I always liked 'The Executors of Samuel Ledgard'. Existed from Sammys death in 1952 to when they were bought out by West Yorkshire Road Car Co in 1972.
There were three companies: Exors. of S. Ledgard (the former directly-owned operations); Exors. of S. Ledgard (Bradford) Ltd" (the former B&B Tours Ltd operations); and Exors. of S. Ledgard (Ilkley) Ltd (the former Cream Bus Service Ltd operations). All were taken over by West Yorkshire on 14th October 1967.
After a bit of research, I can confirm that the British Automobile Traction Company in 1935 purchased the business and fleet of Arthur Kitson of Sheffield (which itself had acquired rival operators over the years) and two months later (1st March) changed its name to Sheffield United Tours. BAT later became BET, and Hebble was part of this group too, before all British BET bus/coach operations were acquired by the National Bus Company in January, 1969.
This isn't quite correct.
By 1935 British Automobile Traction (BAT) had ceased to exist - it was formed by BET in 1905 as British Automobile Development Ltd, the name was changed to British Automobile Traction Ltd in 1912, and - following a rationalisation of Tilling and BAT (in which Tilling had acquired a substantial shareholding) shareholdings in associated companies - changed to Tilling & British Automobile Traction (TBAT) in 1928. BAT - or correctly, TBAT - did not become BET . . . in 1942 Tilling and BET decided to split their interests in TBAT, allocating "one company to us, one to you" (under which Hebble did pass to the BET-side), and for which BET formed a new company, BET Omnibus Services Ltd, to act as a holding company.
The coach business of Arthur Kitson was to have been purchased by Yorkshire Traction, a TBAT subsidiary, but before completion the shares were passed to East Midland, a fellow TBAT subsidiary. Subsequent events led to the formation of Sheffield United Tours Ltd, and its co-ownership by TBAT-owned companies East Midland, North Western, Yorkshire and Traction.
BET's bus/coach operations were not acquired by the NBC in January 1969 - they were acquired by the Transport Holding Company (THC) in 1967, the road passenger transport operations of the THC (along with British Railways Board's interests in the four Yorkshire Joint Omnibus Committees) constituted the NBC on 1st January 1969l