The story of Saunders Roe Limited begins at Streayley on the River Thames where the Saunders family lived at the Swan Inn. In 1830Moses Saunders became responsible for buildingand maintaining a weir and lock and running the ferry acrossthe river. It was his grandson Sammuel Edgar Saunders, born in 1857, who founded the Company. He built many beautiful river launches in varioous sites ar Streatley and Goring until the accession of Edward VII when he decided to move to Cowes on the Isle of Wight. In 1908 he founded a new Company called S.E. Saunders Limited. A year later he formed an aviation department. After the First World War, whilst continuing to build launches and record breaking motor boats, he began to build flying boats of his own Company's design.