William Edward Rootes, 1st Baron Rootes GBE (17 August 1894 – 12 December 1964) was a British motor manufacturer. He opened his first car sales agency in 1913, leading to the global

Rootes Group The Rootes Group or Rootes Motors Limited was a British automobile manufacturer and, separately, a major motor distributors and dealers business. Run from London's West End, the manufacturer was based in the Midlands and the distribution and de ...

. During the Second World War he supervised the volume manufacture of aircraft and engines, as well as the supply of

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

motor vehicles and

armoured fighting vehicle An armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) is an armed combat vehicle protected by armour, generally combining operational mobility with offensive and defensive capabilities. AFVs can be wheeled or tracked. Examples of AFVs are tanks, armoured cars, ...

s.Lord Rootes: Last of Car Triumvirate
Obituary in ''

The Glasgow Herald ''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in ...

'', 14 December 1964 He was knighted in 1942 for these services and for organising the reconstruction of bomb-damaged

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the 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 city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

after its

saturation bombing Carpet bombing, also known as saturation bombing, is a large area bombardment done in a progressive manner to inflict damage in every part of a selected area of land. The phrase evokes the image of explosions completely covering an area, in th ...

by the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...

on 14–15 November 1940. In the 1950s, he became a leader of Britain's export drive, and chaired a committee to found the

University of Warwick , mottoeng = Mind moves matter , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £7.0 million (2021) , budget = £698.2 million (2020 ...

with a vision of academic links with industry.

Early life

William (Billy) Rootes was born in

Goudhurst Goudhurst is a village and civil parish in the borough of Tunbridge Wells in Kent, England. It lies in the Weald, around south of Maidstone, on the crossroads of the A262 and B2079. The parish consists of three wards: Goudhurst, Kilndown and ...

, Kent. His father, William, owned a general engineering business in Goudhurst, which included

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. B ...

s. William (Snr) attended a motor show organised by Sir

David Salomons Sir David Salomons, 1st Baronet (22 November 1797 – 18 July 1873), was a leading figure in the 19th century struggle for Jewish emancipation in the United Kingdom. He was the first Jewish Sheriff of the City of London and Lord Mayor of Lond ...

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks. T ...

in 1895. Billy and his brother Reginald (Reggie) shared their father's interest in things mechanical. In 1905, whilst their parents were out, Billy took Reggie out for a drive in their father's New Orleans motor car. Billy crashed the car. Billy attended Cranbrook School, and on leaving school in 1909 was apprenticed to the Singer car company. William had moved the family business to

Hawkhurst Hawkhurst is village and civil parish in the borough of Tunbridge Wells in Kent, England. The village is located close to the border with East Sussex, around south-east of Royal Tunbridge Wells and within the High Weald Area of Outstanding Na ...

by this time, and expanded into the motor trade. Billy left Singer in 1913 to start his own car agency. He sold all of his first batch of cars within a few months of leaving Singer. The business was moved to

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, linking it wi ...

before the First World War, and the firm worked on the maintenance and repair of aero engines during the war.Kent and Sussex Courier, 25 April 2008, p. 28

Public honours

William and Reginald were knighted in 1942 and 1946 respectively for their work in setting up

shadow factories British shadow factories were the outcome of the Shadow Scheme, a plan devised in 1935 and developed by the British Government in the buildup to World War II to try to meet the urgent need for more aircraft using technology transfer from the mo ...

. William was created a

baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or kn ...

in 1959: his eldest son would accordingly become the second Baron Rootes on William's death.

Personal

Rootes married his first wife, Nora Press, in 1916. The marriage produced two sons, William Geoffrey Rootes (1917–1992) who between 1967 and 1973 served as chairman of the family business (at that time a subsidiary of

Chrysler Corporation Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automotiv ...

and renamed as Chrysler United Kingdom) and

Brian Gordon Rootes Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word me ...

(1919–1971) who also held a succession of senior positions within the company between 1937 and 1967, interrupted by a period of military service during the Second World War. In 1958, Rootes bought

Ramsbury Manor Ramsbury Manor is a Grade I listed country house at Ramsbury, Wiltshire, on the River Kennet between Hungerford and Marlborough, in the south of England. It belongs to the Capricorn Foundation, a trust which has the task of maintaining the ho ...

, Wiltshire.

Death

William Rootes died in 1964. It had been intended that Rootes would be the first Chancellor of the

University of Warwick , mottoeng = Mind moves matter , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £7.0 million (2021) , budget = £698.2 million (2020 ...

; he is commemorated there by the Rootes Social Building, Rootes student residences, Rootes Grocery Store and the Lord Rootes Memorial Fund.

Arms

References

External links

Rootes Archive Centre
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rootes, William Rootes, 1st Baron 1894 births 1964 deaths British founders of automobile manufacturers Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire People from Goudhurst Rootes Group Hereditary barons created by Elizabeth II