EXSHAW
The Purrey steam wagon business in Bordeaux, France was acquired by J H Exshaw in 1910. The Berliet Foundation believes him to have been British and by 1913 the wagons were certainly being sold in London as Purrey-Exshaws. A visitor that year to Bordeaux claimed that over four hundred men were making up to three hundred wagons per year for service world-wide. The vehicles featured automatic coke firing and boiler regulation and were described as having simple twin-cylinder engines in place of earlier four-cylinder compound tandems. At the time, 172 Purrey steam trams were said to be running in Paris.
During the First World War, the French Army used Exshaws for transporting light tanks. With the return of peace, 4, 6 and 8-ton models were listed with a variety of Exshaw-built bodywork including hydraulic tippers. The firm also made winch tractors, rail vehicles and compressors.
