John Siddeley, 1st Baron Kenilworth

John Davenport Siddeley, 1st Baron Kenilworth, born on 5 August 1866 and died on 3 November 1953, was a pioneer of the motor industry in the United Kingdom, manufacturing aero engines and airframes as well as motor vehicles. Born in Longsight, Manchester, he began as a bicycle racer and designer and worked for Humber and Dunlop before founding the Siddeley Autocar Company in 1902 to build cars to Peugeot designs. Wolseley bought that business in 1905, and he later managed the Deasy Motor Company in Coventry, which became Siddeley-Deasy in 1912. During World War I the company grew rapidly, producing aircraft engines and airframes as well as motor vehicles including ambulances, and employed around five thousand workers.