SPILSBURY & TINDALL LTD (1941 – 1972) A.J.(Jim)Spilsbury was born in Findern, Derbyshire in 1905, At age 13 Jim Spilsbury went to the Orient on board the S .S . Melville Dollar as a merchant marine officer apprentice. At age 14 he worked in the B.C. Canada logging industry. At age 17 he lived on Savary Island, B.C. and set himself up in business installing, servicing and building radio sets. His customers, at that time were, firstly, his neighbors, then logging and tow boat operators and the fishing industry. They put their combined expertise together along with high frequency radios to solve the problems associated with communications along the B.C. Coast and interior. On April 18 1941, Spilsbury & Hepburn came into being when Spilsbury joined forces with Jim Hepburn. Jim Hepburn was a fellow ham radio operator who was also in the radio service business. They then opened an office in Vancouver at 570 Cardero Street. The Company “Spilsbury & Tindall Ltd.” was incorporated in 1941. At this time, they obtained a service contract from, Edward Lipsett, for the maintenance, installation and repair for all of Kaar Engineering’s radio telephones which Lipsett held the Canadian distributorship for. In 1943 Edward Lipsett set up his own service department and terminated Spilslbury’s contract. Within a very short time, Spilsbury & Tindall Ltd, designed and built their first radio, the Model MRT-75 Marine Radio. Later in 1943, Spilsbury, purchased a single engine sea plane for transportation to service his customers. We have to remember, at that time, there were very few roads in the remote locations of B.C. where he was selling and servicing. Spilsbury & Tindall Ltd continued to grow, developing and manufacturing equipment and communications systems. Their specialty was equipment used in remote areas and on boats. In 1981, Spilsbury sold his shares in the company whose name at that time was, Spilsbury Communications Ltd. Following are some of the different company names, in chronological order, used by Spilsbury. Spilsbury & Hepburn Ltd. Spilsbury & Tindall Ltd (1941 – 1972) Spilsbury Communications Systems Ltd Spilsbury Communications Ltd. (1981 – 1984) Spilsbury & Tindall Ltd started manufacturing radio equipment in 1943 after Edward Lipsett, who was the Canadian Distributor of Kaar Engineering Radio Telephones, terminated their contract. Partial list of radio equipment manufactured by, Spilsbury & Tindall. All these models are Transmit / Receive Radios: MRT-75 Marine MRT-25 Marine LRT-25 Land MBL-50 Mobile MRT-80 Specifically designed for the B.C. Forest Service but used across Canada. AD-10 Low power, low cost, vibrator powered from a 6 volt battery or 115 vac. This unit was a little larger then a lunch box. The largest single order of LRT-25’s was for the Bell Telephone Co. for the Mid Canada DEW line (DEW line Distance Early Warning line) Mr A.J. (Jim) Spilsbury was the 1993 Recipient of; The Order of British Columbia, Canada. In 1989 Mr A.J. (Jim) Silsbury was living in Horseshoe Bay, B.C. Canada, A.J.(Jim)Spilsbury, was also an author with three books to his credit. Spilsbury's Coast, The Accidental Airline and Spilsbury's Allbum . Data Sources: Special Collections Division Main Library UBC, A.J. Spilsbury Papers, Preliminary Inventory. The Order of British Columbia. 1995 Investiture Program. Spilsbury-equip-dev-sales.pdf. Matthew Kendall, Feb 15, 2009.