Obituary

T. C. (Cuth) Harrison

It was with some degree of shock that I heard of the death, at 74, of T. C. (Cuth) Harrison for only last summer I had received a very warming and enthusiastic letter from him, while doing research for the ERA book. Writing of his friend George Slater, who drove one of Cuth’s ERAs, he said “. . I see him irregularly and he seems to keep well but has now retired — unlike me.” Cuth had a large Ford dealership in Sheffield and was very active in racing in the immediate post-war years (1946-50), first with Rileys and then ERAs. He acquired R1B, the ex-Seaman, Cotton and then R8C, the ex-Lord Howe Zoller-blown car. He modified the latter extensively, fitting a later chassis frame, converting the engine to Jamieson supercharging and lowering and re-profiling the bodywork. He competed in most of the major Grand Prix races, as far away as Monza and Monaco, and everywhere in the British Isles.

His observations in the aforementioned letter are interesting “. . . I am afraid the sport has moved along quite a lot from those very amateur days. Instead of drivers having to find money out of their own pockets, as you well know these days they get extremely well paid. We struggled along getting a few odd quid from the advertising we had on our racing vans which in no way covered the cost.”

When he retired from racing Cuth took up mud-plugging trials with Ford engined specials he called Harfords, and “Dad” Harrison and his sons were a strong force in the trials game, especially in the North. — D.S.J.

Sir Francis Samuelson, Bt.

Sir Francis Samuelson, son of the third baronet of that name, who died last January at the age of 90, was a most enthusiastic amateur motor sportsman. Educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, he served in WW1 in France and Palestine as a Captain in the Yorkshire Hussars Yeomanry. He succeeded his father in 1946.

Sir Francis used to drive to Brooklands from Cambridge and there won a race against Oxford on his Motosacoche motorcycle. He drove in the Cyclecar GP at Amiens in 1913 with a Marlborough, taking his fiancee as mechanic – Lady Francis, who died last year, was a keen collector of dolls and dolls-houses. After the war Sir Francis raced a homebuilt FS, a Brooklands-model Austin 7 and an unreliable supercharged Ratier in the JCC 200 Mile Race, before going over to MG Midgets. He also took part in the Monte Carlo Rally with the Ratier and a French Talbot and after the war raced a Cooper 500 and a Healey Silverstone and he continued racing in suitable events with one of the surviving 1914 3.3-litre TT Sunbeams, becoming one of the oldest continuous competitors, a role carried on today by Le Strange Metcalfe. (The full story appears in Motor Sport for April, 1963.) Our condolences to his sons. — W.B.

Grenville G. Manton

Grenville (“Grenny”) Manton, who was with Motor Sport in an editorial capacity helping its then Editor, Walter Braidwood, in 1930/32, died last January. He was a pilot in the RFC with the rank of Lieutenant in the First World War, remaining in the RAF until 1920, when he joined the Talbot Company as a test-driver, mostly it is thought on the new 8/18 and 10/23 models. Around the year 1922 Manton joined the De Havilland Aircraft Co. at Stag Lane, in the Drawing and Stress office. After about a year he left to assist Prof. A.M. Low with his many motoring, motorcycling and aeronautical projects, with especial reference to the Low Audiometer.

From 1928 Manton was Assistant Editor to the Garage & Motor Agent, before moving on to Motor Sport. Thereafter, until WW2, he was an Associate Editor at Amalgamated Press, looking after publications such as “War in the Air”, with a brief time with A.J. Camm. Throughout the War, Manton was Motoring Correspondent for the Manchester Guardian, and when peace broke out he did the same work for the Daily Telegraph. From 1950 onwards he was in the Press Office of British European Airways with Bill Simpson, before his retirement. He continued to maintain links with his motoring and flying days with his friends, at the RAC and the Royal Air Force Club, until his health deteriorated. He leaves a widow and twin sons, who flew over from Canada for the funeral. Grenville Manton was a Companion of the Royal Aeronautical Society, in recognition of his contribution to aviation journalism. — W.B.