THE SCOTT CONNECTION

Smiling: VOC Chairman Tim Kirker

In his editorial in the April 2010 issue of MPH, VOC Chairman Tim Kirker referred to “children” who had benefitted from what Mr Kirker described as the late John Lumley’s “altruism. These “children” of VOC officials and officers included Gill Ashton née Philipp, daughter of VOC Overseas Membership Secretary John Philipp, Tom Farrow, son of VOC official and VOC Spares Company Ltd Director Arthur Farrow, Peter Adams, son of VOC Executive Committee member and Information Officer Paul Adams and Matt Wheeldon, son of VOC Executive Commottee member and Spares Liaison Officer Dick Wheeldon. There were five Scott motorcycles in the John Lumley Collection, dating from 1921 to 1945. On 16.9.2010, former Vincent HRD Owners Club Treasurer and Executive Roy Huxley, who had known John Lumley well, made the following public statements:

"On a personal note, I did know and like John Lumley very much and enjoyed talking to him. I was sad by his passing and will miss his absence from future events. I never did take up his invitation to visit him at home to see his collection of motorcycles and it is too late now. I particularly wanted to see his very rare Coventry Eagle Flying 8, which we had talked about. In my absence from the VOC scene hereabouts I was not aware of his illness until reading of his passing in MPH with details of his funeral, which I attended, leaving immediately afterwards. I was surprised to learn of the somewhat hasty clearance and distribution of John's collection of motorcycles, completed before his funeral. After I started receiving emails from Charlie Cannon I felt obliged to attend a North Kent Club night and asked Dick Wheeldon directly what the truth was.  Unfortunately he refused to discuss anything to do with John Lumley, other than to say he had carried out John's wishes. When I asked Dick what happened to John's Coventry Eagle Flying 8 and the Brough Superiors and the Scotts he said John must have sold them as they were not at John's house and then said "there were no bikes at the house at all, only bike parts". So there you have it. There must be a lesson for us all to be learnt here.

There is much food for thought in what Keating and Cannon have reported. I live only two miles from Dick Wheeldon and it is just as well he didn't come knocking to give me a Series A twin or a Black Prince or a Black Shadow or a Brough Superior or even the Coventry Eagle Flying 8 from the John Lumley Collection, because I would not have considered a £1000 donation to charity to have been adequate consideration. Perhaps that explains why no-one came knocking at my door?"

Mr Huxley stated publicly that Dick Wheeldon, in charge of the clearance and dispersal of John Lumley’s collection of motorcycles and rare spare parts, had denied the presence of any Brough Superiors, Scotts ot the Coventry Eagle Flying-8. Mr Huxley’s reference to VOC whistleblower Charlie Cannon’s emails places his conversation with Dick Wheeldon in March or April 2010. Apart from the fact that one of the two Brough Superior SS100s and the five Scotts taken from John Lumley’s property after his death on 7.4.2009 had been traced by March 2010, one of the Scotts had been sold through eBay by Matt Wheeldon in August 2009 for £4,650. Matt Wheeldon is Dick Wheeldon’s son.

According to a source at Thackray Williams LLP, one M Wheeldon was on record in March 2010 as receiving a “circa 1929” Scott, which he sold through eBay in August 2009 for £4,650, the stated reason being that the Scott was "too much of a restoration project". This machine recently surfaced in the Melbourne area of Australia, purchased at a Shannon’s auction for $7,500 AU in August 2010 by a local enthusiast, Catrina Sargent. Ms Sargent posted a query about this 1929 Scott Two-Speeder on the Scott Owners Club internet forum on 20.10.2010.

The history of this Scott as related by Shannon’s is partially accurate in that it did indeed come from a “large collection of bikes”. However, there was no barn on John Lumley’s property on the outskirts of the Kentish town of Sevenoaks. While Ms Sargent has the laundry receipt in John Lumley’s name, proving her Scott’s ex-John Lumley Collection provenance, complete with the late John Lumley’s notes on modifications to the engine, she should perhaps ask Dick Wheeldon of the VOC for any documents he might have retained, such as the old-style RF60 buff logbook certifying the UK registration number as UT 4742.

 

After all, when Dave Bushell and his son Michael went to collect the ex-John Lumley Scott Mr Bushell Sr stated in the same SOC forum thread as bequeathed to his son in John Lumley’s Will, there were apparently no registration documents with it, as Mr Bushell Sr stated on 20.10.2010. Yet on 23.10.2010, in the same forum discussion thread, Mr Bushell Sr informed readers that he and his son now had the registration documents, the number of Michael Bushell’s Scott being UB 2379. The“circa 1930” Scott reported by the Thackray Williams source as in the possession of M Bushell in March 2010 bore the registration number UB 2379. The engine number was Y895A. According to the source, a former Scott Owners Club Vice-President had described the machine as a mixture of two similar Scott motorcycles and opined that the the cost of restoration would exceed the value of the renovated machine.

Contacted about his statements on the Scott Owners Club forum, Dave Bushell wrote: "As I am no way involved in my son's acquisition of the Scott in question, other than to accompany my son to pck up the parts, I have forwarded him youir email, which he will respond to in due course". Dave Bushell is a former Vice-President of the Scott Owners Club. Michael Bushell duly responded by email: Having become aware in recent days that there are various issues surrounding the estate of John Lumley, and not knowing the motivation nor the authority with which you are asking questions for ‘research purposes’, I regret that I must advise you that I am restricting any correspondence on this matter to that with Thackray Williams. I am happy to tell you that the Scott – an incomplete “basket case” collection of parts in poor condition – was accompanied by a buff log book, and no further papers."

Accountant Michael Bushell: No 
Knowledge of Client's Assets

Asked if, as John Lumley's accountant, he had not felt that the value of the John Lumley Estate seemed low, given the value of the collection of classic and vintage motorcycles owned by John Lumley, Michel Bushell replied: "As I noted, I'm going to restrict correspondence to Thackray Williams, but the pile of rusted motorcycle parts that I am in possession of did not lead me to believe the valuation thereof was low, no." Vintage motorcycle enthusiast Michael Bushell ended his email by stating: "I had, and indeed have, no knowledge of John Lumley's other assets."

Another of the “children” to whom VOC Chairman Tim Kirker referred was Tom Farrow, son of VOC Drawings Manager Arthur Farrow, said to have recently become a director of the VOC Spares Company Ltd. Tom and Arthur Farrow were amongst those identified as involved by John Lumley’s next-of-kin, Tom and Betty Lumley. Reached by telephone on 3.3.2010, Mr Farrow Sr had denied receiving anything from the John Lumley Collection: "I didn't receive a bike, I didn't receive anything, I didn't receive an old hanky from the gentleman, either before he died or since he died", adding "...I am not involved." Asked if he was absolutely sure that the removal and dispersal of the John Lumley Collection was all above board and kosher, Mr Farrow replied: "Yes I am! I am one hundred percent certain!" Asked how he could be so certain, Mr Farrow said: "I am going to stop this conversation now because I don't like the way it's going. I'm sorry, mate, but you're just stirring up shit for people that don't deserve it. I have nothing to add. I am not involved other than as an observer." When subsequently asked if his son Tom Farrow had received anything, Mr Farrow Sr did not respond. 

Thick: VOC officials Dick Wheeldon and 
Arthur "Uncle Festus" Farrow

According to the Thackray Williams source, Tom Farrow had declared the Scott he received to be an incomplete motorcycle comprising a 1921 frame and a 1926 engine, without any registration documents, not unlike the Scott received by the late John Lumley’s former accountant, Michael Bushell FCCA.There seems to have been some confusion between Messrs Bushell Junior and Senior over whether or not the “pile of rusted motorcycle parts” said to have been left by John Lumley to his accountant in the former’s Will was accompanied by registration documents. So perhaps Mr Farrow Junior could ask his father Arthur Farrow, nicknamed “Uncle Festus” in VOC circles, to have a word with his friend and colleague Dick Wheeldon about finding a registration document for Tom Farrow’s Scott. Even if the Scott is not worth restoring, the registration number may be worth a substantial sum on the UK numbers market.

After all, when Michael Bushell went with his father to collect the rusted pile of scrap "bequeathed"  to him by his former client John Lumley, there were no registration documents with it. Yet the Bushells, according to Mr Bushell Sr, were able nevertheless to acquire an RF60 logbook giving the number as UB 2379. And then Michael Bushell remembered that there had been registration documents with "the pile of rusted motorcycle parts" he had received. The fifth of the John Lumley Scotts traced was described as a 1945 machine, registration number GYM 850, first registered on 28.6.1945 and said by the Thackray Williams source to be in the possession of one R Clark of Stroud, Gloucestershire. According to DVLA records, the V5C registration document of this machine is in Mr Clark’s name and the machine seems to have been issued with a tax disc on 1.12.2009, suggesting that it was certified as roadworthy and insured for road use prior to that date. Mr Clark seems to have been the only recipient of an ex-John Lumley Scott who supplied the executors of the John Lumley Estate with the frame number of the machine he received. A source at HM Revenue & Customs indicated that HMRC might be looking into the question of valuable registration numbers related to motorcycles   from the John Lumley Collection. 

Laughing: Tom Farrow (Union Flag) with 

VOC Secretary Andrew Everett (English Flag)

We will never know if John Lumley really decided to give his motorcycles and parts away as he lay on his deathbed, heavily dosed with morphine. We do know that he left a Will, the terms of which were unequivocal. And we know that his accountant, who happens to be a vintage motorcycle enthusiast, was apparently unaware that his client owned an important vintage motorcycle collection that did not make it into the marketplace because it was removed from his property before his trustees, Thackray Williams LLP, could have it inventoried, valued and registered for Probate. In an email dated 8.10.2010, Debbie Korb of Thackray Williams LLP indicated that Tom Lumley was their client, which explains why the Lumleys have been receiving bills from the firm. However, neither Debbie Korb nor Linda Gabriel responded when asked directly if they intended to recover these assets for the benefit of the John Lumley Estate, entrusted to the firm and to Mrs Gabriel as its Executor, and the eventual benefit of the Estate's sole beneficiary, Tom Lumley, to whom Thackray Williams would appear to have a dual duty. 


As his emailed response to questions about the John Lumley Estate indicate, however, Simon Williams of Thackray Williams appears to see nothing wrong with the removal after John Lumley's death but before probate of contents from his late client's property that have now been proven to have been worth considerably more than the property itself, an attitude that might explain why the Executors of the John Lumley Estate seem to have made no attempt to recover the motorcycles that had been traced by March 2010 and that have now been valued at more than £400,000.  Instead of benefitting from the proceeds of a sale of these assets, John Lumley's sole heir, Tom Lumley, eighty-four years old and suffering from cancer himself, is receiving legal bills from Thackray Williams and is fearful that he may be held accountable by HMRC for taxes due on the assets removed from his brother's home by "his friends in the Vincent club" because his wife thought she was doing the right thing in allowing these individuals to clear the house of all these "motorbike bits" and had no more idea of the true value of the collection than she seems to have had of probate rules and laws. 

As for the terminal cancer patients John Lumley allegedly wished to benefit through appropriate charitable donations, the £5,000 given by a handful of recipients of ex-John Lumley motorcycles represents just over one percent of the value of the motorcycles traced to date and perhaps half of one percent of the total value of the John Lumley Collection. Meanwhile, a group of prominent officials, officers and members of the Vincent HRD Owners Club stand to remain in possession of the ex-John Lumley motorcycles they received as long as they pay the taxes HM Revenue & Customs intend to levy. And then there are the ex-John Lumley motorcycles that have never been traced, including the Covernty Eagle Flying-8, the second Brough Superior SS100, three Vincent HRD Series A singles, a Vincent Series C Black Shadow, a Velocette KTT racer, a pair of Rudges and more than twenty 'lesser' makes and models. 

As for John Lumley's extensive collection of rare and valuable spare parts, this has been overlooked in the row about the missing motorcycles. However, several of the VOC Executive Committee members and officers implicated in the affair have been observed selling valuable parts through eBay, along with motorcycles found to have belonged to John Lumley. According to several sources within the Vincent HRD Owners Club, two of the prime movers, "DW" and "CJ", involved in what HM Revenue & Customs described as the "irregular disposal of assets" from the John Lumley Estate approached a Vincent HRD specialist recently with what was described as "a van full of Series A parts from John Lumley's house", asking the specialist to value these parts. The specialist declined, not wishing to become embroiled in a situation that was already out of control when one of the recipients of an ex-John Lumley motorcycle tried to trade it for a £25,000 Vincent-Parkin Special just two days after John Lumley's funeral on 21.4.2009. Like The Great Train Robbery of 1963 and other capers, there were just too many people involved in The Great John Lumley House Clearance.