A London Pilgrimage Aboard The Ghost, Rejoicing In Rolls’ 144th Birthday

Marking The Hon Charles Stewart Rolls’ 144th birthday, Rolls Royce Motor Cars went on a journey around London aboard the Ghost.

Happened on August 27, the marque’s pilgrimage toured around locations associated with the co-founder’s life and career.

Rolls Royce Motor Cars’ chief executive officer Torsten Müller-Ötvös said, “While he is, of course, best known as one of our co-founders, The Hon Charles Stewart Rolls, born on this day in 1877, was also a pioneer of aviation, a successful racing driver and a gifted engineer. To mark this occasion, which means so much to our company, we’ve visited significant places from Rolls’ story with the Ghost, a motor car with technology, performance, craftsmanship and excellence which embodies everything this remarkable man stood for, cherished and pursued during his extraordinary life and career.”

To remember and honour the pilgrimage, striking images of the Rolls Royce Ghost were captured at each stop along the way.

First was at 35 Hill Street, Mayfair. The Hon Charles Stewart Rolls was born in this house as the third son of Lord and Lady Llangattock.

Eton and Cambridge were his alma mater, and it is where he enjoys the freedom to indulge his passions for aviation and motor racing.

Then the Ghost toured on to 119 Piccadilly. Until 1961, this Grade II Listed building on Piccadilly was the home of the Royal Aero Club, which Rolls co-founded in 1901.

Rolls began his flying career as a balloonist, making over 170 flights and winning the Aero Club de France Gold Medal in 1906 for the longest sustained time aloft. 

Interestingly, in 1910, he became the only second person in Britain to be awarded an aeroplane pilot’s licence and the first Englishman to fly an aeroplane across the English Channel.

Next stop is at the Royal Automobile Club (RAC). Rolls was also a founder member of the Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland, which became the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) in 1897. 

The Club’s Secretary, Claude Johnson, was Rolls’ business partner in his car dealership, C S Rolls & Co, and later became the first managing director of Rolls Royce.

Notably, it was a fellow RAC member that arranged the historic first meeting between Rolls and Henry Royce at the Midland Hotel, Manchester, on May 4, 1904.

After that, the Ghost drove on to 14 - 15 Conduit Street. This building on Conduit Street was the West End headquarters of Rolls-Royce Ltd for much of the twentieth century. 

From 1905 until his tragic early death in a flying accident in 1910, Rolls had his office here and used it as a base for demonstration drives of early Rolls-Royce models. 

On March 22, 2010, its historic significance was marked with an English Heritage Blue Plaque, unveiled by Lord Montagu of Beaulieu.

Finally, the Ghost ends its journey at Berkeley Street. Being close to Rolls’ birthplace, it is one of the most prestigious addresses in London, and Berkeley Street is regarded as the heart of Mayfair.

Today, it has become the site of Rolls-Royce’s flagship UK store, which is the first in the world to be transformed with the marque’s new corporate identity.