Editing Charles Rolls (section)

==Early life==
[[File:Charles Rolls driving medal at Monmouth Museum, Wales.JPG|thumb|right|150px|Medals won by Rolls in ballooning and motoring events. [[Monmouth Museum]]]]
Rolls was born in [[Berkeley Square]], London, third son of [[John Rolls, 1st Baron Llangattock|the 1st Baron Llangattock]] of the [[Rolls family]] and [[Lady Llangattock]]. Despite his London birth, he retained a strong family connection with his ancestral home,<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/372038 | title=The Hendre | publisher=Geograph Britain and Ireland | access-date=29 June 2011}}</ref> [[The Hendre]], a [[English country house|country house]] near [[Monmouth]] in [[Monmouthshire (historic)|Monmouthshire]] in the [[South East Wales|south-east]] of [[Wales]]. After attending Mortimer Vicarage [[Preparatory school (UK)|Preparatory School]] in [[Berkshire]], he was educated at [[Eton College]] where his developing interest in engines earned him the nickname "dirty Rolls" While his own father hated his choice of education, he still believed and went on.<ref name="The_Magic_Of_A_Name">{{cite book | last = Pugh | first = Peter | title = The Magic of a Name – The Rolls-Royce Story: The First 40 Years | publisher = Icon Books | year = 2001 | isbn = 1-84046-151-9 }}</ref>

In 1894, he attended a private [[Cram school|crammer]] in Cambridge which helped him gain entry to [[Trinity College, Cambridge]], in 1895,<ref>{{acad|id=RLS895CS|name=Rolls, the Hon. Charles Stewart}}</ref> where he studied mechanical and applied science. In 1896, at the age of 18, he travelled to Paris to buy his first car, a [[Peugeot]] [[Phaeton body|Phaeton]], and joined the [[French Automobile Club|Automobile Club of France]]. His Peugeot is believed to have been the first car based in Cambridge, and one of the first three cars owned in Wales. An early motoring enthusiast, he joined the Self-Propelled Traffic Association, which campaigned against the restrictions imposed on motor vehicles by the [[Locomotive Acts]], and became a founder member of the [[Royal Automobile Club|Automobile Club of Great Britain]], with which the Association merged in 1897.<ref>{{cite book | last = Vance | first = James | title = Ways of the World: A History of the World's Roads and of the Vehicles That Used Them | publisher = Rutgers University Press | year = 1992 | isbn = 0-8135-2691-4 }}</ref>

Rolls was a keen cyclist and spent time at Cambridge bicycle racing. In 1896, he won a [[Blue (university sport)|Half Blue]] and the following year became captain of the Cambridge University Bicycle Club.<ref name=TT39323>Aeroplane Accident, Mr Rolls Killed at Bournemouth. ''The Times'', Wednesday, 13 July 1910; p. 12; Issue 39323</ref><ref>The Bicycle, 15 July 1942, pG. Rolls won a half-blue because cycling was not considered a full sport. Rolls also had a collection of bicycles from solos up to four-man tandems.</ref>

Rolls graduated from Cambridge in 1898 and began working on the [[steam yacht]] ''Santa Maria'' followed by a position at the [[London and North Western Railway]] in [[Crewe]].<ref name="The_Magic_Of_A_Name"/> However, his talents lay more in salesmanship and motoring pioneering than practical engineering; in January 1903, with the help of £6,600 provided by his father, he started one of Britain's first car dealerships,<ref name="BBC" /> C. S. Rolls & Co. based in [[Lillie Hall]], [[Fulham]], to import and sell French [[Peugeot]] and Belgian [[Minerva (automobile)|Minerva]] vehicles.<ref name="Lillie Enclave">{{cite news |title=Draft London Plan Consultation: ref. Chapter 7 Heritage – Neglect & Destruction, The "Lillie Enclave" Fulham |url=https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/Lillie%20Road%20Residents%20Association%20%282481%29.pdf |access-date=31 May 2020 |work=Lillie Road Residents Association |date=February 2018}}</ref><ref name="Science Museum">{{cite web |title=C S Rolls' car showroom, Lillie Hall, Fulham, London, 1903. |url=https://www.scienceandsociety.co.uk/results.asp?image=10316386 |website=Science Museum |access-date=31 May 2020}}</ref>