried Bettmann
| Siegfried Bettmann | |
|---|---|
| Born |
18 April 1863 Nuremberg, German Confederation |
| Died | 23 September 1951 (aged 88) |
| Residence | Coventry, Warwickshire, England UK |
| Nationality | Originally German became British national |
| Occupation | Cycle, motorcycle and car manufacturer |
| Spouse(s) | Annie Meyrick |
Siegfried Bettmann was a bicycle, motorcycle and car manufacturer and initiator of the Triumph Motorcycle Company. In 1914 he established the Annie Bettmann Foundation to help young people start businesses Triumph became one of the most famous motorcycle trade-names of the world.
Born in 1863 in Nuremberg, Germany, Siegfried Bettmann moved to Britain in 1885, and settled in Coventry, Warwickshire. He found work with Kelly & Co. compiling foreign directories for their publications. After six months, he obtained a job with the White Sewing Machine Co. as a translator and worked as the company's sales representative in northern Europe. Fluent in several languages, he perfected his English, married a local woman, Annie Meyrick (known as Millie) and became a British national.
Bettmann founded S. Bettmann & Co and started selling bicycles by the name 'Triumph' from premises in London. In 1886, Bettmann sought a more general name, and the company became known as the Triumph Cycle Company. A year later, the company registered as the New Triumph Co. Ltd., with funding from the Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Company. In that year, Bettmann was joined by another Nuremberg native, an engineer named Moritz (Maurice) Schulte, as a partner. Schulte encouraged Bettmann to transform Triumph into a manufacturing company, and in 1888 Bettmann purchased a site in Coventry using money lent by his and Schulte's families. The company began producing the first Triumph-branded bicycles in 1889. In 1896, Triumph initiated a subsidiary, Orial TWN (Triumph Werke Nuremberg) a for cycle production in his native city.
In 1902 the company diversified into making motorcycles at their works in Much Park Street. In 1902 the first Triumph motorcycle was developed. It was a strengthened bicycle with a 2.25 bhp Minerva engine. Once the business grew the purchased engines were replaced with their own and in 1907 the company expanded into a new factory in Priory Street, in premises of a former mill.
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