MICHAEL BRUCE URQUHART DEWAR
Michael was born on 5th August 1886 at Cheltenham, Gloucestershire to his father William and mother Annie.
He was educated at Rugby School and Trinity College Cambridge.
After serving an apprenticeship at Vickers Ltd in Sheffield he joined T Firth and Sons Ltd a company of which he eventually became a director.
Michael was married on 26th October 1910 to Dorothy Gertrude Firth at St Matthews Church Lightcliffe, York. She was born in 1882 and so was 4 years older than Michael. Her father Algernon was a Baronet. On 4th April 1917 they had a son John Michael Firth Dewar who became a Flying Officer in RAF 229 Squadron. Unfortunately he died on 30th March 1941 and is buried in Commonwealth War Graves no 72462
In the 1914-18 war Michael served at first with the Royal Engineers and in 1915 was transferred to the War Office for work in connection to munition production.
A year later he was moved to the Ministry of Munitions and was appointed Director of National Projectile Factories and Assistant Controller of Shell Manufacture.
At the end of the war, after serving on several inter Allied committees, he returned to industry and in 1919 joined the board of the Leeds Forge Company Ltd and later became the Managing Director of The Metropolitan Carriage Wagon and Finance Company Ltd. In 1928 he was appointed Chairman of British Timken Ltd an office which he held for the rest of his life.
He was a Member of the committee of enquiry into Employment Exchanges in 1920 and also of the Ministry of Labour delegation which studied industrial conditions in Canada and the United States in 1925.
When war started in 1939 it was only natural that full advantage should be taken of Michael’s previous experience on munitions production to which by then had been added considerable and varied industrial and administration experience.
In 1938 Michael and his wife had an address in Tufton Street, Westminster SW1.
In 1940 he was appointed head of a special commission on tanks which went to the United States, and with the United States Ordnance he was responsible for designing and production of The Sherman Tank which was brought to Great Britain under President Roosevelt’s Land Lease Scheme which he signed in 1941. The Sherman Tanks were used very successfully in The Battle of El Alamein after which Little Horwood Church Bells were allowed to ring for the one occasion only, until the end of the war.
Afterwards he became Deputy Director General of the British Purchasing Commission and British Supply Mission.
Michael was Vice President of the Federation of British Industries and then in 1944 High Sheriff of Hertfordshire.
Back in Little Horwood, George Gee had died in 1943 whilst running the huge Manor Estate and all the employees were very apprehensive about what the future held for them. Albert Smith had resisted the many attempts to get him to live on the company premises at Warren Farm in case he might be evicted.
Norman Gee, George Gee’s eldest son had obtained Probate for his deceased father in Llandudno and as the Manor Lands and Stock were left to him so he proceeded to arrange a sale of The Ayrshire Herd, Sheep , Pedigree Large White Pigs and first class implements and machinery on 1st, 2nd,3rd of October 1945 and Michael Dewar came along and bought everything including all lands and indeed bought more lands in Whaddon and Shenley Dens.
To everyone’s relief The Manor Estate was to continue as one unit.
Albert Smith, the 9 years old ex Barnadoes boy who had arrived at Swanbourne Station in a snowstorm in 1925 with no one to meet him and carried his case and all the way to Mount Pleasant on the Winslow Road and who had to milk cows at The White House before he went to Little Horwood school, had been given a huge responsibility by George Gee to manage the Ayrshire Herd at the age of 23 and had come through with flying colours. He knew all the estate workers and the staff social spirit was superb. He had taken correspondence courses from the Agricultural College in Aylesbury and was much in demand by farmers around the village if they had a problem with their cattle. George King (Bill Kings dad ) Landlord of The Shoulder of Mutton was always popping over to 11 Church Row to ask him for advice.
Josephine Judith Mullens married Michael Dewar in Peterborough in October 1945 and she met Albert soon afterwards. Michael had told her that she should prepare a Grand Christmas Party for all the Estate Staff at the Manor House Mansion, so she asked Albert to go to Aylesbury with her to buy Christmas presents for all the staff. This started a close relationship which lasted the rest of their lives. I (Terry Smith) remember the party in December 1945 which had a conjurer and all sorts of games. There was a separate room where we attended a photographer and a famous Smith Family Photo was taken.
This was the start of 6 “Golden Years”. Allison Uttley researching her book on Buckinghamshire called one day and my father showed her round the modern farm. In my book An Horrod Lad on pages 27 and 28 I describe her visit in detail, but among the comments were “ I was sorry to leave this really delightful place which was so well kept and happy” and “ we thought we had seen one of the finest sights in Bucks that day” and relating to the Ayrshire Herd “he was as proud of them as if they had been his own”
Michael Dewar employed 4000 people at his ball bearing factory at Duston near Northampton and with his American connections and exporting 70% of his production to Continental Europe he was used to promotions in a big way. British Timpken had a huge Annual show each year that was international in nature. Cricket matches which often contained most of the Northants County team, International Showjumping, often won by names like Alan Oliver, and massive cattle and livestock shows. Naturally he wanted to enter his own whenever he could, so this lifted Albert Smiths skills with cattle to the highest level. Two years on the trot in 1948 and 1949 he won cups for best in show with the Ayrshires he took there.
Michael was not content with that, in June 1949 he promoted a “Grand Midsummer Fair” at Little Horwood Manor in aid of The Oxford Diocese Laity Challenge Fund and The Mursley Deanery Church Fund.
It was a great shock to all when he suddenly died on 21st December 1950. Judith and one of the Timken directors were appointed as Executors and the Estate was valued at £464410.18s.5d.The American parent company of British Timken took up their option to purchase his shares and all the Farm Estate was put up for sale again. I have deposited a sale catalogue at the Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies but have copied a few of these for the Powerpoint show.
Although Michael was gone Judith continued to be a great benefactor for Little Horwood