84 :OLD BIKE AUSTRALASIA
OUT’N’ABOUT
Tracing an
Abingdon King Dick
If my research is correct, I think I am the 6th known owner of the circa
1909/1910 3 1/2hp Gahagan & Beddome (G & B) King Dick motorcycle
with possibly a 7th and perhaps first owner, yet to be discovered.
StoryDick Prisgrove
This particularmotorcycle, as far as I can
ascertain, was first written about by Mr David
Dumble when it featured on Pg.15 of his 1974
book, Veteran Motorcycles in Australia. The earliest
known photo of the G & B King Dick is from 1914,
when it was issued with number 2707, according to
information given to me by Mr Ken Young. The first
question this answers is that the gent astride the
bike is, in all likelihood, a Mr Alfred A. Campbell of
Bourke Street, Launceston. But what evidence do I
have that the King Dick motorcycle I have now the
privilege of owning, is in fact the same machine?
The photo has been handed down from previous
owners, but it is also in the hands of the present
VMCC Abingdon marque specialist in the UK, Mr
William (Bill) Whiteley, who was able to connect the
photo to a previous owner Mr John Hill. It has been
thought that the G & B Abingdon King Dick may
have been an Australian built motorcycle, however,
Robert Saward in his 1996 book, A-Z of Australian-
Made Motorcycles 1893-1942, rightly debunks this.
Though there where Abingdon engines fitted to
frames made locally up from probably imported
lugs, advertisements from 1909 to 1914 indicates
the vast majority in King Dicks at this time were
fully assembled and imported motor-cycles.
Walter Gahagan and Charles Beddome purchased
a cycle business from a Mr Sim King, trading as
Gahagan & Beddome, 133 Elizabeth Street, Hobart
in October 1908, selling Rover bicycles and shortly
after manufacturing cycles under the G & B brand.
Mr Beddome left the business in October 1909 and
Mr Gahagan continued trading as Wally Gahagan,
continuing with G & B trade name. In Sept. 1911
Wally Gahagan indicates his business is moving
from bicycles into motor-cycles, and on the 9th Sept
1912 places his first advertisement as an Abingdon
Agent (sic). Two years later he places his last
advertisement for Abingdon, but stating within this
ad he has “many second hand FN’s, Triumphs,
Rovers, Abingdons, G & B’s (probably bicycles), and
Matchless, any reasonable offer to clear” (sic). In
January 1917 Wally Gahagan lodges for Bankruptcy.
As far as I can ascertain, N.L. Frost of the Devon
Cycle and Motor Works, Ulvestone, was the first
agent to sell the Abingdon King Dick motorcyclemarque in Tasmania from March 1911. I think it
reasonable to assume the Mr Frost was getting the
Kings Dick’s through Mr Sim King. He is certainly
cited as doing so a year or so later. The very first
advertisement I have found of the Abingdon King
Dick motorcycle in Australia is from The Age,25th
December 1909 placed by E.W. Brown, 207-213
Swanston Street, Melbourne. The bike I now have
was often seen at rallies up to (I think) the late
1970s mid 1980s when it was owned by Guy
Leopold. It is thought the bike was in the possession
of John Hill of Moonah West, Hobart and later of
Melbourne, at the time David Dumble’s account was
printed. In all probability, the bike I now have is the
same bike cited by Mr Dumble and Mr Saward.
The marque specialist, Bill Whiteley is happy to
date the bike to either the first or second quarter
1910, or even 1909 from its physical characteristics,
but as import documentation does not exist, I am
happy to cite it as circa 1909/10. However if Mr
Alfred Campbell was its first registered owner in
February 1914, where was the motorcycle and who
owned it from 1910? An educated option came
courtesy of the gentleman who has been of great
assistance to me in getting the bike running again,
Mr Neville Babb, who observed that front wheel is
from a bicycle, and he is right. Perhaps Wally
Gahagan refreshed a second hand machine as he
certainly had plenty of Abingdon bicycle parts to use.
I must also make a special mentions to Mr Bill
Veitch, owner of New Zealand’s oldest Abingdon
King Dick (1909), for helping me locate that elusive
frame number, Mr Brian Bennett for the many trivial
questions I have inundated him with and Mr Ron
Weste for the photography. If all goes to plan, I will
be taking the G & B to the Antique Motorcycle Rally
in Ulvestone, Tasmania in March/April 2019. I
welcome any additional information that may add
to the story of this G & B King Dick motorcycle.■FOOTNOTE: The author wishes to acknowledge various
newspapers and journals as the source for information,
including Tasmanian Police Gazette, The North Western
Advocate & Emu Bay Times, The Age, The Mercury,
Hobart, Daily Post, Hobart, The Quest for King Dickby
William Whiteley, A-Z of Australian-Made Motorcycles
1893-1942, Veteran Motorcycles in Australiaby David
Dumble, 100 clicks; The History of the Tasmanian
Motorcycle Clubby Ken Young.This photo came with the bike
and is thought to be Alfred
Campbell of Launceston.The G&B in January 2018.
Photographed by Ron Weste.