Evelyn Ellis owned the first ever motor car in the British Isles. He bought it from a company in Paris in 1895, and when it arrived in Britain he had it transported to Micheldever Station by train. The first ever car journey in this country was when Ellis and his friend Frederick Simms drove it from Micheldever Station to Datchet.

Ellis was concerned that the law requiring a man with a red flag to walk in front of any driven vehicle would slow down the development of road transport in this country. He made this trip without using the services of a man with a flag. He was not stopped by the police, and this law was repealed in 1896.