Thomas Sopwith Flying at Brooklands. In June 1912 Sopwith, along with Fred Sigrist and others, set up the Sopwith Aviation Company, initially at Brooklands. On 24 October 1912 using a Wright Model B completely rebuilt by Sopwith and fitted with an ABC 40 hp engine, Harry Hawker took the British Michelin Endurance prize with a flight of 8h 23m. Sopwith Aviation got its first military aircraft order in November 1912, and in December moved to larger premises in Kingston upon Thames. The company produced more than 18,000 World War I aircraft for the allied forces, including 5747 of the Sopwith Camel single-seat
Christian name Henry III, King of France, godson of the English Edward VI had been christened Edouard Alexandre in 1551, the same French prince at confirmation received the name of Henri, and subsequently reigned under this name. In England after the Reformation, the practice of adopting a new name at confirmation was still used, as Sir Edward Coke wrote that a man might validly buy land by his "confirmation name", and he recalled the case of a Sir Francis Gawdye, late Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, whose name of baptism was Thomas and his name of confirmation Francis. Christian name A