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Lord Nuffield

Lord Nuffield and his Foundation

Lord Nuffield

William Morris, later Lord Nuffield, was born in 1877. He left school at 15, and worked in Oxford, first as a repairer and maker of bicycles, then of motor cycles and finally of cars.

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 and particularly in the British Commonwealth.

Lord Nuffield was made a baron in 1934, and a viscount in 1938, and took the name of Nuffield, the Oxfordshire village where he had settled. He died in 1963.

Despite his great wealth, Lord Nuffield remained personally frugal and in later life devoted his energies 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. The current value of the portfolio is around £ 220m and the annual income is £ 8m.

Lord Nuffield gave his Foundation wide objectives and the focus of the Foundation's work has varied over its history, in response to changing circumstances and to the concerns of its Trustees.

The funds are used mainly to support self-contained projects which advance education or social welfare, often by means of research or practical innovation.

Last Updated Wed, 19 May 2004