DA Morris

From Crystal Set to Internet – Morris Electrical 1948-2012

Peter A J Hill

In 1948 Doug Morris set up his electrical business at Kingswood in the single story buildings on Mill Lane opposite Pottertons, Lapworth Stores & Post Office. The Mill Lane shop, run under the name D.A. Morris Ltd., was alongside the haberdashery shop run by Arthur Potterton’s wife, Margaret.

D.A Morris Ltd., Mill Lane shop with Bird in Hand Court in the background and the haberdashery shop to the right foreground.

By 1949 adverts were appearing in the Lapworth Parish Magazine for the electrical services provided by the little shop on Mill Lane next to Bird in Hand Court. In 1953 Doug Morris seized a golden opportunity for a little publicity; the village celebrations for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II took place all day at the Melson Ground and importantly at the new Village Hall just down the road from the shop. Doug ‘loaned’ television sets, still a very rare commodity, to the Village Hall for the day so that the good people of Lapworth could celebrate the Coronation on television.

In those days much of the work was contract work especially complete house wiring for the first time or additional wiring as more and more domestic electrical devices came into homes. The year 1957 saw a new recruit to the business, one young Robin McEwan. He was joined in 1960 by another young recruit Martin Mitchell. The following year, with the business in safe hands, Doug now decided to take a back seat leaving the business to be run by Robin and Martin on a day to day basis.

The 1960s and 1970s saw a growth of population in Lapworth (the new housing at Kingswood especially) and with all these new consumers the business prospered as the demand for electrical goods, electrical work and especially for television sets and aerials grew. The site on the corner of Mill Lane was an excellent one with the General Stores and Post Office opposite, the haberdashery shop next door on the Old Warwick Road, leading to much synergy of business and passing trade.