William Richard Morris
(1877-1963)
William Morris, later Lord Nuffield, creator of the Morris motor
car, was born in Worcester and also linked to Droitwich Spa. This
generous philanthropist was claimed by the town as one of their own
when he was made an honorary freeman of Droitwich Spa in 1951.
Morris worked in Oxford, first as a repairer and maker of
bicycles, then of motor cycles and finally of cars. Founding his
business in Oxford, he produced his first 400 Morris cars at
Cowley. When the First World War broke out, he devoted the factory
to the war effort, but later proved that affordable, mass-produced
vehicles were what the public wanted, with production reaching
65,000 cars per year. He was one of the first British
industrialists to introduce mass production methods. His company,
Morris Motors Ltd, prospered in the years after the First World
War. From the first Morris Oxford of 1913 to the still familiar
post-war Morris Minor, his Morris and MG cars were known around the
world.
Morris was made a Baron in 1934 and finally a Viscount in 1938.
He also took the name of Nuffield, the Oxfordshire village where he
lived. Morris made many donations, often to local hospitals,
and helped to fund research by Alexander Fleming, which led to the
discovery of penicillin. Lord Nuffield devoted his energies
in later life to the philanthropy that made him a household name.
The Nuffield Foundation, his largest benefaction, was founded in
1943 with a gift of £10m-worth of shares in his company. The
Nuffield Foundation now has a diversified portfolio of investments
worth around £220m, with an annual income of £8m. Lord
Nuffield gave his Foundation wide objectives and the focus of the
Foundation's work has varied over its history. The funds are
now used mainly to advance self-contained projects or support
social welfare, often by means of research or practical
innovation.
