In the mid-1920s, Mr William Thomas (Bill) Palmer of Grantham decided to go into business as a road rolling contractor. Mr Palmer was no stranger to rollers since it was at Peterborough where, during World War 1, he’d served his apprenticeship at the works of Barford & Perkins Ltd (B&P), manufacturers of motor-driven road rollers. He later worked for the Peterborough firm and went to Holland to assist with a promotional exhibition in Rotterdam when he was turning 20 years old. It was there where one of the rollers being demonstrated was pictured. This was Reference No. L 097, a 9½ ton ‘E-type’ with a Dorman engine which was later supplied to Jessop & Co, Karachi and dispatched there on 17 August 1920.
However, the available records also show that an ‘A4’ Special’ tandem roller was destined for Becker & Co in Holland with a date of dispatch given as 3 January 1922. By the number of photographs which were taken of it that are available, it appears that it may have been something of an unusual design at the time and it may perhaps have been the roller on which Bill Palmer is pictured on it in Holland in the early 1920s.
Having started his business
