John North Birch (1867–1945) was born in Foleshill, Warwickshire, England, and trained as an engineer.
[3] About 1888 Birch built a pushbike with an oil retaining hub, an invention of his which is universally used in cycle production.
He named it the Foleshill and this pushbike proved popular and included among its purchasers Dennis brothers of Guildford.
Moving his business to Princes Street, Nuneaton, in 1898, Birch renamed his bike the George Eliot after the author of the same name.
The brochure from the show described them as one (is) fitted with Simms' Magneto in conjunction with Birch's advance sparking apparatus.
The other has a surface carburetter, wipe contact, accumulator, trembler coil, and self-compensating contactIn 1903 the bike was awarded a first class diploma for reliability.
In 1903 Birch sold the right to construct these bikes to Bradbury Motor Cycles, which produced them under the Peerless brand.
[7][8] It was a touring car, had a four-cylinder engine with a four-inch bore and seven-inch stroke, five main bearings, and full force feed lubrication.
[11] During the war period Birch constructed a marine engine for a Blenheim farmer, Thomas Davies, and garage owner, Edward Parker.
[12] In June 1918 Birch was ordered to pass the motor to Davies but either refused or could not and was jailed over the matter.
One financial columnist of the day commented that the prospectus lacked sufficient detail to make a reasonable assessment.