Morris Motors
of Oxford
See Morris
1912 Company founded in Oxford by William Morris as W. R. M. Motors.
1919 W. R. M. Motors was liquidated and replaced by Morris Motors
1926 Became a public company: Morris Motors (1926) Ltd; although William Morris kept the Ordinary Shares for himself. It acquired Morris Motors Ltd, and the associate companies Morris Engines (Coventry) Ltd, Hollick and Pratt Ltd, and Osberton Radiators Ltd, as well as the right to the allotment of about £500,000 of shares in the Pressed Steel Co[1].
1926 Took over their main carburettor supplier, S. U. Co Ltd.
1927 See Aberconway for information on the company and its history.
1929 Name changed to Morris Motors Ltd[2].
1932 Morris appointed Leonard Lord as Managing Director; he swept through the works, updating the production methods and introducing a proper moving assembly line.
1935 Issue of shares to pay for the acquisition of Wolseley Motors Ltd and M. G. Car Company Ltd[3]
1936 Morris and Lord fell out, and Lord left, threatening to "take Cowley apart brick by brick".
1936 Further issue of shares to enable Morris Motors Ltd to acquire Morris Industries Exports Ltd and Morris Commercial Cars Limited, the commercial vehicle enterprise; the public owned the Preference Shares as well as a quarter of the ordinary shares. S. U. Carburettor Co Ltd was incorporated by Morris Motors to acquire from Morris Industries the business of carburettor manufacture trading under the name of S. U. Co[4].
1938 William Morris became Viscount Nuffield, and the same year he merged the Morris Motor Company (incorporating Wolseley) and MG with newly acquired Riley to form a new company: the Nuffield Organisation.
WWII Produced over 3,000 Tiger Moth aircraft.
1950 Cowley plant capable of producing a total of 150,000 Morris and Wolseley cars.
1952 The Nuffield Organisation merged with Austin to form the British Motor Corporation.
1961 Manufacturers of Morris, Wolseley, Riley and MG Cars, Morris Commercial motor vehicles, agricultural tractors, marine and industrial engines. 38,800 employees. [5]