Rolls-Royce 20/25

SALE AGREED

An early 20/25 with charm & character, being a traditional, upright limousine, but very light and spacious-feeling inside due to the unusually large area of glass. The car is sound, running well, with a decent future ahead of it, but it will need some tidying and mechanical attention before use. Cosmetically, the car is clean, with in particular, good leather interior and a correct set of early type instruments. Structurally it is good and overall will make a nice, relatively light project, priced to allow for the work needed.


Chassis No. GPS28 Reg. No. OU 9567 £26,000

Snippets: Cooper – The Bournemouth Benefactors
The 1st owner of GPS28 was James Edward Cooper (1867/1946) who, via his mother, can trace his family tree back to 1693 when John Dean married Elizabeth Diamond. The wealth of the Dean family started in 1736 when John Dean married his cousin Mary who brought a substantial dowry to the marriage, this was suitable invested by John Dean in contraband brandy & in due course provided the funds for John Dean to become a private banker & in 1761 John Dean purchased Littledown estate which remained with the family until the 1980s. Later generations of the family which encompassed the surname Dean, Cooper and Clapcott became surgeons, bankers, farmers, company directors & landed gentry. In 1887 William Clapcott Dean died without any heirs, his will left the majority of his estate to his favourite nephew James Edward Cooper (Uncle to our James Edward Cooper) on the proviso that James Cooper became Cooper-Dean by deed poll, this was duly done; another bequest was to his executors to ensure that the sum of £750 per annum per available to pay for the upkeep of his 8 horses and pack of hounds (this was contested and overturned by James). A few years down the line and our James Edward Cooper had an excellent relationship with his Uncle - they used to hold joint shooting days at the Stoke Wood Estate which was home to James Cooper-Dean’s daughters Ellen & Alice. In 1921 when James Cooper-Dean died he left the majority of his wealth to 3 children (Joseph, Ellen & Alice) but also property to his daughter-in-law and to his cousin James he left him two substantial properties - Westend estate plus land at Meonstoke which was well stocked with game, shares in West Hants Water Company and his “smallest motor car”. In 1946 when James Cooper died his estate (valued at £85,000) was left to his nieces Ellen & Alice; when Ellen died in 1950 she left her estate of £129,000 to her sister Alice and upon Alice’s death in 1957 her estate was left to their nieces - the spinster daughters of Joseph, namely Alice & Edith. We have a copy of the book “A fortune and a Family” which goes into much detail of the family and how the area around Bournemouth benefited from their largesse.