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Atkinson and Co. was founded in the Frenchwood district of Preston, the cotton town and administrative capital of Lancashire, by two of five brothers, Edward Atkinson (1880–1932) and Henry Birch Atkinson (1882–1921) with assistance from their brother-in-law George Hunt (1870–1950). 1907 The real and effective beginning of the company was in 1907, when the partners decided to capitalise on the need for local engineers to make temporary or permanent repairs to the increasing number of ‘pullcars’ and private motor vehicles on the road.
1932 1932 Edward Atkinson died. 1933 . The firm was acquired by London garage owner William Gilbert Allen, whose father had started Nightingale Garage and Engineering Co. Allen was chairman of Atkinson Lorries (1933) Ltd and H. B. Fielding was managing director. Allen had effectively run the firm since 1931, and remained in charge until his death in 1949. Seddon Atkinson Vehicles Limited was formed after Atkinson Vehicles Ltd was acquired by Seddon Diesel Vehicles Ltd in 1970. It was subsequently bought in 1974 by the American
International Harvester Corporation , was later by Spanish firm Enasa , and it is now owned by Italian IVECO subsidiary of Fiat.
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