The "Kangaroo" dwarf safety bicycle was made by Hillman, Herbert & Cooper, of the Premier Bicycle Co., Coventry, England, between 1884 and 1887. Its significance lies in the fact that it was one of many attempts in the transitional period between the Ordinary or "penny farthing" bicycle and the development of the safety bicycle, subsequently used now for over a century. Cycling literature even refers to the Kangaroo as both a dwarf ordinary and a dwarf safety.
Nevertheless, the Kangaroo was a successful attempt to make the ordinary bicycle design more manageable by fitting wheels of a more nearly equal size but, more importantly, incorporating a two-chain drive, albeit of a short lengths, on the front driving wheel. Consequently, with every revolution of the crank the driving wheel could travel further and faster than an Ordinary bicycle with the geared up front wheel compensating for the smaller diameter of its wheel.
The Kangaroo was also safer and easier to mount and dismount than from the tall-wheeled ordinary. Contemporary advertisements at the time described the Kangaroo as "Safer than a Tricycle" and "Faster than a Bicycle." Apart from safety, the Kangaroo's popularity was increased by the number of record-breaking times and distances it achieved including the 100 mile record in 1884.
This bicycle is a rare, example of the original "Kangaroo" model made by Hillman, Herbert & Cooper, which took the world of cycling by storm in 1884 when it was released. Apparently every manufacturer at the time had a go at building one, but the design was quickly superseded by the rear chain safety bicycle devised by Rover the following year in 1885.
The Hillman, Herbert & Cooper firm used a kangaroo or "Kangar" as their registered trade mark, while its use has nothing to do with Australian manufacturing.
Beeley, Serena. "A History of Bicycles", Wellfleet Books, New Jersey, USA, 1992.
Information supplied by Paul & Charlie Farren
Margaret Simpson, Assistant Curator, Science & Industry, August 2008
The "Kangaroo" bicycle was introduced by its manufacturers, Hillman, Herbert & Cooper, of Coventry, England, at the Stanley Show, in the Floral Hall at Covent Garden in London in February 1884. The firm had been established in 1876 with three partners, William Hillman, William Henry Herbert and George Beverley Cooper. Hillman had previously been a foreman at the Coventry Sewing Machine company and had practical experience.
The "Cyclists' Touring Club Gazette" of November 1884 described the Kangaroo in its editorial as "a sound and reliable little mount, likely to win its way more and more into popular favour, particularly among those who value their necks too highly to risk them upon the Ordinary bicycle". The "Cyclists'" magazine went on to note that a cycling game called the Kangaroo Hunt, similar to a game of hare and hounds by bicycle, saw a rider on a Kangaroo have a four minute head start. Kangaroo safety bicycle advertising noted that "over 100 of these machines [are] selling weekly".
Beeley, Serena. "A History of Bicycles", Wellfleet Books, New Jersey, USA, 1992.
The bicycle was purchased by the Museum in 1954. It was one of nine bicycles and tricycles from the collection of Richard G.J. Nash of Weybridge, Surrey, England. Richard Grainger Jeune Nash (1910-1966) was born in Ireland but grew up in Weybridge, Surrey. During the 1920s he became an automobile engineer at the famous Brooklands racetrack nearby. Brooklands was the world's first purpose-built motor racing circuit and opened in 1907. It was also the venue for early bicycle racing and soon attracted pioneering aviation manufacturing companies as well. In 1932 Nash established a hill climb record in his Frazer Nash, "The Terror", up Brooklands Test Hill. During the 1930s he was actively building up a collection of old aircraft, automobiles and bicycles which was known as the International Horseless Carriage Corporation. In 1939 motor racing ceased at Brooklands and during the Second World War the site was taken over for military aircraft production. The collection was even bombed during 1940.
In 1952 Nash offered to sell his entire collection of some 23 veteran cars, 46 pre-1900 bicycles and seven pre-1918 aircraft to the Museum for the "interest and education of future generation(s)" of "the Empire or Commonwealth". At that time his address was noted as The Beeches, Hangar Hill, Weybridge, Surrey. Nash had family members in Australia and apparently felt his collection would be of value to show the history of technology in the colonies. Because of the prohibitive transport costs from England to Australia, the Museum was only in a position to purchase 9 bicycles from the Nash collection. The Museum's Director, A.R. Penfold, inspected the bicycles in a hangar/store at Brooklands while visiting England in 1953. The bicycles were subsequently shipped to Australia on board the "SS Orion". Unfortunately, the bicycles came with no provenance. Much of the remainder of the Nash collection appears to have been dispersed to museums throughout Britain.
After the war civilian aviation continued at Brooklands with several Concordes later being built on the site. After the British Aerospace factory closed in 1986 the Brooklands Museum Trust was formed and a museum of the site opened in 1991.
In 1980 this bicycle (of the original nine bought) was conserved and partly restored by the Museum. It was disassembled and degreased, the peeling paint was removed, and 13 spokes were replaced in the front wheel using 3 mm rods.
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