View source for William Rootes, 1st Baron Rootes

{{Short description|British motor manufacturer}}
{{about||his son|William Geoffrey Rootes|the British politician|William Roots}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = The Lord Rootes
| image         = William rootes portrait.jpg
| alt           = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software -->
| caption       = Rootes in 1937
| birth_name    = William Edward Rootes
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1894|8|17|df=y}}
| birth_place   = [[Goudhurst]]
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1964|12|12|1894|8|17|df=y}}
| death_place   =
| nationality   = British
| other_names   =
| occupation    = Businessman
| years_active  =
| known_for     = Founder of [[Rootes Group]]
| notable_works =
}}
'''William Edward Rootes, 1st Baron Rootes''' [[Order of the British Empire|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]]. During the Second World War he supervised the volume manufacture of aircraft and engines, as well as the supply of [[military vehicle|military]] motor vehicles and [[armoured fighting vehicle]]s.<ref name=glasobit>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=cm5AAAAAIBAJ&sjid=oKMMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4943,2319660&d Lord Rootes: Last of Car Triumvirate] Obituary in ''[[The Glasgow Herald]]'', 14 December 1964</ref> He was knighted in 1942 for these services and for organising the reconstruction of bomb-damaged [[Coventry]] after its [[Coventry Blitz|saturation bombing]] by the [[Luftwaffe]] on 14–15 November 1940. In the 1950s, he became a leader of Britain's export drive,<ref name=glasobit/> and chaired a committee to found the [[University of Warwick]] with a vision of academic links with industry.<ref name="history">[http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/about/history/ History of The University] at [[University of Warwick]] official website</ref> The Rootes Social Building and halls of residence were built at the university c. 1966, named posthumously in his honour.<ref name="history"/><ref>[https://warwick.ac.uk/about/warwick50/blog/voicesoftheuniversity/february2015 “Voices of the Campus”: February 2015 - Campus Development]</ref>
==Early life==
William (Billy) Rootes was born in [[Goudhurst]], Kent. His father, William, owned a general engineering business in Goudhurst, which included [[bicycle]]s. William (Snr) attended a motor show organised by Sir [[David Lionel Goldsmid-Stern-Salomons|David Salomons]] in [[Tunbridge Wells]] 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, Kent|Cranbrook School]], and on leaving school in 1909 was apprenticed to the [[Singer (car)|Singer car company]]. William had moved the family business to [[Hawkhurst]] 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]] before the First World War, and the firm worked on the maintenance and repair of aero engines during the war.<ref name=Courier>Kent and Sussex Courier, 25 April 2008, p. 28</ref>
==Public honours==
William and Reginald were knighted in 1942 and 1946 respectively for their work in setting up [[shadow factories]].<ref name=Courier/> William was created a [[baron]] 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 [[Rootes Group|the family business]] (at that time a subsidiary of [[Chrysler Corporation]] and renamed as Chrysler United Kingdom)<ref name=Autocar197306>{{cite journal |title=World wide News and Comment: Lord Rootes to retire |journal=[[Autocar (magazine)|Autocar]] |volume=138 |issue=4021 |page=3 |date=21 June 1973}}</ref> and [[Brian Gordon Rootes]] (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.<ref name=Motor197101>{{cite journal |title=Obituary: The Hon. Brian Rootes |journal=[[The Motor (magazine)|The Motor]] |volume=3576 |page=60 |date=16 January 1971}}</ref>
In 1958, Rootes bought [[Ramsbury Manor]], Wiltshire.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol12/pp12-46|title=Victoria County History: Wiltshire: Vol 12 pp12-46 - Parishes: Ramsbury|date=1983|editor-last=Crowley|editor-first=D.A.|website=British History Online|publisher=University of London|author-first1=A.P.|author-last1=Baggs|author-first2=Jane|author-last2=Freeman|author-first3=Janet H|author-last3=Stevenson|access-date=23 April 2017}}</ref>
==Death==
William Rootes died in 1964. It had been intended that Rootes would be the first Chancellor of the [[University of Warwick]]; he is commemorated there by the Rootes Social Building, Rootes student residences, Rootes Grocery Store and the Lord Rootes Memorial Fund.
==Arms==
{{Infobox COA wide
|image = Coat of arms of Wiiliam Rootes, 1st Baron Rootes.svg
|escutcheon = Ermine within an orle Azure a bugle horn sable garnished Or stringed Gules.
|crest = On a wreath Argent and Vert a cubit arm bendwise in armour Or the hand Proper grasping a spear in bend also Proper flying therefrom a forked pennon barry Argent and Azure semée of plates and bezants.
|supporters = On either side a horse argent gorged with a chain pendant therefrom a wheel Or.
|motto = Prorsum in Futurum (Forward into The Future)<ref>{{cite book|title=Burke's Peerage |date=2003}}</ref>
|orders = Order of the British Empire, Knight Grand Cross (GBE)
|badge = A horse's head erased Argent gorged with a riband Gules pendant therefrom by a riband Azure a bugle horn Sable garnished Or.}}
== See also ==
* [[Rootes Group]]
==References==
{{reflist|2}}
==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
* [http://tardis.dl.ac.uk/ARCC/index.shtml Rootes Archive Centre]
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{{s-ttl| title=[[Baron Rootes]] | years=1959-1964 }}
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{{Rootes Group}}
{{Goudhurst}}
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[[Category:1894 births]]
[[Category:1964 deaths]]
[[Category:British founders of automobile manufacturers]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:People from Goudhurst]]
[[Category:Rootes Group]]
[[Category:Hereditary barons created by Elizabeth II]]