{{Short description|English industrialist}} {{EngvarB|date=April 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2014}} '''Sir Bernard Dudley Frank Docker''' (9 August 1896 – 22 May 1978) was an English industrialist.
==Early life== Docker was born in Edgbaston, Birmingham on 9 August 1896. He was the only child of Frank Dudley Docker, an English businessman and financier, and Lucy Constance (daughter of distinguished lawyer John Benbow Hebbert). His parents initially lived at Rotton Park Lodge, close to the Docker Brothers varnish factory, before moving to The Gables, at Kenilworth, and, in 1935 moved to Coleshill House, Amersham, Buckinghamshire.<ref>''Dudley Docker: The Life and Times of a Trade Warrior'', R. P. T. Davenport-Hines, Cambridge University Press, 1984, p. 17.</ref>
==Career== Docker was the managing director of the Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA) group of companies from the early 1940s until 1956.
He was the Chair of the British Hospitals Association in 1941<ref>{{cite journal |date=8 November 1941 |title=British Hospitals Association |url=http://www.bmj.com/content/2/4218/664.1 |journal=British Medical Journal |volume=2 |issue=4218 |page=644 |doi=10.1136/bmj.2.4218.664 |accessdate=6 June 2017|url-access=subscription }}</ref> and represented them on the Nurses Salaries Committee chaired by Lord Rushcliffe which published two reports in 1943.<ref>{{Cite book |title=First Report Of Nurses Salaries Committee Salaries And Emoluments Of Female Nurses In Hospitals |publisher=HMSO |year=1943 |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Second Report of Nurses Salaries Committee Salaries and Emoluments of Male Nurses, Public Health Nurses, District Nurses And State Registered Nurses In Nurseries |publisher=HMSO |year=1943}}</ref>
At the end of May 1956, Docker was removed from the board of BSA, and he was replaced as chairman by Jack Sangster.<ref name="Docker" /> An entire chapter of ''Norah: the Autobiography of Lady Docker'' is devoted to the Dockers and their separation from Midland Bank titled 'The B.S.A. Affair'. The book was ghostwritten and edited by Don Short.
He also chaired The Daimler Company Limited and the Anglo-Argentine Tramways Company. He was awarded a knighthood in 1938 for his "energetic work during twelve years as the Chairman of Westminster Hospital."
==Personal life== In 1933 Docker married British actress Jeanne Stuart (''born'' Ivy Sweet), but the marriage was soon dissolved after pressure from Docker's parents. His father had her tracked by private detectives, and after finding her with an actor, David Hutcheson, Docker divorced her in 1935. She later married Baron Eugène von Rothschild in 1952.<ref name="NYTSweetObit"/>
His second wife was Norah Collins (née Norah Royce Turner), a former showgirl that he married at Caxton Hall in 1949. She was the widow of Sir William Collins, the president of Fortnum & Mason, and also the widow of Clement Callingham, the head of Henekeys wine and spirits merchants. They lived at Heath House in Stockbridge.<ref name="Docker" />
Without their main source of income, the Dockers began to run out of money. In 1965, Docker put ''Shemara'', his yacht, on the market for £600,000; it was eventually sold for £290,000 to British businessman Harry Hyams.<ref name="Docker" /> In ''Norah: the Autobiography of Lady Docker'', their isolation was described. "Now we feel alone in this world, long since forgotten by those we helped, with only a handful of true and trusted friends remaining."<ref name="Docker" />
==Yachts and automobiles== ===MY ''Shemara''=== thumb|MY ''Shemara'' seen at Southampton Docks. Docker commissioned John I. Thornycroft & Company to build a 863 tonne yacht to his specifications in 1938, names Shemara. 'I must stress that she was our home,' Norah: the Autobiography of Lady Docker states.<ref name="Docker" /> MY ''Shemara'' was requisitioned by the Royal Navy at the start of the Second World War in 1939 and used as a training vessel for anti-submarine warfare. It was during a training exercise with HMS ''Shemara'' that the submarine HMS ''Untamed'' was lost with all her crew.<ref name="SubMuseumLosses8" /> ''Shemara'' left RN service in 1946<ref>{{citation |work=uboat.net |url=http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/13692.html |title=HMS Shemara (FY 026) |first= Guðmundur |last=Helgason }}</ref>
===Green Goddess=== thumb|1949 Daimler DE 36 "Green Goddess" drophead Docker commissioned Hooper & Co. to build a drophead coupé on a Daimler DE-36 chassis for display at the first post-war British International Motor Show at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre in 1948. Named the "Green Goddess" by the press, the car had five seats, three windscreen wipers, and hydraulic operation of both the hood and the hood cover. After the show, the car was further tested and refined, after which it was kept by Docker for his personal use.<ref name="Bonham17327_260" /> Six other chassis were bodied with similar bodies. These were all called "Green Goddesses" after the original, which was exhibited with jade-green coachwork and green-piped beige leather.<ref name="Bonham17327_260" />
===Docker Daimlers=== {{main|Docker Daimlers}} thumb|''Blue Clover'', the 1952 show car thumb|''Golden Zebra'', for the 1955 Paris Show Sir Bernard Docker commissioned a series of Daimlers that were built to Lady Docker's specifications for the show circuit.
In ‘Norah: The Autobiography of Lady Docker’, ‘The Golden Daimler’ is given its own chapter. ‘If I could find a single reason for my elevation to the dubious ranks of a celebrity, then I think, I would have a motor car to thank.’ Norah told her husband Sir Bernard Docker of her frustration that no one abroad had heard of Daimler cars. To boost the car's popularity, she asked Bernard: “Why can’t you manufacture a smaller Daimler, suitable for the family?” Bernard invited her to join the company and to take on the project.<ref name="Docker" />
;1951 – The Gold Car (a.k.a. Golden Daimler) ''The Gold Car'' was a touring limousine on the Thirty-Six Straight-Eight chassis.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Sewell|first1=Brian|title=Brian Sewell's Docker Daimlers|url=http://www.briansewell.co.uk/brian-sewell-com/brian-sewell-cars/dockers-daimlers.html|website=Brian Sewell|access-date=9 September 2017}}</ref> The car was covered with 7,000 tiny gold stars, and all plating that would normally have been chrome was gold.<ref name="IndependentDesigner" /> This car was taken to Paris, the United States and Australia. ;1952 – Blue Clover Also on the Thirty-Six Straight-Eight chassis, ''Blue Clover'' was a two-door sportsman's coupé. ;1953 – Silver Flash The ''Silver Flash'' was an aluminium-bodied coupé based on the 3-litre Regency chassis. Its accessories included solid silver hairbrushes and red fitted luggage made from crocodile skin.<ref name="Forgotten" /> ;1954 – Star Dust based on the DF400 chassis. In 2014, the Star Dust limo, "finished with 5,000 sterling silver six-pointed stars" was sold after having been found in a barn in Wales in the 1980s.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-mid-wales-29183255|title=Luxury post-war limo is auctioned|work=BBC News |date=September 13, 2014}}</ref> ;1955 – Golden Zebra The ''Golden Zebra'' was a two-door coupé based on the DK400 chassis.<ref name="Bonhams1793" /> Like the ''Gold Car'', the ''Golden Zebra'' had all its metal trim pieces plated in gold instead of chrome, and it had an ivory dashboard and zebra-skin upholstery.<ref name="Bonhams1793" /><ref name="MechanixIllustrated" /><ref name="AutoBlogZebra_GearBox" /><ref name="Buckley" />
== References == {{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="Docker">{{cite book |last1= Docker |first1= Norah |last2= Short |first2= Don |title= Norah: the Autobiography of Lady Docker. ISBN |year= 1969 |publisher= W.H. Allen |location= London |isbn= 0491006993 |ref=Docker }}</ref>
<ref name="NYTSweetObit">{{cite news | title =Jeanne de Rothschild, 94, Who Came From Stage, Dies | first =Douglas | last =Martin | url =https://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/24/obituaries/24JEAN.html | newspaper =The New York Times | location =New York, NY USA | issn = 0362-4331 | oclc = 1645522 | date = 24 February 2003 | at =Obituaries | access-date =7 July 2013 | quote =In 1934, she married the industrialist Bernard Dudley Docker. Mr. Docker's father was so upset that he hired private detectives to track his son's new wife. The son divorced her after discovering her with the actor David Hutcheson. | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20130617042830/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/24/obituaries/24JEAN.html | archive-date =17 June 2013 | url-status =live | ref =NYTSweetObit }}</ref>
<ref name="MechanixIllustrated">{{cite journal | title = Lady Docker's Golden Chariot |date=August 1956 | journal = Mechanix Illustrated | volume = 52 | issue = 8 | pages = 49–51 | publisher = Fawcett Publications | issn = 0025-6587 | access-date = 14 May 2012 | url = http://blog.modernmechanix.com/lady-dockers-golden-chariot/ | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130627132400/http://blog.modernmechanix.com/lady-dockers-golden-chariot/ | archive-date = 27 June 2013 | quote = Undaunted, Lady Nora (''sic'') ordered a Bentley Continental, also a plush job. }}</ref>
<ref name="IndependentDesigner">{{cite news | title = Daimler: extravagant design and magnificent bodywork | url = https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/motoring/features/daimler-extravagant-design-and-magnificent-bodywork-569402.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130305114847/http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/motoring/features/daimler-extravagant-design-and-magnificent-bodywork-569402.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 5 March 2013 | newspaper = The Independent | location = London, UK | publisher = Independent Print | issn = 0951-9467 | oclc = 185201487 | date =10 February 2004 | access-date = 25 May 2012 | quote = Nora's first design, of 1951, was known as The Gold Car, a limousine embellished with 7,000 gold stars; from bonnet to tailpipe all that should have been chrome was gold, and the interior was trimmed in golden camphor wood and gold brocade. }}</ref>
<ref name="Forgotten">{{cite book |last1= Lewin |first1= Tony |last2= Borroff |first2= Ryan |title= How To: Design Cars Like a Pro: A Comprehensive Guide to Car Design from the Top Professionals |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=GThBf3VpqsYC |access-date= 23 June 2013 |year= 2003 |publisher= Motorbooks International |location= St. Paul, MN USA |isbn= 978-0-7603-1641-2 |page= 181 |chapter= 03.04 The Ten Best Forgotten |quote= Based on the Daimler Regency model, it sported slightly more restrained solid silver hairbrushes and propelling pencils built into the interior, plus fitted red crocodile skin luggage. |ref= Forgotten }}{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
<ref name="Bonham17327_260">{{cite web |url= http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/17327/lot/260/?list_search_query=1&lang=en_gb&back_to_year=2003&sale_no=17327&limit=9999&query=daimler&create_facets=False&page_anchor=q1_1%3DDaimler%26m1%3D1%26b1%3Dlist |title= The 1948 London Motor Show, Earls Court Exhibition, ex-Sir Bernard Docker – from the Estate of the Late John H. Sweeney – 1948 Daimler DE-36 'Green Goddess'-'The Chairman's Car' – Registration no. LJJ11 (UK) – Chassis no. 51233 |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date= 14 August 2009 |publisher= Bonhams |access-date=15 August 2013}}</ref>
<ref name="Bonhams1793">{{cite web | url = http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/14267/lot/632/ | title = 632 The ex-London Motor Show 1955 Daimler DK400 'Golden Zebra' Coupé Coachwork by Hooper & Co Registration no. TYL 575 Chassis no. 92705 Engine no. 48771 | date = 4 December 2006 | work = Auctions at Bonhams | access-date = 26 May 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130714013142/http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/14267/lot/632/ | archive-date = 14 July 2013 | url-status = live | quote = In 1966 Golden Zebra, which cost £12,000 to build (many times the value of the average semi-detached house at the time) was offered for sale by Daimler distributors Henlys of Chester with 25,000 miles on the clock for only £1,400. }}</ref>
<ref name="AutoBlogZebra_GearBox">{{cite web |url=http://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/28/auction-action-50-year-old-blingmobile-on-the-block/ |title=Auction Action: 50-year-old blingmobile on the block |first=Chris |last=Tutor |date=28 November 2006 |work=AutoBlog |publisher=AOL |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090627030904/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/28/auction-action-50-year-old-blingmobile-on-the-block/ |archive-date=27 June 2009 |url-status=live |access-date=26 May 2012 |quote=The four-liter coupe featured gold plated exterior trim, an ivory dashboard and, of course, authentic zebra-hide seats. When asked why she chose zebra, Lady Docker replied: "Because mink is too hot to sit on." |df=dmy }}</ref>
<ref name="Buckley">{{cite news |title=The gear box: Christmas on wheels – Docker Daimler Golden Zebra |first=Martin |last=Buckley |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/caraccessories/2744431/The-gear-box-Christmas-on-wheels.html |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |location=London, UK |issn=0307-1235 |oclc=49632006 |date=25 November 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130703000000/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/caraccessories/2744431/The-gear-box-Christmas-on-wheels.html |archive-date=3 July 2013 |url-status=live |access-date=26 May 2012 |df=dmy }}</ref>
<ref name="SubMuseumLosses8">{{cite web |url = http://www.submarine-museum.co.uk/what-we-have/memorial-chapel/submarine-losses?start=7 |title = Submarine Losses 1904 To Present Day – Page 8 |work = Submarine Losses 1904 to Present Day |publisher = Royal Navy Submarine Museum |location = Gosport, Hampshire, UK |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130714021235/http://www.submarine-museum.co.uk/what-we-have/memorial-chapel/submarine-losses?start=7 |archive-date = 14 July 2013 |url-status = dead |access-date = 13 July 2013 |df = dmy-all }}</ref> }}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Docker, Bernard}} Category:1896 births Category:1978 deaths Category:Knights Bachelor Category:Businesspeople from Birmingham, West Midlands Category:British motorcycle pioneers Category:People from Edgbaston Category:Daimler people Category:20th-century English businesspeople Category:Businesspeople awarded knighthoods