Alderson

History

Christopher Henry Metcalf Alderson was born in early 1855 in Thornby Aikton, Cumberland, the son of John Alderson, a cotton manufacturer, and Bessie T Alderson (née Hilda). Alderson was originally apprenticed as a draper in Carlisle, but in the 1870’s moved with his younger brother Hope and his now widowed mother to Finchley, where the brothers set up as wholesale florists. By 1891 the three had moved to Farnborough, and following Bessie’s death in 1896 and Christopher’s marriage, the brothers took neighbouring houses in Hilda Vale Road, Farnborough.

Interested in aviation since his first balloon flight in 1880, he was an early member of the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain and the Aeronautical Institute and Club; Alderson was responsible for restoring many of John Stringfellow’s early models.

Alderson formed the Farnborough Aviation Works at Farnborough, Kent, in 1909. The company built the Candler Stella in 1909 and, in March 1910, Alderson was reported to be building a monoplane of his own design. Certainly by 1911 Alderson was styling himself as an 'Aeronautical Engineer and Manufacture of Aeroplanes' being supported by private means. In August of 1910 he was also reported to be building a biplane to be named The Brea. Nothing further is known of these projects.

Alderson died in April 1929 in Kent.

Company References

1. British Aircraft Before The Great War, Michael H. Goodall and Albert E. Tagg (Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 2001)
2. http://www.st-augustines.org.uk/roundabout/jun05.pdf
3. Aviation World, 2015/1 (Air-Britain Publications)
4. An Ancient Air - The Biography of John Stringfellow, Harald Penrose (Airlife Publishing, 1988)