Herbert William Morley

Herbert William Morley (1866-1925) of Cole, Marchent and Morley

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1925 Obituary

HERBERT WILLIAM MORLEY, son of the late Alderman J. L. Morley, who was Mayor of Bradford in 1887-8, was born in that city on 19th October 1866, and was educated privately and at local schools, subsequently entering the engineering department of the Bradford Technical College as a day student.

He then gained further professional training and useful experience by association with Mr. Wilson Hartnell, of Leeds, and with Messrs. Hick, Hargreaves and Co., Ltd., Bolton.

In 1890 he became proprietor of the old-established business of Messrs. Cole, Marchent and Co., which has since been carried on in a highly successful manner under the style of Messrs. Cole, Marchent and Morley, Ltd.

Mr. Morley's ability as an engineer enabled him to introduce various improvements of considerable value in mill-engine practice, and amongst them might be mentioned the type of piston drop-valve gear which he designed and was largely adopted in the engines made by the firm.

He also introduced in 1912 the manufacture of the Diesel engine, of which a number were subsequently constructed at the firm's works.

Indifferent health, however, obliged him in 1913 to sever his connexion with the Company, although he continued to carry on a limited amount of private practice as a consulting engineer.

He took an active part in the welfare of the various engineering organizations in his native city, was one of the founders, and a past-President, of the Bradford Society of Engineers, and took special interest in the local branch of this Institution and in the engineering department of the Bradford Technical College.

He became a Member of this Institution in 1896.

His death on the 19th November 1925 removed a prominent figure from the engineering circle in Bradford and district.

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1925 Obituary

"WE hear with great regret of the death, on November 19th, in a nursing home, of Mr. H. W. Morley, - a mechanical engineer of the first water. Mr. Morley served his time with Kitson and Co., Ltd., of Leeds, and subsequently took an engineering course at Bradford Technical College. He then worked with Mr. Wilson Hartnell for a time, and also with Hick, Hargreaves and Co., Ltd., of Bolton. In 1890, when still quite a young man, he became proprietor of Cole, Marchent and Co.'s works at Bradford, and changed the name of the firm to Cole, Marchent and Morley. Ltd. There he wrestled with difficulties and overcame them. The works and the machines were too small for a good deal of the engines he undertook to build, but he was not to be beaten by obstacles of that kind, and devised ingenious means of surmounting them. A tour round his shops with Mr. Morley himself was an education in mechanical engineering, for he had studied with care all sort of problems of design and manufacture, and loved to talk about them. He developed the drop piston valve type of steam engine, and invented an ingenious piston valve with restrained rings. As the pistons had to drop quite freely and yet be steam-tight, the slightest distortion of the liners either by heat changes or mechanical means had to be prevented, and Mr. Morley went into the problem with his customary thoroughness and sound mechanical genius. In 1912 the firm took up the manufacture of Diesel engines, and again Mr. Morley found fascinating problems to tackle. His health, however, had become indifferent, and in 1913 he retired from active work but carried on a consulting practice for a few firms; and mills in the Bradford area. He was a member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, and one of the founders of the Bradford Engineering Society. He did much to help and encourage the public engineering of Bradford, for he brought to all engineering subjects sound common sense combined with a profound knowledge of his craft.

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