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William Richard Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield, (10 October 1877 – 22 August 1963) was an English motor manufacturer and philanthropist. He was the founder of
Morris Motors Morris Motors Limited was a British privately owned motor vehicle manufacturing company formed in 1919 to take over the assets of William Morris's WRM Motors Limited and continue production of the same vehicles. By 1926 its production represent ...
Limited and is remembered as the founder of the
Nuffield Foundation The Nuffield Foundation is a charitable trust established in 1943 by William Morris, Lord Nuffield, the founder of Morris Motors Ltd. It aims to improve social well-being by funding research and innovation projects in education and social pol ...
, the
Nuffield Trust The Nuffield Trust, formerly the Nuffield Provincial Hospitals Trust, is a charitable trust with the mission of improving health care in the UK through evidence and analysis. The Nuffield Trust is registered with the Charity Commission as char ...
and
Nuffield College, Oxford Nuffield College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is a graduate college and specialises in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology. Nuffield is one of Oxford's newer co ...
, as well as being involved in his role as President of
BUPA Bupa , legally British United Provident Association Limited, is an international health insurance and healthcare group with over 38 million customers worldwide. Bupa's origins and global headquarters are in the United Kingdom. Its main countrie ...
in creating what is now
Nuffield Health Nuffield Health is the United Kingdom's largest healthcare charity. Established in 1957 the charity operates 31 Nuffield Health Hospitals and 114 Nuffield Health Fitness & Wellbeing Centres. It is independent of the National Health Service and ...
. He took his title from the village of Nuffield in
Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...
, where he lived. Initially Morris Motors relied heavily on Oxford's local labour force, and William Morris became the largest employer in the city. However during the 1920s and 1930s, Oxford saw a dramatic size and population increase following large numbers of unemployed people from depressed areas of Britain seeking work in Morris's factories. This time period was marked with frequent attempts of
industrial action Industrial action (British English) or job action (American English) is a temporary show of dissatisfaction by employees—especially a strike action, strike or slowdown or working to rule—to protest against bad working conditions or low pay a ...
protesting against the low pay and poor working conditions in Morris's factories. The first successful strike in a Morris factory was achieved in 1934, led by
Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...
activist Abe Lazarus with support from local Labour Party activists. William Morris was politically
anti-union Union busting is a range of activities undertaken to disrupt or prevent the formation of trade unions or their attempts to grow their membership in a workplace. Union busting tactics can refer to both legal and illegal activities, and can range ...
,
anti-Semitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...
, and a key financer of
Oswald Mosley Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (16 November 1896 – 3 December 1980) was a British politician during the 1920s and 1930s who rose to fame when, having become disillusioned with mainstream politics, he turned to fascism. He was a member ...
and British fascism. Morris gave Mosley £35,000 to fund the anti-Semitic newspaper ''Action'', and £50,000 in 1930 to finance Mosley's fascist New Party, which was subsequently absorbed into the
British Union of Fascists The British Union of Fascists (BUF) was a British fascist political party formed in 1932 by Oswald Mosley. Mosley changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists in 1936 and, in 1937, to the British Union. In 1939, fo ...
. Morris was also a subscriber to anti-Jewish publications, and his personal papers detailed his belief that the government of England was controlled by Jews. Despite Morris's personal political beliefs, the workers employed in his factories contributed to ushering a wave of left wing political activism across Oxford during the 1930s.


Background

Morris was born in 1877 at 47 Comer Gardens, a terraced house in the Comer Gardens area of
Worcester, England Worcester ( ) is a cathedral city in Worcestershire, England, of which it is the county town. It is south-west of Birmingham, north-west of London, north of Gloucester and north-east of Hereford. The population was 103,872 in the 2021 Census ...
, about northwest of the centre of the city. He was the son of Frederick Morris and his wife Emily Ann, daughter of Richard Pether. When he was three years old his family moved to 16 James Street,
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
.


Career


Before motor car manufacture

Upon leaving school at the age of 15, William Morris was apprenticed to a local bicycle-seller and repairer. Nine months later, after his employer refused him a pay increase, aged 16 he set up a business repairing bicycles in a shed at the back of his parents' house. This business being a success he opened a shop at 48
High Street High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym fo ...
and began to assemble as well as repair bicycles, labelling his product with a gilt cycle wheel and ''The Morris''. Morris raced his own machines competing as far away as south London. He did not confine himself to one distance or time and at one point was champion of Oxford (City and County), Berkshire and Buckinghamshire for distances varying between one and fifty miles. He began to work with motorcycles in 1901, designing the Morris Motor Cycle, and in 1902 acquired buildings in
Longwall Street View north along Longwall Street Longwall Street is a street in central Oxford, England. It runs for about 300 metres along the western flank of Magdalen College. A high, imposing 15th century stone wall separates the college from the street al ...
from which he repaired bicycles, operated a taxi service, sold, repaired and hired cars. He held the agency for
Arrol-Johnston Arrol-Johnston (later known as Arrol-Aster) was an early Scottish manufacturer of automobiles, which operated from 1895 to 1931 and produced the first automobile manufactured in Britain. The company also developed the world's first "off-road" ve ...
, Belsize,
Humber The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between th ...
,
Hupmobile Hupmobile was an automobile built from 1909 through 1939 by the Hupp Motor Car Company of Detroit. The prototype was developed in 1908. History Founding In 1909, Bobby Hupp co-founded Hupp Motor Car Company, with Charles Hastings, for ...
,
Singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
,
Standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object th ...
and Wolseley cars. In 1910 he built new premises in
Longwall Street View north along Longwall Street Longwall Street is a street in central Oxford, England. It runs for about 300 metres along the western flank of Magdalen College. A high, imposing 15th century stone wall separates the college from the street al ...
, described by a local newspaper as The Oxford Motor Palace, changed his business's name from The Oxford Garage to The Morris Garage and still had to take more premises in Queen Street. The Longwall Street site was redeveloped in 1980, retaining the original frontage, and is now used as student accommodation by New College.


Motor car manufacturing 1920s

In 1912 he designed a car, the "bullnose" Morris and using bought-in components (including engines and axles from USA) began to build them at a disused military training college in
Cowley, Oxford Cowley () is a residential and industrial area in Oxford, England. Cowley's neighbours are Rose Hill and Blackbird Leys to the south, Headington to the north and the villages of Horspath and Garsington across fields to the east. Internationally ...
. The outbreak of
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
saw the nascent car factory largely given over to the production of munitions—including 50,000 minesinkers for the North Sea Minefield—but in 1919 car production revived rising from 400 cars in that year to 56,000 in 1925. Morris pioneered the introduction to the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
of
Henry Ford Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. By creating the first automobile that mi ...
's techniques of
mass production Mass production, also known as flow production or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines. Together with job production and batch ...
. During the period 1919–1925 he built or purchased factories at Abingdon, Birmingham and
Swindon Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon un ...
to add to those in Oxford. In February 1927, in competition against—amongst others—its creator,
Herbert Austin Herbert Austin, 1st Baron Austin (8 November 186623 May 1941) was an English automobile designer and builder who founded the Austin Motor Company. For the majority of his career he was known as Sir Herbert Austin, and the Northfield bypass ...
, Morris paid £730,000 for the assets of the collapsed Wolseley Motors Limited which became his personal property. Wolseley were at this stage in fairly advanced development of an overhead camshaft 8 hp car, which he launched as the first
Morris Minor The Morris Minor is a British economy family car that made its debut at the Earls Court Motor Show, London, in October 1948. Designed under the leadership of Alec Issigonis, more than 1.6 million were manufactured between 1948 and 1972 in th ...
in 1928. The original
MG Midget The MG Midget is a small two-seater sports car produced by MG from 1961 to 1979. It revived a name that had been used on earlier models such as the MG M-type, MG D-type, MG J-type and MG T-type. MG Midget MkI (1961–64) The first version, a ...
, launched in 1929, was based on the Minor. When major component suppliers had difficulties he purchased them on his own account. His American engines were now made under licence for him by Hotchkiss in
Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...
. When in 1923 they were unwilling to expand production Morris bought their business and called it
Morris Engines Morris Engines Limited was located in Coventry, Coventry, England. It specialised in the mass production of engines and gearboxes for vehicles made by W. R. Morris's businesses, later known as the Nuffield Organization. Morris Engines Ltd. was, t ...
Limited. It would become Morris engines branch when he later sold it to Morris Motors. Again when back-axle manufacturer E. G. Wrigley and Company ran into financial difficulties he bought and reconstituted it as Morris Commercial Cars Limited to manufacture an expanded truck and bus offering. Following the same policy he bought the manufacturer of
SU Carburettor SU carburettors were a British manufacturer of constant-depression carburettors. Their designs were in mass production during most of the twentieth century. The S.U. Carburetter Company Limited also manufactured dual-choke updraught carburettor ...
s in 1926. Impressed by American all-steel bodies he persuaded Edward G Budd of
Budd Corporation The Budd Company was a 20th-century metal fabricator, a major supplier of body components to the automobile industry, and a manufacturer of stainless steel passenger rail cars, airframes, missile and space vehicles, and various defense products ...
to enter a joint venture with him called
Pressed Steel Company Pressed Steel Company Limited was a British car body manufacturing business founded at Cowley near Oxford in 1926 as a joint venture between William Morris, Budd Corporation of Philadelphia USA, which held the controlling interest, and a Brit ...
which erected their large factory at Cowley opposite Morris's own and with a connecting bridge in 1926. At that point the two business tycoons had each met their match. Eventually in 1930 the High Court ended their disagreements by obliging Morris to surrender his and his colleagues' membership of the Pressed Steel board and all Morris holdings and Morris lost all the capital he had invested in the venture.


Motor car manufacturing 1930s

Morris was "the most famous industrialist of his age". On New Year's Day 1938 he was further ennobled as Viscount Nuffield. In September 1938 he bought the bankrupt Riley (Coventry) and Autovia companies from the Riley family selling them to Morris Motors Limited. He had added another personal investment, Wolseley Motors Limited, to the portfolio of Morris Motors Limited in 1935. After he was ennobled as Baron Nuffield instead of the Morris Organization the whole gallery of all his personal enterprises were promoted as the
Nuffield Organization Nuffield Organization was the unincorporated umbrella-name or promotional name used for the charitable and commercial interests of owner and donor, William Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield. The name was assumed following Nuffield's gift made to form ...
. There was no legal substance to either of these groupings.


Factory strike of 1934

In July 1934 a strike took place in a Morris' factory which historians have described as a "spontaneous walkout" of approximately 180 workers. William Morris was politically anti-union and had boasted that he would refuse to recognise any unions at his factory, stating "I never allow the trade unions to interfere with me." Although the workers had no specific demands, their reasons for walking out ranged from low wages to terrible working conditions. Upon hearing of the strike, the
Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPG ...
sent the striking workers an experienced trades union activist and strike leader called
Abraham Lazarus Abraham Lazarus (1911–1967) was a leading British Communist activist, charity worker, and anti-fascist, most famous for leading numerous high profile factory strikes in London and Oxford, and for organising communists and Jews to resist the ...
(aka Firestone Bill), who would later become a key political figure among Oxford's working classes. Before the strike there was very little trade union activity in Morris' factories. On the 11th day of the strike the managers gave way and Morris' factories agreed to increase wages and to permit the establishment of trade unions within Morris' factories. Following this victory, all of the organisations which supported the strike benefitted from increased support. The Labour Party saw a resurgence in Oxford, the
Transport and General Workers' Union The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU or T&G) was one of the largest general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland – where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU) to differentiate its ...
saw an increase in members, and the Communist Party of Great Britain won the support of the majority of Morris factory workers. The success of the strike at Morris' also led to communist political beliefs gaining more widespread acceptance across Oxford.


World War II

The
Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...
was a technically advanced aircraft. Though ordered by the Air Ministry in March 1936 by early 1938 no single plane had been made. Lord Nuffield had offered his own expertise, and that of his Morris Organization, to design and construct a vast new factory at Castle Bromwich, to his own ideas of industrial planning, claiming he would build four times as many planes there as any other factory in the country. Although the Treasury initially opposed the idea, having concerns about his control over the design of the project and its costs, the huge "Nuffield Project" was approved at a cost of £1.125 million by the Air Secretary and Morris, now Nuffield, placed in charge of it. Within a year, with the factory still not built, the costs had increased to £4.15 million mainly due to constant changes in site layout and design. Nuffield had claimed he could produce 60 Spitfires a week but by May 1940, the height of the
Battle of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...
, not one Spitfire had been built at Castle Bromwich. That month
Lord Beaverbrook William Maxwell Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook (25 May 1879 – 9 June 1964), generally known as Lord Beaverbrook, was a Canadian-British newspaper publisher and backstage politician who was an influential figure in British media and politics o ...
was placed in charge of all aircraft production, Nuffield was sacked and the plant handed over to
Vickers Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public in 18 ...
,
Supermarine Supermarine was a British aircraft manufacturer that is most famous for producing the Supermarine Spitfire, Spitfire fighter plane during World War II as well as a range of seaplanes and flying boats, and a series of Jet engine, jet-powered figh ...
's parent company. Vickers had inherited such a confused construction programme that even by 1942 building work was still going on and the project's accounts were not finally signed off by the Treasury until March 1944. As early as 1942, cracks in the brickwork of the principal building were discovered by Vickers, due to differential expansion of the various types of bricks used in the different stages of construction. Possibly as a result of this debacle, in 1941 Nuffield invited Mrs Dorothée Martin (
Dorothée Pullinger Dorothée Aurélie Marianne Pullinger, MBE (13 January 1894 – 28 January 1986) was a pioneering automobile engineer and businesswoman. Early life Born in Saint-Aubin-sur-Scie, Seine Inférieure, France, she was the eldest of the 11 childre ...
) to join his organisation to advise him on his war work.


Post-war

Morris Motors Limited merged with
Austin Motor Company The Austin Motor Company Limited was an English manufacturer of motor vehicles, founded in 1905 by Herbert Austin in Longbridge. In 1952 it was merged with Morris Motors Limited in the new holding company British Motor Corporation (BMC) Limi ...
in 1952 in the new holding company,
British Motor Corporation The British Motor Corporation Limited (BMC) was a UK-based vehicle manufacturer, formed in early 1952 to give effect to an agreed merger of the Morris and Austin businesses.Morris-Austin Merger Company Named. ''The Times'', Friday, 29 February ...
(BMC), of which Nuffield was chairman for its first year. Morris retired as a director of BMC on 17 December 1952 at the age of 75, taking on the title of honorary president instead. Although succeeded as chairman by
Leonard Lord Leonard Percy Lord, 1st Baron Lambury KBE (15 November 1896 – 13 September 1967) was a captain of the British motor industry. Background and education Leonard Percy Lord was born on 16 November 1896 and was the youngest child in his family ...
. as honorary president, he attended his office regularly and continued to advise his colleagues.


Honours

* Morris was appointed an Officer of the
Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...
(OBE) in 1918. * He was created a
baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...
, of Nuffield in the County of Oxford, in 1929 and * raised to the peerage as Baron Nuffield, of Nuffield in the County of Oxford, in 1934. * In 1938 he was further honoured when he was made Viscount Nuffield, of Nuffield in the County of Oxford. * He was also made :* a Fellow of the
Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
in 1939, :* a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire in 1941 and :* a
Companion of Honour The Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded on 4 June 1917 by King George V as a reward for outstanding achievements. Founded on the same date as the Order of the British Empire, it is sometimes ...
(CH) in 1958. * He was appointed Honorary Colonel of
52nd (London) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery 52nd (London) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment was a volunteer air defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army from 1922 until 1961. In World War II it defended London during The Blitz and later served in the Burma Campaign. Origin German air raid ...
on 4 June 1937 and continued that role with its postwar successor, 452 HAA Regiment.


Personal life and philanthropy

Morris married Elizabeth Anstey on 9 April 1903. They had no children, and he disbursed a large part of his fortune to charitable causes. He founded
Nuffield College, Oxford Nuffield College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is a graduate college and specialises in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology. Nuffield is one of Oxford's newer co ...
, in 1937, a post-graduate college and the University's first co-educational college. In 1937 he gave £50,000 to fund the expansion of the
Sea Cadet Corps Sea cadets are members of a sea cadet corps, a formal uniformed youth organisation for young people with an interest in waterborne activities and or the national navy. The organisation may be sponsored in whole or in part by the navy or a naval s ...
, donated £60,000 to the
University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...
for the Nuffield building, to house a
cyclotron A cyclotron is a type of particle accelerator invented by Ernest O. Lawrence in 1929–1930 at the University of California, Berkeley, and patented in 1932. Lawrence, Ernest O. ''Method and apparatus for the acceleration of ions'', filed: Janu ...
, In December 1938 he offered to give an iron lung (see
Both respirator The Both respirator, also known as the ''Both Portable Cabinet Respirator'', was a negative pressure ventilator (more commonly known as an "iron lung") invented by Edward Both in 1937. Made from plywood, the respirator was an affordable alternati ...
) made in his factory to any hospital in Britain and the Empire that requested one; over 1,700 were distributed. He also founded the
Nuffield Foundation The Nuffield Foundation is a charitable trust established in 1943 by William Morris, Lord Nuffield, the founder of Morris Motors Ltd. It aims to improve social well-being by funding research and innovation projects in education and social pol ...
in 1943 with an endowment of £10 million in order to advance education and social welfare. On his death the ownership of his former Oxfordshire home,
Nuffield Place Nuffield Place is a country house near the village of Nuffield, Oxfordshire, Nuffield in the Chiltern Hills in South Oxfordshire, England, just over east of Wallingford, Oxfordshire, Wallingford. The house was completed in 1914. William Morris ...
and its contents, passed to the Nuffield College who opened it to the public on a limited basis. Although a sale had been mooted, it was passed to the
National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
and is open to the public on a regular basis. He is also commemorated in the Morris Motors Museum at the Oxford Bus Museum. Morris also has a building named after him at
Coventry University , mottoeng = By Art and Industry , established = , type = Public , endowment = £28 million (2015) , budget = £787.5 million , chancellor = Margaret Casely-Hayford , vice_chancellor = John Latham , students = () , undergr ...
, at
Guy's Hospital Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. ...
, London and a theatre at the
University of Southampton , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...
. The Lady Nuffield Care Home in North Oxford is named after his wife. His home in James Street now has a
blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...
. He died in August 1963, aged 85. The baronetcy and two peerages died with him as he was childless. He was cremated, and his ashes lie in Nuffield churchyard, beside his wife's.


Anti-Semitism and support for fascism

Historians have described William Morris as politically
anti-union Union busting is a range of activities undertaken to disrupt or prevent the formation of trade unions or their attempts to grow their membership in a workplace. Union busting tactics can refer to both legal and illegal activities, and can range ...
and
anti-Semitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...
, often citing the fact that he was a key financer of
Oswald Mosley Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (16 November 1896 – 3 December 1980) was a British politician during the 1920s and 1930s who rose to fame when, having become disillusioned with mainstream politics, he turned to fascism. He was a member ...
and British fascism. Between 1931 and 1932, Morris gave Mosley £35,000 to fund the anti-Semitic newspaper ''Action'', and £50,000 in 1930 to finance Mosley's fascist New Party, which was subsequently absorbed into the
British Union of Fascists The British Union of Fascists (BUF) was a British fascist political party formed in 1932 by Oswald Mosley. Mosley changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists in 1936 and, in 1937, to the British Union. In 1939, fo ...
. Mosley spoke highly of Morris, once regarding Morris as his 'chief backer' and praised Morris as "a good and honest man." Following the deteriorating reputation of the British Union of Fascists, Morris ceased giving any public support to British fascists after 1932. Despite ceasing to publicly support fascism, Morris retained his subscription to anti-Semitic newspapers for many more years. Historian of British fascism
Dave Renton David Renton (born 1972) is a British barrister, and has represented clients in a number of high-profile cases, especially concerning trade union rights and the protection of free speech. He was for many years a member of the Socialist Workers ...
describes William Morris as "the most important example" of a wealthy supporter of Oswald Mosley's fascist movement. Renton also describes Morris as being "fiercely anti-Semitic" in his private life, citing that for many years he was a subscriber to the
Duke of Northumberland Duke of Northumberland is a noble title that has been created three times in English and British history, twice in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of Great Britain. The current holder of this title is Ralph Percy, 12th Duke ...
's anti-Jewish newspaper ''The'' ''Patriot''. According to Renton, William Morris's personal papers contain several anti-Semitic and pro-fascist comments, including one example which says: 'it is a well-known fact that every government in my England is Jew controlled regardless of the Party in power.' Despite Morris's personal political beliefs, the workers employed in his factories that organised against their low pay and harsh working conditions would contribute to ushering a wave of left wing political activism across Oxford during the 1930s.


Attempted kidnap

In May 1938 a serial
blackmail Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to fa ...
er, Patrick Tuellman, tried to kidnap Morris for a £100,000 ransom. But Tuellman had an accomplice who betrayed his plan to
Oxford City Police Oxford City Police was the police force of the City of Oxford, England. It policed the city from 1 January 1869 until 31 March 1968. It was established to succeed a "watch and ward" force that had been founded in 1835. On 1 April 1968 it and fou ...
. The force briefed Morris and planned to catch Tuellman in the attempt. Morris took a keen interest in the preparations and insisted on attending every meeting. On 28 May police ambushed Tuellman in Cowley in his car. Officers found him to be in possession of two automatic pistols, ammunition and items of disguise. Birmingham
Assizes The courts of assize, or assizes (), were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes e ...
tried Tuellman and on 22 July convicted him. He served seven years' penal servitude.


See also

*
Nuffield College, Oxford Nuffield College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is a graduate college and specialises in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology. Nuffield is one of Oxford's newer co ...
*
Nuffield Trust The Nuffield Trust, formerly the Nuffield Provincial Hospitals Trust, is a charitable trust with the mission of improving health care in the UK through evidence and analysis. The Nuffield Trust is registered with the Charity Commission as char ...


References


Sources

* *


External links


Early products


The Morris Trailer by Morris & Cooper, Oxford 1902The "MORRIS" Motor Cycles, Oxford 1904Video biography of William Morris in British Pathé's movie ''The British Motorcar''
at the National Archives


Nuffield Trust and Foundation websites


The Nuffield FoundationThe Nuffield Trust for Forces of the CrownThe Nuffield TrustNuffield Place, home of William Morris
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Nuffield, William Morris, 1st Viscount 1877 births 1963 deaths Business people from Worcester, England English philanthropists Morris, William, 1st Viscount Nuffield British founders of automobile manufacturers Morris, William, 1st Viscount Nuffield Morris, William, 1st Viscount Nuffield Morris, William, 1st Viscount Nuffield Morris, William, 1st Viscount Nuffield Morris, William, 1st Viscount Nuffield Founders of English schools and colleges Morris, William Richard Burials in Oxfordshire People associated with the University of Birmingham People from Milford on Sea Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons Automotive businesspeople British Leyland people Morris Motors Barons created by George V Viscounts created by George VI Engineers from Worcester, England