Penny Farthing Bicycle

Fast Facts

Also known as	High Wheel
Type of thing	Personal
Date made or found	"{{{Date approximate}}}" is not recognized as a Boolean (true/false) value. 1885
Place made	Made in England
Place used	Mallala South Australia
Place found	Purchased from former owner
Current location	Mallala Museum
Used in	John Martins Christmas Pageant Adelaide S.A.
Ceased use	"{{{Date approximate2}}}" is not recognized as a Boolean (true/false) value. "{{{Date approximate}}}" is not recognized as a Boolean (true/false) value. The date "Christmas 2001" was not understood.

In 1870  an Englishman James Starley improved on the French "boneshaker" and produced the Penny Farthing Bicycle - so called as it resembled the side view of a larger British penny followed by a small farthing coin. James Starley became known as the father of the bicycle industry. Others began producing the bicycles with front wheels at an ever increasing size
The larger front wheel of up to 60 inches (1.5 m) enabled higher speeds on bicycles limited to direct drive.  By the late 1890s the "safety" bicycle was beginning to emerge and heralded the decline of the Penny Farthing.

The Penny Farthing  bicycle on display at the Mallala Museum  was made in 1885  by Hillman Herbert and Cooper in Coventry England and imported to Australia by Harris Scarfe Ltd of Adelaide.  It was purchased by Samuel Temby for use by the family. His son Harold Temby became adept at riding the bicycle and was regularly seen riding along Temby Road to Middle Beach. (Probably only a dirt track)

Years later Harold moved to live in a cottage on the corner of Aerodrome Road and Joseph Street Mallala and he rode the bicycle at times around the town of Mallala. Harold  purchased a conventional two wheeler and the Penny Farthing was confined to the back shed where it gathered dust for many years.

In  c.1960 a relative persuaded Harold to sell him the bicycle and so Lance Tiller became the proud owner.  Many months were spent in practicing his skills on the Penny Farthing until he felt confident to apply to participate in the John Martins Christmas Pageant held in Adelaide South Australia each year.  Thus began Lance's long association with the pageant in which he rode for 40 consecutive years.  An outstanding effort.

Lance Tiller offered the bicycle to the Mallala Museum - the district in which it first was ridden. The Mallala Museum purchased the bicycle in the year 2001 with a Premier's grant plus some other generous donations. The bicycle was restored to its original colour of black and minor repairs completed.

The Mallala Museum is delighted to have this Penny Farthing bicycle as an exhibit.

 Articles

Sources

• Mallala Museum records.  Facts on the invention of the Penny Farthing  bicycle from Wikipedia.