Percival Perry, 1st Baron Perry
Encyclopedia
Percival Lea Dewhurst Perry, 1st Baron Perry KBE
(18 March 1878–17 June 1956), English motor vehicle manufacturer, was chairman of Ford Motor Company Limited
for 20 years from its incorporation in 1928 completing almost a lifetime's work with Henry Ford
. He also led the establishment of Slough Estates.
, the third son of Alfred Thomas Perry and Elizabeth (née Wheeler). He won a scholarship
to King Edward VI's Grammar School, Birmingham
which he attended 1889-1894 then joined a solicitor's office but was unable to continue law studies from lack of funds.
At 17 Perry moved to London to work in the motor industry for H J Lawson
. He prepared a technical report on the earliest Ford Model A cars imported to Britain. In 1904, Aubrey Blakiston established Ford's first British agency, the Central Motor Company, in Long Acre, London
. Perry joined the company as a minority shareholder in 1905, and after Blakiston's departure became managing director in 1906. Cash flow was an issue despite loans from Perry's father-in-law, since Henry Ford
insisted on payment up-front when cars for export were loaded at New York harbour.
Perry travelled to Detroit to seek improved credit terms or investment in the company from Henry Ford
. Although the mission was unsuccessful, good personal relationships were established with Henry Ford. Perry came up with the idea of Ford manufacturing cars outside North America to be sold across the British Empire and Europe.
cars. When Ford decided to pursue direct investment in Britain, he contacted Perry who in 1909 was appointed manager of a Ford branch company for Britain. Perry set up a network of exclusively Ford dealers, raced the company's cars and published comic verse promoting cars to the public.
outside North America in Trafford Park
, Manchester
. This operation, from 1914, included Britain's first mechanized chassis assembly system.
The 1915 McKenna import duties enforced manufacture in Britain. In 1916 Perry formed Automobiles Ford in Paris to take over Ford operations in France.
For this unpaid work he was appointed CBE
in 1917 and knighted in 1918.
After the armistice Perry was determined to run all European operations himself.
Ford had supplied many vehicles to the war effort. Although successful in protecting Ford's UK position, Perry's active involvement in wartime British government did not play well with Ford's head office in Detroit. Their differences could not be reconciled and, in 1919, he was sacked.
Ford's British operations were then run by managers sent from Detroit.
military motor transport depot and converted it into a model manufacturing estate based on Trafford Park, Slough Trading Estate
. In 1922 - 1923, he persuaded André Citroen
to begin building cars on the Slough Trading Estate. In 1922 he resigned as chairman and managing director though he retained his directorship and retired to live mostly on Herm in the Channel Islands where he wrote, with his wife The Island of Enchantment published in 1926.
In 1928, Henry Ford asked Perry to become chairman, find directors and float a new British public listed company, Ford Motor Company Limited
, 60% owned by Dearborn
, taking over Ford operations throughout Europe and the Middle East and developing the new plants at Dagenham
–the largest automobile factory outside USA–and Cork in the Irish Free State.
Perry formulated Ford's new European strategy. Though frustrated at times by deteriorating economic and political conditions he maintained English control over all European operations superintending factories and assembly plants in Eire, Denmark, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
In January 1932 Ford Dagenham began production of Ford Model Y
the first Ford specifically designed for markets outside North America.
During the depression he arranged Fordson Farms at Boreham in Essex, an experiment in co-operative farming.
Many were surprised at his liking for poetry literature and the arts. He enjoyed writing and published New Songs in 1925 and The International Balance of Trade in 1932 also pamphlets advocating '"free enterprise". He led a body formed in 1943 to promote his beliefs called Aims of Industry and was its president.
, in 1902. They had no children. From 1923 to 1939, Perry was tenant of Herm
. He died in June 1956 at New Providence Island in the Bahamas, aged 78. Lady Perry died six months later. The barony became extinct on his death.
Percival Lea Dewhurst Perry, 1st Baron Perry KBE
(18 March 1878–17 June 1956), English motor vehicle manufacturer, was chairman of Ford Motor Company Limited
for 20 years from its incorporation in 1928 completing almost a lifetime's work with Henry Ford
. He also led the establishment of Slough Estates.
, the third son of Alfred Thomas Perry and Elizabeth (née Wheeler). He won a scholarship
to King Edward VI's Grammar School, Birmingham
which he attended 1889-1894 then joined a solicitor's office but was unable to continue law studies from lack of funds.
At 17 Perry moved to London to work in the motor industry for H J Lawson
. He prepared a technical report on the earliest Ford Model A cars imported to Britain. In 1904, Aubrey Blakiston established Ford's first British agency, the Central Motor Company, in Long Acre, London
. Perry joined the company as a minority shareholder in 1905, and after Blakiston's departure became managing director in 1906. Cash flow was an issue despite loans from Perry's father-in-law, since Henry Ford
insisted on payment up-front when cars for export were loaded at New York harbour.
Perry travelled to Detroit to seek improved credit terms or investment in the company from Henry Ford
. Although the mission was unsuccessful, good personal relationships were established with Henry Ford. Perry came up with the idea of Ford manufacturing cars outside North America to be sold across the British Empire and Europe.
cars. When Ford decided to pursue direct investment in Britain, he contacted Perry who in 1909 was appointed manager of a Ford branch company for Britain. Perry set up a network of exclusively Ford dealers, raced the company's cars and published comic verse promoting cars to the public.
outside North America in Trafford Park
, Manchester
. This operation, from 1914, included Britain's first mechanized chassis assembly system.
The 1915 McKenna import duties enforced manufacture in Britain. In 1916 Perry formed Automobiles Ford in Paris to take over Ford operations in France.
For this unpaid work he was appointed CBE
in 1917 and knighted in 1918.
After the armistice Perry was determined to run all European operations himself.
Ford had supplied many vehicles to the war effort. Although successful in protecting Ford's UK position, Perry's active involvement in wartime British government did not play well with Ford's head office in Detroit. Their differences could not be reconciled and, in 1919, he was sacked.
Ford's British operations were then run by managers sent from Detroit.
military motor transport depot and converted it into a model manufacturing estate based on Trafford Park, Slough Trading Estate
. In 1922 - 1923, he persuaded André Citroen
to begin building cars on the Slough Trading Estate. In 1922 he resigned as chairman and managing director though he retained his directorship and retired to live mostly on Herm in the Channel Islands where he wrote, with his wife The Island of Enchantment published in 1926.
In 1928, Henry Ford asked Perry to become chairman, find directors and float a new British public listed company, Ford Motor Company Limited
, 60% owned by Dearborn
, taking over Ford operations throughout Europe and the Middle East and developing the new plants at Dagenham
–the largest automobile factory outside USA–and Cork in the Irish Free State.
Perry formulated Ford's new European strategy. Though frustrated at times by deteriorating economic and political conditions he maintained English control over all European operations superintending factories and assembly plants in Eire, Denmark, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
In January 1932 Ford Dagenham began production of Ford Model Y
the first Ford specifically designed for markets outside North America.
During the depression he arranged Fordson Farms at Boreham in Essex, an experiment in co-operative farming.
Many were surprised at his liking for poetry literature and the arts. He enjoyed writing and published New Songs in 1925 and The International Balance of Trade in 1932 also pamphlets advocating '"free enterprise". He led a body formed in 1943 to promote his beliefs called Aims of Industry and was its president.
, in 1902. They had no children. From 1923 to 1939, Perry was tenant of Herm
. He died in June 1956 at New Providence Island in the Bahamas, aged 78. Lady Perry died six months later. The barony became extinct on his death.
Percival Lea Dewhurst Perry, 1st Baron Perry KBE
(18 March 1878–17 June 1956), English motor vehicle manufacturer, was chairman of Ford Motor Company Limited
for 20 years from its incorporation in 1928 completing almost a lifetime's work with Henry Ford
. He also led the establishment of Slough Estates.
, the third son of Alfred Thomas Perry and Elizabeth (née Wheeler). He won a scholarship
to King Edward VI's Grammar School, Birmingham
which he attended 1889-1894 then joined a solicitor's office but was unable to continue law studies from lack of funds.
At 17 Perry moved to London to work in the motor industry for H J Lawson
. He prepared a technical report on the earliest Ford Model A cars imported to Britain. In 1904, Aubrey Blakiston established Ford's first British agency, the Central Motor Company, in Long Acre, London
. Perry joined the company as a minority shareholder in 1905, and after Blakiston's departure became managing director in 1906. Cash flow was an issue despite loans from Perry's father-in-law, since Henry Ford
insisted on payment up-front when cars for export were loaded at New York harbour.
Perry travelled to Detroit to seek improved credit terms or investment in the company from Henry Ford
. Although the mission was unsuccessful, good personal relationships were established with Henry Ford. Perry came up with the idea of Ford manufacturing cars outside North America to be sold across the British Empire and Europe.
cars. When Ford decided to pursue direct investment in Britain, he contacted Perry who in 1909 was appointed manager of a Ford branch company for Britain. Perry set up a network of exclusively Ford dealers, raced the company's cars and published comic verse promoting cars to the public.
outside North America in Trafford Park
, Manchester
. This operation, from 1914, included Britain's first mechanized chassis assembly system.
The 1915 McKenna import duties enforced manufacture in Britain. In 1916 Perry formed Automobiles Ford in Paris to take over Ford operations in France.
For this unpaid work he was appointed CBE
in 1917 and knighted in 1918.
After the armistice Perry was determined to run all European operations himself.
Ford had supplied many vehicles to the war effort. Although successful in protecting Ford's UK position, Perry's active involvement in wartime British government did not play well with Ford's head office in Detroit. Their differences could not be reconciled and, in 1919, he was sacked.
Ford's British operations were then run by managers sent from Detroit.
military motor transport depot and converted it into a model manufacturing estate based on Trafford Park, Slough Trading Estate
. In 1922 - 1923, he persuaded André Citroen
to begin building cars on the Slough Trading Estate. In 1922 he resigned as chairman and managing director though he retained his directorship and retired to live mostly on Herm in the Channel Islands where he wrote, with his wife The Island of Enchantment published in 1926.
In 1928, Henry Ford asked Perry to become chairman, find directors and float a new British public listed company, Ford Motor Company Limited
, 60% owned by Dearborn
, taking over Ford operations throughout Europe and the Middle East and developing the new plants at Dagenham
–the largest automobile factory outside USA–and Cork in the Irish Free State.
Perry formulated Ford's new European strategy. Though frustrated at times by deteriorating economic and political conditions he maintained English control over all European operations superintending factories and assembly plants in Eire, Denmark, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
In January 1932 Ford Dagenham began production of Ford Model Y
the first Ford specifically designed for markets outside North America.
During the depression he arranged Fordson Farms at Boreham in Essex, an experiment in co-operative farming.
Many were surprised at his liking for poetry literature and the arts. He enjoyed writing and published New Songs in 1925 and The International Balance of Trade in 1932 also pamphlets advocating '"free enterprise". He led a body formed in 1943 to promote his beliefs called Aims of Industry and was its president.
, in 1902. They had no children. From 1923 to 1939, Perry was tenant of Herm
. He died in June 1956 at New Providence Island in the Bahamas, aged 78. Lady Perry died six months later. The barony became extinct on his death.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(18 March 1878–17 June 1956), English motor vehicle manufacturer, was chairman of Ford Motor Company Limited
Ford of Britain
Ford of Britain is a British wholly owned subsidiary of Ford of Europe, a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company. Its business started in 1909 and has its registered office in Brentwood, Essex...
for 20 years from its incorporation in 1928 completing almost a lifetime's work with Henry Ford
Henry Ford
Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...
. He also led the establishment of Slough Estates.
Background and education
Percival Perry was born in BristolBristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, the third son of Alfred Thomas Perry and Elizabeth (née Wheeler). He won a scholarship
Scholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
to King Edward VI's Grammar School, Birmingham
King Edward's School, Birmingham
King Edward's School is an independent secondary school in Birmingham, England, founded by King Edward VI in 1552. It is part of the Foundation of the Schools of King Edward VI in Birmingham, and is widely regarded as one of the most academically successful schools in the country, according to...
which he attended 1889-1894 then joined a solicitor's office but was unable to continue law studies from lack of funds.
Career
Harry John Lawson
Henry John Lawson, also known as Harry Lawson, was a British bicycle designer, motor industry pioneer, and fraudster. As part of his attempt to create and control a British motor industry Lawson formed and floated The Daimler Motor Company Limited in London in 1896. It later began manufacture in...
. He prepared a technical report on the earliest Ford Model A cars imported to Britain. In 1904, Aubrey Blakiston established Ford's first British agency, the Central Motor Company, in Long Acre, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Perry joined the company as a minority shareholder in 1905, and after Blakiston's departure became managing director in 1906. Cash flow was an issue despite loans from Perry's father-in-law, since Henry Ford
Henry Ford
Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...
insisted on payment up-front when cars for export were loaded at New York harbour.
Perry travelled to Detroit to seek improved credit terms or investment in the company from Henry Ford
Henry Ford
Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...
. Although the mission was unsuccessful, good personal relationships were established with Henry Ford. Perry came up with the idea of Ford manufacturing cars outside North America to be sold across the British Empire and Europe.
Ford
By 1908, the Central Motor Company was in trouble, despite bringing in new partners and finance. Perry left the company, and briefly imported and sold REOREO Motor Car Company
The REO Motor Car Company was a Lansing, Michigan based company that produced automobiles and trucks from 1905 to 1975. At one point the company also manufactured buses on its truck platforms.REO was initiated by Ransom E. Olds during August 1904...
cars. When Ford decided to pursue direct investment in Britain, he contacted Perry who in 1909 was appointed manager of a Ford branch company for Britain. Perry set up a network of exclusively Ford dealers, raced the company's cars and published comic verse promoting cars to the public.
Manufacture in Britain
In 1911 as head of the new Ford Motor Company (England) Limited he opened Ford's first factoryFord Trafford Park Factory
The Ford Trafford Park assembly plant was a car assembly plant established by the UK subsidiary of the Ford Motor Company. The plant was located at a recently established Industrial park called Trafford Park, beside the Manchester Ship Canal, a short distance to the west of Manchester...
outside North America in Trafford Park
Trafford Park
Trafford Park is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England. Located opposite Salford Quays, on the southern side of the Manchester Ship Canal, it is west-southwest of Manchester city centre, and north of Stretford. Until the late 19th century it was the...
, Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
. This operation, from 1914, included Britain's first mechanized chassis assembly system.
Unions
Perry broke trade unionism imposing job mobility, time wages and direct managerial control over production. He also followed Henry Ford's policy of paying his workers more than usual in their sector.The 1915 McKenna import duties enforced manufacture in Britain. In 1916 Perry formed Automobiles Ford in Paris to take over Ford operations in France.
1914-18 war
Henry Ford's pacifist leanings did not make him or his company popular in wartime Britain. Perry, by contrast, devoted his time and effort to making Ford of Britain appear patriotic and loyal. From 1916 to 1919, this experience led to his strong objection to state controls over manufacturing, Perry served without remuneration as:- deputy controller of food production (Board of Agriculture and Fisheries) 1916
- director agricultural machinery department (Ministry of Munitions) 1917-18
- deputy controller mechanical warfare department (Ministry of Munitions) 1918-19
- director of traction mechanical warfare department (Ministry of Munitions) 1918-19
For this unpaid work he was appointed CBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in 1917 and knighted in 1918.
After the armistice Perry was determined to run all European operations himself.
Ford had supplied many vehicles to the war effort. Although successful in protecting Ford's UK position, Perry's active involvement in wartime British government did not play well with Ford's head office in Detroit. Their differences could not be reconciled and, in 1919, he was sacked.
Ford's British operations were then run by managers sent from Detroit.
Slough Trading Estate Limited
Free from involvement with Ford, Perry was available to lead the consortium which in 1920 purchased the SloughSlough
Slough is a borough and unitary authority within the ceremonial county of Royal Berkshire, England. The town straddles the A4 Bath Road and the Great Western Main Line, west of central London...
military motor transport depot and converted it into a model manufacturing estate based on Trafford Park, Slough Trading Estate
Slough Trading Estate
The Slough Trading Estate founded in Slough, Berkshire in 1920, was an early business park in the United Kingdom. According to the estate's owners and operators, SEGRO , Slough Trading Estate consists of of commercial property in Slough and provides of accommodation to 500 businesses and has...
. In 1922 - 1923, he persuaded André Citroen
André Citroën
André-Gustave Citroën was a French industrialist. He is remembered chiefly for the make of car named after him, but also for his application of double helical gears.- Life and career :...
to begin building cars on the Slough Trading Estate. In 1922 he resigned as chairman and managing director though he retained his directorship and retired to live mostly on Herm in the Channel Islands where he wrote, with his wife The Island of Enchantment published in 1926.
Henry Ford reviews his decision
In the meantime, Ford's Detroit based management of Ford of Britain had not been successful.In 1928, Henry Ford asked Perry to become chairman, find directors and float a new British public listed company, Ford Motor Company Limited
Ford of Britain
Ford of Britain is a British wholly owned subsidiary of Ford of Europe, a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company. Its business started in 1909 and has its registered office in Brentwood, Essex...
, 60% owned by Dearborn
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
, taking over Ford operations throughout Europe and the Middle East and developing the new plants at Dagenham
Dagenham
Dagenham is a large suburb in East London, forming the eastern part of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and located east of Charing Cross. It was historically an agrarian village in the county of Essex and remained mostly undeveloped until 1921 when the London County Council began...
–the largest automobile factory outside USA–and Cork in the Irish Free State.
Perry formulated Ford's new European strategy. Though frustrated at times by deteriorating economic and political conditions he maintained English control over all European operations superintending factories and assembly plants in Eire, Denmark, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
In January 1932 Ford Dagenham began production of Ford Model Y
Ford Model Y
The Model Y is the first Ford specifically designed for markets outside the United States of America, replacing the Model A in Europe. The car was powered by a 933 cc, 8 hp Ford Sidevalve engine, and was in production in England from 1932 until September 1937, in France from 1932 to 1934...
the first Ford specifically designed for markets outside North America.
Other involvements
In addition to Slough Trading Perry held directorships with National Provincial Bank, The London Assurance and Firestone Tyre and Rubber Company Limited and was briefly an advisor to the Minister of Food in 1939-40.During the depression he arranged Fordson Farms at Boreham in Essex, an experiment in co-operative farming.
Many were surprised at his liking for poetry literature and the arts. He enjoyed writing and published New Songs in 1925 and The International Balance of Trade in 1932 also pamphlets advocating '"free enterprise". He led a body formed in 1943 to promote his beliefs called Aims of Industry and was its president.
Retirement
Henry Ford passed management to his grandson in 1945 and died in 1947. In April 1948 Perry retired, aged 70, and Dearborn purchased the European operations from the British company less than two years later.Peerage
In February 1938 Sir Percival Perry was raised to the peerage as Baron Perry, of Stock Harvard in the County of Essex.Personal life
Percival Perry married Catherine, daughter of John Meals, postmaster, of HullKingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
, in 1902. They had no children. From 1923 to 1939, Perry was tenant of Herm
Herm
Herm is the smallest of the Channel Islands that is open to the public and is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey. Cars are banned from the small island just like its Channel Island neighbour, Sark. Unlike Sark, bicycles are also banned...
. He died in June 1956 at New Providence Island in the Bahamas, aged 78. Lady Perry died six months later. The barony became extinct on his death.
External links
- This is Guernsey - Herm Accessed 18 March 2007
- The Perry Foundation Accessed 18 March 2007
- Lilystone Hall, Stock, Essex, the Perry residence
Percival Lea Dewhurst Perry, 1st Baron Perry KBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(18 March 1878–17 June 1956), English motor vehicle manufacturer, was chairman of Ford Motor Company Limited
Ford of Britain
Ford of Britain is a British wholly owned subsidiary of Ford of Europe, a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company. Its business started in 1909 and has its registered office in Brentwood, Essex...
for 20 years from its incorporation in 1928 completing almost a lifetime's work with Henry Ford
Henry Ford
Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...
. He also led the establishment of Slough Estates.
Background and education
Percival Perry was born in BristolBristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, the third son of Alfred Thomas Perry and Elizabeth (née Wheeler). He won a scholarship
Scholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
to King Edward VI's Grammar School, Birmingham
King Edward's School, Birmingham
King Edward's School is an independent secondary school in Birmingham, England, founded by King Edward VI in 1552. It is part of the Foundation of the Schools of King Edward VI in Birmingham, and is widely regarded as one of the most academically successful schools in the country, according to...
which he attended 1889-1894 then joined a solicitor's office but was unable to continue law studies from lack of funds.
Career
Harry John Lawson
Henry John Lawson, also known as Harry Lawson, was a British bicycle designer, motor industry pioneer, and fraudster. As part of his attempt to create and control a British motor industry Lawson formed and floated The Daimler Motor Company Limited in London in 1896. It later began manufacture in...
. He prepared a technical report on the earliest Ford Model A cars imported to Britain. In 1904, Aubrey Blakiston established Ford's first British agency, the Central Motor Company, in Long Acre, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Perry joined the company as a minority shareholder in 1905, and after Blakiston's departure became managing director in 1906. Cash flow was an issue despite loans from Perry's father-in-law, since Henry Ford
Henry Ford
Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...
insisted on payment up-front when cars for export were loaded at New York harbour.
Perry travelled to Detroit to seek improved credit terms or investment in the company from Henry Ford
Henry Ford
Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...
. Although the mission was unsuccessful, good personal relationships were established with Henry Ford. Perry came up with the idea of Ford manufacturing cars outside North America to be sold across the British Empire and Europe.
Ford
By 1908, the Central Motor Company was in trouble, despite bringing in new partners and finance. Perry left the company, and briefly imported and sold REOREO Motor Car Company
The REO Motor Car Company was a Lansing, Michigan based company that produced automobiles and trucks from 1905 to 1975. At one point the company also manufactured buses on its truck platforms.REO was initiated by Ransom E. Olds during August 1904...
cars. When Ford decided to pursue direct investment in Britain, he contacted Perry who in 1909 was appointed manager of a Ford branch company for Britain. Perry set up a network of exclusively Ford dealers, raced the company's cars and published comic verse promoting cars to the public.
Manufacture in Britain
In 1911 as head of the new Ford Motor Company (England) Limited he opened Ford's first factoryFord Trafford Park Factory
The Ford Trafford Park assembly plant was a car assembly plant established by the UK subsidiary of the Ford Motor Company. The plant was located at a recently established Industrial park called Trafford Park, beside the Manchester Ship Canal, a short distance to the west of Manchester...
outside North America in Trafford Park
Trafford Park
Trafford Park is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England. Located opposite Salford Quays, on the southern side of the Manchester Ship Canal, it is west-southwest of Manchester city centre, and north of Stretford. Until the late 19th century it was the...
, Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
. This operation, from 1914, included Britain's first mechanized chassis assembly system.
Unions
Perry broke trade unionism imposing job mobility, time wages and direct managerial control over production. He also followed Henry Ford's policy of paying his workers more than usual in their sector.The 1915 McKenna import duties enforced manufacture in Britain. In 1916 Perry formed Automobiles Ford in Paris to take over Ford operations in France.
1914-18 war
Henry Ford's pacifist leanings did not make him or his company popular in wartime Britain. Perry, by contrast, devoted his time and effort to making Ford of Britain appear patriotic and loyal. From 1916 to 1919, this experience led to his strong objection to state controls over manufacturing, Perry served without remuneration as:- deputy controller of food production (Board of Agriculture and Fisheries) 1916
- director agricultural machinery department (Ministry of Munitions) 1917-18
- deputy controller mechanical warfare department (Ministry of Munitions) 1918-19
- director of traction mechanical warfare department (Ministry of Munitions) 1918-19
For this unpaid work he was appointed CBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in 1917 and knighted in 1918.
After the armistice Perry was determined to run all European operations himself.
Ford had supplied many vehicles to the war effort. Although successful in protecting Ford's UK position, Perry's active involvement in wartime British government did not play well with Ford's head office in Detroit. Their differences could not be reconciled and, in 1919, he was sacked.
Ford's British operations were then run by managers sent from Detroit.
Slough Trading Estate Limited
Free from involvement with Ford, Perry was available to lead the consortium which in 1920 purchased the SloughSlough
Slough is a borough and unitary authority within the ceremonial county of Royal Berkshire, England. The town straddles the A4 Bath Road and the Great Western Main Line, west of central London...
military motor transport depot and converted it into a model manufacturing estate based on Trafford Park, Slough Trading Estate
Slough Trading Estate
The Slough Trading Estate founded in Slough, Berkshire in 1920, was an early business park in the United Kingdom. According to the estate's owners and operators, SEGRO , Slough Trading Estate consists of of commercial property in Slough and provides of accommodation to 500 businesses and has...
. In 1922 - 1923, he persuaded André Citroen
André Citroën
André-Gustave Citroën was a French industrialist. He is remembered chiefly for the make of car named after him, but also for his application of double helical gears.- Life and career :...
to begin building cars on the Slough Trading Estate. In 1922 he resigned as chairman and managing director though he retained his directorship and retired to live mostly on Herm in the Channel Islands where he wrote, with his wife The Island of Enchantment published in 1926.
Henry Ford reviews his decision
In the meantime, Ford's Detroit based management of Ford of Britain had not been successful.In 1928, Henry Ford asked Perry to become chairman, find directors and float a new British public listed company, Ford Motor Company Limited
Ford of Britain
Ford of Britain is a British wholly owned subsidiary of Ford of Europe, a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company. Its business started in 1909 and has its registered office in Brentwood, Essex...
, 60% owned by Dearborn
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
, taking over Ford operations throughout Europe and the Middle East and developing the new plants at Dagenham
Dagenham
Dagenham is a large suburb in East London, forming the eastern part of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and located east of Charing Cross. It was historically an agrarian village in the county of Essex and remained mostly undeveloped until 1921 when the London County Council began...
–the largest automobile factory outside USA–and Cork in the Irish Free State.
Perry formulated Ford's new European strategy. Though frustrated at times by deteriorating economic and political conditions he maintained English control over all European operations superintending factories and assembly plants in Eire, Denmark, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
In January 1932 Ford Dagenham began production of Ford Model Y
Ford Model Y
The Model Y is the first Ford specifically designed for markets outside the United States of America, replacing the Model A in Europe. The car was powered by a 933 cc, 8 hp Ford Sidevalve engine, and was in production in England from 1932 until September 1937, in France from 1932 to 1934...
the first Ford specifically designed for markets outside North America.
Other involvements
In addition to Slough Trading Perry held directorships with National Provincial Bank, The London Assurance and Firestone Tyre and Rubber Company Limited and was briefly an advisor to the Minister of Food in 1939-40.During the depression he arranged Fordson Farms at Boreham in Essex, an experiment in co-operative farming.
Many were surprised at his liking for poetry literature and the arts. He enjoyed writing and published New Songs in 1925 and The International Balance of Trade in 1932 also pamphlets advocating '"free enterprise". He led a body formed in 1943 to promote his beliefs called Aims of Industry and was its president.
Retirement
Henry Ford passed management to his grandson in 1945 and died in 1947. In April 1948 Perry retired, aged 70, and Dearborn purchased the European operations from the British company less than two years later.Peerage
In February 1938 Sir Percival Perry was raised to the peerage as Baron Perry, of Stock Harvard in the County of Essex.Personal life
Percival Perry married Catherine, daughter of John Meals, postmaster, of HullKingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
, in 1902. They had no children. From 1923 to 1939, Perry was tenant of Herm
Herm
Herm is the smallest of the Channel Islands that is open to the public and is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey. Cars are banned from the small island just like its Channel Island neighbour, Sark. Unlike Sark, bicycles are also banned...
. He died in June 1956 at New Providence Island in the Bahamas, aged 78. Lady Perry died six months later. The barony became extinct on his death.
External links
- This is Guernsey - Herm Accessed 18 March 2007
- The Perry Foundation Accessed 18 March 2007
- Lilystone Hall, Stock, Essex, the Perry residence
Percival Lea Dewhurst Perry, 1st Baron Perry KBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(18 March 1878–17 June 1956), English motor vehicle manufacturer, was chairman of Ford Motor Company Limited
Ford of Britain
Ford of Britain is a British wholly owned subsidiary of Ford of Europe, a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company. Its business started in 1909 and has its registered office in Brentwood, Essex...
for 20 years from its incorporation in 1928 completing almost a lifetime's work with Henry Ford
Henry Ford
Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...
. He also led the establishment of Slough Estates.
Background and education
Percival Perry was born in BristolBristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, the third son of Alfred Thomas Perry and Elizabeth (née Wheeler). He won a scholarship
Scholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
to King Edward VI's Grammar School, Birmingham
King Edward's School, Birmingham
King Edward's School is an independent secondary school in Birmingham, England, founded by King Edward VI in 1552. It is part of the Foundation of the Schools of King Edward VI in Birmingham, and is widely regarded as one of the most academically successful schools in the country, according to...
which he attended 1889-1894 then joined a solicitor's office but was unable to continue law studies from lack of funds.
Career
Harry John Lawson
Henry John Lawson, also known as Harry Lawson, was a British bicycle designer, motor industry pioneer, and fraudster. As part of his attempt to create and control a British motor industry Lawson formed and floated The Daimler Motor Company Limited in London in 1896. It later began manufacture in...
. He prepared a technical report on the earliest Ford Model A cars imported to Britain. In 1904, Aubrey Blakiston established Ford's first British agency, the Central Motor Company, in Long Acre, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Perry joined the company as a minority shareholder in 1905, and after Blakiston's departure became managing director in 1906. Cash flow was an issue despite loans from Perry's father-in-law, since Henry Ford
Henry Ford
Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...
insisted on payment up-front when cars for export were loaded at New York harbour.
Perry travelled to Detroit to seek improved credit terms or investment in the company from Henry Ford
Henry Ford
Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...
. Although the mission was unsuccessful, good personal relationships were established with Henry Ford. Perry came up with the idea of Ford manufacturing cars outside North America to be sold across the British Empire and Europe.
Ford
By 1908, the Central Motor Company was in trouble, despite bringing in new partners and finance. Perry left the company, and briefly imported and sold REOREO Motor Car Company
The REO Motor Car Company was a Lansing, Michigan based company that produced automobiles and trucks from 1905 to 1975. At one point the company also manufactured buses on its truck platforms.REO was initiated by Ransom E. Olds during August 1904...
cars. When Ford decided to pursue direct investment in Britain, he contacted Perry who in 1909 was appointed manager of a Ford branch company for Britain. Perry set up a network of exclusively Ford dealers, raced the company's cars and published comic verse promoting cars to the public.
Manufacture in Britain
In 1911 as head of the new Ford Motor Company (England) Limited he opened Ford's first factoryFord Trafford Park Factory
The Ford Trafford Park assembly plant was a car assembly plant established by the UK subsidiary of the Ford Motor Company. The plant was located at a recently established Industrial park called Trafford Park, beside the Manchester Ship Canal, a short distance to the west of Manchester...
outside North America in Trafford Park
Trafford Park
Trafford Park is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England. Located opposite Salford Quays, on the southern side of the Manchester Ship Canal, it is west-southwest of Manchester city centre, and north of Stretford. Until the late 19th century it was the...
, Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
. This operation, from 1914, included Britain's first mechanized chassis assembly system.
Unions
Perry broke trade unionism imposing job mobility, time wages and direct managerial control over production. He also followed Henry Ford's policy of paying his workers more than usual in their sector.The 1915 McKenna import duties enforced manufacture in Britain. In 1916 Perry formed Automobiles Ford in Paris to take over Ford operations in France.
1914-18 war
Henry Ford's pacifist leanings did not make him or his company popular in wartime Britain. Perry, by contrast, devoted his time and effort to making Ford of Britain appear patriotic and loyal. From 1916 to 1919, this experience led to his strong objection to state controls over manufacturing, Perry served without remuneration as:- deputy controller of food production (Board of Agriculture and Fisheries) 1916
- director agricultural machinery department (Ministry of Munitions) 1917-18
- deputy controller mechanical warfare department (Ministry of Munitions) 1918-19
- director of traction mechanical warfare department (Ministry of Munitions) 1918-19
For this unpaid work he was appointed CBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in 1917 and knighted in 1918.
After the armistice Perry was determined to run all European operations himself.
Ford had supplied many vehicles to the war effort. Although successful in protecting Ford's UK position, Perry's active involvement in wartime British government did not play well with Ford's head office in Detroit. Their differences could not be reconciled and, in 1919, he was sacked.
Ford's British operations were then run by managers sent from Detroit.
Slough Trading Estate Limited
Free from involvement with Ford, Perry was available to lead the consortium which in 1920 purchased the SloughSlough
Slough is a borough and unitary authority within the ceremonial county of Royal Berkshire, England. The town straddles the A4 Bath Road and the Great Western Main Line, west of central London...
military motor transport depot and converted it into a model manufacturing estate based on Trafford Park, Slough Trading Estate
Slough Trading Estate
The Slough Trading Estate founded in Slough, Berkshire in 1920, was an early business park in the United Kingdom. According to the estate's owners and operators, SEGRO , Slough Trading Estate consists of of commercial property in Slough and provides of accommodation to 500 businesses and has...
. In 1922 - 1923, he persuaded André Citroen
André Citroën
André-Gustave Citroën was a French industrialist. He is remembered chiefly for the make of car named after him, but also for his application of double helical gears.- Life and career :...
to begin building cars on the Slough Trading Estate. In 1922 he resigned as chairman and managing director though he retained his directorship and retired to live mostly on Herm in the Channel Islands where he wrote, with his wife The Island of Enchantment published in 1926.
Henry Ford reviews his decision
In the meantime, Ford's Detroit based management of Ford of Britain had not been successful.In 1928, Henry Ford asked Perry to become chairman, find directors and float a new British public listed company, Ford Motor Company Limited
Ford of Britain
Ford of Britain is a British wholly owned subsidiary of Ford of Europe, a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company. Its business started in 1909 and has its registered office in Brentwood, Essex...
, 60% owned by Dearborn
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
, taking over Ford operations throughout Europe and the Middle East and developing the new plants at Dagenham
Dagenham
Dagenham is a large suburb in East London, forming the eastern part of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and located east of Charing Cross. It was historically an agrarian village in the county of Essex and remained mostly undeveloped until 1921 when the London County Council began...
–the largest automobile factory outside USA–and Cork in the Irish Free State.
Perry formulated Ford's new European strategy. Though frustrated at times by deteriorating economic and political conditions he maintained English control over all European operations superintending factories and assembly plants in Eire, Denmark, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
In January 1932 Ford Dagenham began production of Ford Model Y
Ford Model Y
The Model Y is the first Ford specifically designed for markets outside the United States of America, replacing the Model A in Europe. The car was powered by a 933 cc, 8 hp Ford Sidevalve engine, and was in production in England from 1932 until September 1937, in France from 1932 to 1934...
the first Ford specifically designed for markets outside North America.
Other involvements
In addition to Slough Trading Perry held directorships with National Provincial Bank, The London Assurance and Firestone Tyre and Rubber Company Limited and was briefly an advisor to the Minister of Food in 1939-40.During the depression he arranged Fordson Farms at Boreham in Essex, an experiment in co-operative farming.
Many were surprised at his liking for poetry literature and the arts. He enjoyed writing and published New Songs in 1925 and The International Balance of Trade in 1932 also pamphlets advocating '"free enterprise". He led a body formed in 1943 to promote his beliefs called Aims of Industry and was its president.
Retirement
Henry Ford passed management to his grandson in 1945 and died in 1947. In April 1948 Perry retired, aged 70, and Dearborn purchased the European operations from the British company less than two years later.Peerage
In February 1938 Sir Percival Perry was raised to the peerage as Baron Perry, of Stock Harvard in the County of Essex.Personal life
Percival Perry married Catherine, daughter of John Meals, postmaster, of HullKingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
, in 1902. They had no children. From 1923 to 1939, Perry was tenant of Herm
Herm
Herm is the smallest of the Channel Islands that is open to the public and is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey. Cars are banned from the small island just like its Channel Island neighbour, Sark. Unlike Sark, bicycles are also banned...
. He died in June 1956 at New Providence Island in the Bahamas, aged 78. Lady Perry died six months later. The barony became extinct on his death.