Charles Henry Pugh

This article is about the manufacturer. For other people with the same name, see Charles Pugh (disambiguation).

Charles Henry Pugh (6 June 1840 – 9 April 1901)^[1] was founder of a British bicycle manufacturer. Charles Henry Pugh was the chairman and managing director of the Whitworth Cycle Co., he was also the chairman of CH. Pugh Ltd.^[2] Pugh designed a machine press and specialized steel for making seamless bicycle rims.^[3] By 1894 Pugh was the leader of Rudge-Whitworth: a company which became Great Britain’s leading bicycles and motorcycle manufacturer.^[4]

Career

Pugh, along with his two sons, Charles Vernon and John, co-founded Whitworth Cycle Co. (later Rudge-Whitworth) of Birmingham.^[5] following Charles Henry Pugh's death his sons took the company public, and renamed it Charles H. Pugh Ltd.^[6]

In 1921 Charles Henry Pugh's son Charles Vernon Pugh owned a company called the Atlas Chain Company. That company sold the first mass produced gas powered lawn mower. The mower was named the Atco: a name derived from the company name.^[7]

Atco 1932