Morris

1967. Ambulance. Reg No. EJO 978E. Exhibit at British Commercial Vehicle Museum.

The Morris Motor Company of Cowley, Oxford was a British manufacturer of cars and lorries. After the incorporation of the company into larger corporations, the Morris name remained in use as a marque until 1984. Motorcycles were also produced from 1902 to 1905.

General

1909/10 Bicycle manufacturer William Morris turned his attention to car repairs and sales which led to manufacturing.

1912 Company founded as W. R. M. Motors in Oxford.

1913 A factory was opened in Cowley, Oxford after a London car dealer placed an order for 400 cars

1913 393 cars were manufactured.

1919 W. R. M. Motors was liquidated and replaced by Morris Motors Ltd.

c.1920 Acquired the business of Hollick and Pratt, body-makers, Coventry.

1923 Acquired the Osberton Radiator Co of Oxford.

1923 They had a policy of buying up suppliers with, for example, Hotchkiss in Coventry becoming the Morris Engines branch in 1923. Leonard Lord was working for Hotchkiss and became part of Morris at this time

In 1924 the firm took over the factory previously occupied by E. G. Wrigley and Co in Birmingham, and there commenced the manufacture of Morris Ton Trucks and Commercial Vehicles. Frank Woollard, the assistant MD of Wrigley moved to Morris at Oxford.

1924 The head of the Morris sales agency in Oxford, Cecil Kimber, started building sporting versions of Morris cars, called MG after the agency, Morris Garages. The MG factory was in Abingdon, Oxfordshire.

In 1924, they overtook Ford to become the UK's biggest car manufacturer, holding a 51% share of the home market.

1926 Became a public company: Morris Motors (1926) Ltd although Morris kept the Ordinary Shares for himself.

1926 Took over their main carburettor supplier

1927 See Aberconway for information on the company and its history.

1929 Name changed to Morris Motors Ltd^[1].

In 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^[2]

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^[3].

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 Moths.

1950 Cowley plant capable of producing a total of 150,000 Morris and Wolseley cars.

Cars

See Morris: Cars

Lorries

See Morris: Lorries

Buses

See Morris: Buses

Vans

See Morris: Vans

Motorcycles

See Morris: Motorcycles

Tractors

See Nuffield: Tractors

Sources of Information

↑ The Times, 13 October 1936
↑ The Times, 13 October 1936
↑ The Times, Tuesday, Oct 13, 1936

[1] Wikipedia
Biography of William R. Morris, ODNB [2]

[1] The Times, 13 October 1936

[2] The Times, 13 October 1936

[3] The Times, Tuesday, Oct 13, 1936

[1]

[2]

[3]

Grace's Guide To British Industrial History