Jim Whalley Information Please

[HellyB]

Hello, 
During a recent conversation with my elderly mother who is suffering with dementia, we were completely astounded when she mentioned that her father - my grandfather, raced motorbikes on the Isle of Man back in the 1920's. Apparently he was rather good at it and she remembers his trophies around the house! We had never heard anything about this before, and only knew that her father died when she was a baby. But it seemed such a completely random thing for her to just come out with, and certainly something we didnt think she could make up! Dementia does strange things!
Her fathers name was James Whalley, and we are now wondering if maybe this could be the racer Jim Whalley. 
We would be so grateful if any members had any information that they have on Jim Whalley - especially any of the more personal things, such as where he came from, when he died, and the name of his wife, which would ultimately answer our questions and solve the mystery. (Also, full apologies to any genuine relatives of Jim Whalley, if I am barking up a completely wrong tree). Many thanks H

[cardan]

Lovely story.

No I don't think you're barking up the wrong tree: Jim Whalley was certainly a well-known racer.

If you go to "Home" on this forum and type Whalley into the search box at the very top right of the screen you'll come up with many mentions, including these photos https://www.douglasmotorcycles.net/index.php?topic=4038

Hope they spark a few memories!

Keep an eye out in the family photo albums - we'd love to see more photos.

Leon

[cardan]

I can't see anything much on Jim's life, but your comment that your mum's dad James Whalley died when she was a baby is a bit of a worry. Jim Whalley the famous racer was still alive and well and a motorcycle dealer in Bristol in 1937. http://velobanjogent.blogspot.com/2009/02/pictures-from-my-archive-frequent-dip.html  When was your mum born? The business Jim Whalley Ltd was still running in Bristol in the late 1960s but this could have been without its founder.
The comments on the page I linked to include one from James Whalley who says "Hi, Jim Whalley was my grandads brother. My grandad was John Whalley who also races in the 1920's and 30's."
Any of this make sense?
Leon

[HellyB]

Wow, that is really interesting information, thank you for taking the time to reply.
I think you may have given us the information we needed. My mum was born November 1936. According to the death certificate, my grandad died in January 1937. So I guess that puts that one to bed. 
However it is a very interesting story, and we have learnt a lot about a remarkable rider, who we will continue to research just for fun. 
Sadly, I guess we shall never understand why my mum came out with such a random comment, and such a vivid memory of trophies in her house. We are a family of motor enthusiasts - but cars and not bikes - the TT is something we had never talked about, ever! She's still telling us about it now, and you never know, she may remember something else very random in the future!
Thank you again. 
kind regards
H

[cardan]

Not to worry. Maybe there was a joke in your family about your grandfather Jim Whalley and his namesake famous motorcycle racer Jim Whalley...

Leon

[eddie]

On page 38 of Peter Carrick's book of the Douglas there is a photo of Jim Whalley about to start in the Senior TT - evidently, he put up the fastest lap in the 1923 event (59.74mph).

  Regards,
              Eddie.

[HellyB]

Thanks Eddie. 
We've found some amazing photos of him. 
As we understand, that fastest lap was done in the wet!

And Leon, you could well be right!

The interesting thing is (not wanting to sound morbid) that we still cant find when he died. 
Anyway, we shall still keep searching - just because we are now interested in him as a rider and his achievements - even though it looks certain that hes not my grandfather after all!!
Thanks again for the replies
H

[richard s1]

H
  About 40 odd years ago, a couple of chaps (Cliff Walmsley and Bert Houlding, both sadly gone), I knew in the East Lancs. section of the VMCC., used to talk about the early days of motor cycling and racing here in Lancashire.  Cliff had a Matador at the time, a machine that Bert's father made.
    It was Clifford who showed me the house where Jim Whalley, the racer, was born.    It was a small farm house in a hamlet of only a few houses called Cow Ark, about 4 1/2 miles north east of Clitheroe, Lancs.  You can just about see the roof of the farm house a few yards to the west of a large lime kiln on Google Street View !  although now it is a much larger farm complex.
  There is an excellent potted history of Jim Whalley, Matador, Massey Arran, Massey, Bert Houlding etc. in OLD BIKE MART, April 2023, page 41. 
    Hope this helps.  I'll try to send a photo of the page.

Richard Matthews

[HellyB]

What an lovely piece of information Richard.  Thank you for sharing your memory and also for the article - a very interesting read!
I still feel somewhat curious, as my grandad James Whalley was also from Lancashire. But then again Whalley doesn't seem to be an usual name in Lancashire in those days, as in our searches we seem to be coming across that name quite a lot.
It is still really interesting hearing the snippets of information that members are sharing, so many thanks to you all.
Kind regards H

[richard s1]

My message should read - 4 1/2 miles north west of Clitheroe,- not north east.