Russell Motor Car Co. Ltd.
Russell Motor Car Co. Ltd. collection. – 1911-1918. – 10 items.
The Russell Motor Car Company was incorporated in 1911 in Canada with
its head office in West Toronto. The company’s name had been the
Canada Cycle & Motor Co. Ltd. Cars had been built since 1905 at
the Weston Road Works, Toronto, when the first Model A was produced.
Thomas Alexander Russell was the General Manager and he named the car
after himself. By 1908 the Russell had become a luxury car. In 1913
trouble came in the form of an engine valve that created service problems.
The car-making part of the company was sold to the Willys-Overland Company
of Toledo, Ohio in 1915. In 1918 the company operated a machine-shop
in Weston as well as a farm
There have been two accruals. The first accrual consists of documents
pertaining to the sale of the company. They are: the Report of the Annual
Meeting on 28 October 1915 – with sections on bicycles, accessories
and skates, motor cars, Canadian military, and the sale of the business
in Australia. It includes a balance sheet from 15 July 1915. There are
two letters from Arthur E. Watts, County Clerk and Solicitor, Brantford,
Ontario, to Donald E. Bridgman of Minneapolis, Minnesota with regard
to his stock held in the company. There is a telegram sent by F.F. Henry
in Buffalo, New York to Fred G. Atkinson re the sale of the company.
Finally there is a five sheet document typed on paper from The Bradstreet
Company outlining the history of the company and its sale in December
1915. The second accrual consists of a request for payment letter with
invoice dated 1911; an Automobile Accessories Catalogue issued by the
company in 1912; and a pamphlet "Soldier-Citizens, Something of
the work carried on by the Russell Motor Car Ltd." Written by Catharine
Beverley Robertson the illustrated pamphlet outlines the re-retraining
of disabled soldiers and was published in 1918.
Title based on the content of the collection.
The first accrual (35-2010) was purchased from Alexander Books in 2010.
The second accrual (11-2010) was acquired from Morris Norman in 2010.
Finding aid available as part of this description.
There are no access restrictions.
Further accruals are not expected.
