Ted Allery

30/12/1901 - 9/5/1930

Record updated 09-May-20

Ted Allery started racing on motorcycles and competed at Brooklands in the late 1920s. He was killed there in 1930 while acting as a riding mechanic for Colonel Rabagliati in a Talbot 90.

Edward Lionel Allery was born in Kingston-upon-Thames, England. As a boy, Ted and his brothers used to sneek into Brooklands through a gap in the railings to watch the racing for free.

He joined the Navy before the First World War, however at the end of hostilities he left and joined Burney & Blackburn, manufacturers of motorcycle engines that were then popular in racing bikes.

Ted started competing on motorcycles and owned several, including an AJS which he raced with considerable success.

He raced at Brooklands in 1927 and 1928 on a Zenith JAP and it was there that he met Derrick Wilson, a fellow competitor. They became friends and Derrick married Ted’s sister Imee.

In 1928 Ted joined Fox and Nicholl Ltd and was involved in the development of the new Talbot 90 racing car.

Fox and Nicholl entered three Talbots for the Double Twelve race at Brooklands on 9th and 10th of May 1930 and Ted was chosen as one of the riding mechanics. The Junior Car Club Double Twelve was an event comprising of two twelve-hour races held on consecutive days.

The number 21 Talbot 90 was driven by Raymond Stewart Hebeler and J. W. Ellison, the number 22 by Colonel C. E. C. Rabagliati and Howard F. Wolfe and the number 20 by Johnny Hindmarsh and Max Aitken.

Towards the end of the first days race, Rabagliati and Ted who was his riding mechanic at the time, were chasing the Alfa Romeo of Ivanovsky and Eyston when they came upon Archie Frazer-Nash's Austin 7 which was travelling considerably slower in the center of the track.

As Rabagliati swerved to avoid the Austin he got sideways and was hit by Hebeler in one of the other Talbots. The Rabagliati and Allery Talbot rolled into the infield spectator area causing carnage. Twenty people were injured, many of them seriously. Ted and one of the spectators died at the scene. Rabagliati suffered head injuries but survived as did the other injured spectators.

Despite the crash, the race continued. The third Talbot was withdrawn before the second day's racing.

At the inquest, the jury delivered a verdict of death by misadventure for Ted. The inquest also concluded that the cause was due to cars following each other too closely and the introduction of additional spectator protection was also advised.

In a separate action, Christopher Hall, one of the injured spectators, took the Brooklands Auto Racing Club to court and was awarded damages, however this was later overturned on appeal.



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