A UK Driver will be more than familiar with the phenomenon that is the Private Number Plate, but few release that these items date back as far as 1903.
In fact, we can trace the origins of private number plates back to London around the time of 1681. At this time, the City of London licensed carts - which were available for hire, with each cart required to display a unique license number and the cities coat of arms. This process evolved in the 1800s to refer to stagecoaches, and in 1831 the London Hackney Carriage Act was introduced.
Modern style number plates, the type we are used to seeing on our roads today, were introduced with the birth of the Motor Car Act of 1903. The Conservative government at the time, under the leadership of Arthur Balfour, introduced the act which required a nationwide system of registration for motor vehicles. This was implemented through the use of alphanumeric number plates – and Britain’s number plates system was born.
Prior to the act other ideas for tracking motor vehicles were discussed including the naming of cars – like we do today with boats and planes.
From the 1st January 1904, local councils and county boroughs were issued with a set of letters used to identify cars originating from their area. All motor vehicles manufactured after this date were required by law to display their unique identification plates (or number plates).
Contrary to popular belief, the first registration issued in the UK was not A1. However, this registration is the most famous due to the combination of the first letter and first number, and the fact that council member Earl Russell camped overnight to get his hands on this cherished registration.
Another milestone in the long history of number plates was The Roads Act of 1920. Previously, a car moving out of its originating area would have to be re-registered. However, the introduction of this new act signaled a shift that enabled a car to maintain a registration for its lifetime – regardless of where it was moved.
The 1932 the number plate system was altered again with the introduction of in a three-letter, three-number system – to accommodate the large number of cars being registered. The second two letters of the combination represented the local issuing authority.
Private number plates are thriving in popularity, with demand increasing year on year. So what are you waiting for?
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