Percival Perry, 1st Baron Perry facts for kids
Percival Lea Dewhurst Perry (born March 18, 1878 – died June 17, 1956) was an important English car maker. He was the boss of Ford Motor Company Limited in Britain for 20 years, starting in 1928. He worked closely with Henry Ford for most of his life. He also helped create the Slough Estates, which became a big business park.
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Early Life and School
Percival Perry was born in Bristol. He was the third son of Alfred Thomas Perry and Elizabeth Wheeler. He won a special scholarship to go to King Edward VI's Grammar School from 1889 to 1894. After school, he started working in a lawyer's office. However, he couldn't finish studying law because he didn't have enough money.
His Career Journey
When he was 17, Perry moved to London to work in the car business for H J Lawson. He wrote a special report about the very first Ford Model A cars brought into Britain. In 1904, Aubrey Blakiston started Ford's first British office, called the Central Motor Company, in London. Perry joined this company in 1905, owning a small part of it. After Blakiston left, Perry became the managing director in 1906.
The company often had money problems, even with loans from Perry's father-in-law. This was because Henry Ford always wanted to be paid upfront when cars were loaded for export in New York. Perry traveled to Detroit to ask Henry Ford for better payment terms or for Ford to invest in the company. Even though he didn't get what he wanted, he built a good relationship with Henry Ford. Perry then had a great idea: Ford should build cars outside North America to sell them across the British Empire and Europe.
Working with Ford
By 1908, the Central Motor Company was in trouble, even after getting new partners and money. Perry left the company and for a short time sold REO cars. When Ford decided to invest directly in Britain, Henry Ford contacted Perry. In 1909, Perry became the manager of a Ford branch company for Britain. Perry set up a network of dealers who sold only Ford cars. He also raced the company's cars and wrote funny poems to promote cars to the public.
Making Cars in Britain
In 1911, as the head of the new Ford Motor Company (England) Limited, Perry opened Ford's first factory outside North America. This factory was in Trafford Park, Manchester. From 1914, this factory also had Britain's first moving assembly line for car parts.
Workers and Rules
Perry changed how things worked with trade unions. He made sure workers could move between jobs, were paid by the hour, and that managers had direct control over how cars were made. He also followed Henry Ford's idea of paying his workers more than other companies in the same industry.
New import taxes in 1915 made it necessary to build cars in Britain. In 1916, Perry started Automobiles Ford in Paris to take over Ford's work in France.
During World War I
Henry Ford believed in peace, which made him and his company less popular in Britain during the war. Perry, however, worked hard to make Ford of Britain seem patriotic and loyal. From 1916 to 1919, he worked for the British government without pay. This experience made him strongly dislike government control over manufacturing. He held several important roles:
- Deputy controller of food production (1916)
- Director of agricultural machinery (1917–18)
- Deputy controller of mechanical warfare (1918–19)
- Director of traction mechanical warfare (1918–19)
For this unpaid work, he was given the CBE award in 1917 and became a knight in 1918.
After the war ended, Perry wanted to manage all of Ford's European operations himself. Ford had provided many vehicles for the war effort. Even though Perry successfully protected Ford's position in the UK, his active role in the British government during wartime did not please Ford's main office in Detroit. They couldn't agree, and so, in 1919, Perry was fired. After this, Ford's British operations were run by managers sent from Detroit.
Leading Slough Trading Estate
Since he was no longer working with Ford, Perry was able to lead a group in 1920. This group bought the military vehicle depot in Slough and turned it into a modern manufacturing area, similar to Trafford Park. This became the Slough Trading Estate. In 1922 and 1923, he convinced André Citroen to start building cars there. In 1922, Perry stepped down as chairman and managing director, but he remained a director. He then moved to live mostly on Herm, one of the Channel Islands, where he wrote a book with his wife called The Island of Enchantment, published in 1926.
Henry Ford Changes His Mind
Meanwhile, Ford's managers from Detroit were not doing well running Ford of Britain.
In 1928, Henry Ford asked Perry to come back as chairman. He asked Perry to find new directors and create a new public company in Britain, Ford Motor Company Limited. Dearborn (Ford's main company in the USA) owned 60% of this new company. This company took over Ford's work across Europe and the Middle East. It also helped develop the new factories at Dagenham—which became the largest car factory outside the USA—and in Cork, Ireland.
Perry created Ford's new plan for Europe. Even though he faced challenges from difficult economic and political times, he kept British control over all European operations. He oversaw factories and assembly plants in Ireland, Denmark, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany.
In January 1932, the Ford Dagenham factory started making the Ford Model Y. This was the first Ford car designed especially for markets outside North America.
Other Work
Besides his work with Slough Trading, Perry was also a director for other companies like National Provincial Bank, The London Assurance, and Firestone Tyre and Rubber Company Limited. For a short time in 1939–40, he advised the Minister of Food.
During the economic depression, he set up Fordson Farms in Essex. This was an experiment in farming together as a group.
Many people were surprised that he loved poetry, literature, and art. He enjoyed writing and published New Songs in 1925 and The International Balance of Trade in 1932. He also wrote small books supporting "free enterprise." In 1943, he led a group called Aims of Industry to promote his beliefs and was its first president.
Retirement
Henry Ford handed over management to his grandson in 1945 and died in 1947. In April 1948, Perry retired at the age of 70. Less than two years later, Dearborn bought the European operations from the British company.
Awards and Family Symbols
In February 1938, Sir Percival Perry was given the title of Baron Perry, of Stock Harvard in Essex. This meant he became a Lord.
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Personal Life
Percival Perry married Catherine Meals in 1902. She was the daughter of John Meals, a postmaster from Hull. They did not have any children. From 1923 to 1939, Perry rented and lived on the island of Herm. He passed away in June 1956 in the Bahamas, at 78 years old. Lady Perry died six months later. Since they had no children, his title of Baron ended when he died.
