William Richard Morris was born at Worcester on 10th October 1877.
The family moved to Oxford where Morris attended school until 15 years old.
Morris set up a bicycle business which prospered, mainly due to the excellent quality of his work.
He was also successful at racing bicycles and won many prizes.
In 1902 Morris made a motor cycle. In 1913 W R M Motors was formed to manufacture cars and in 1913 the
first car, the "Oxford" was produced.
All components were purchased from other
manufacturers. During this period Morris visited America to learn the secrets
of mass production.
He also negotiated a contract to purchase engines from America at a price
that could not be matched by any English company. His new car, the Cowley, was a success and formed the basis for the Morris empire.
The first Morris Minor was launched on the 1st September 1928 and was
released for the 1929 season. It was designed to compete against the highly successful Austin 7.
The Morris Minor was initially a disaster with
a lot of problems.
The car was redesigned to provide a more rugged and cheaper vehicle with a new and simple engine,
apparently copied from the new Ford Eight.
The 1930's were marked by management problems. While Morris had a gift for choosing the right men for the right jobs, he rarely left
them alone to get on with the job. This often ended in a quarrel with the
manager or executive departing.
Both Austin and Morris Motors merged in 1952 to form the fourth largest car
company in the world. After a short illness William Richard Morris died on 22
August 1963.
It has been claimed that Morris was not a great originator of new ideas, he
was a mechanic more than an engineer. But even more so he was a shrewd
businessman who grasped the ideas of modern mass production and strived to produce a
car that the ordinary motorist wanted.
