Joseph Cyril Bamford CBE was a British businessman, who was the founder of the JCB company, manufacturing heavy plant.
Joe Bamford was born into a Catholic family from Uttoxeter in Staffordshire, which owned Bamfords Ltd, an agricultural engineering business. His great grandfather Henry Bamford was born in Yoxall, and had built up his own ironmongers business, which by 1881 employed 50 men, 10 boys and 3 women. Bamfords International Farm Machinery became one of the country's major agricultural equipment suppliers, famous for its balers, rakes, hay turners, hay Wufflers, Mangold cutters, and standing engines, which were exported all over the world. The company eventually ceased trading in 1986.
After attending Stonyhurst College, Lancashire, Bamford joined the Alfred Herbert company in Coventry, then the UK's largest machine-tool manufacturer, and rose to represent the firm in Ghana. He returned home in 1938 to join the family firm, but in 1941 was called up by the RAF to serve in World War II. Working in supply and logistics, he returned to the African Gold Coast, to run a staging post for USAF planes being ferried to the Middle East.
The Story of JCB is a unique and permanent £5m state-of-the-art exhibition covering 2,500m² of floorspace at our World HQ in Rocester, Staffordshire. This experience centre takes you on a journey through time to chart the company’s remarkable history from the Bamford family’s industrial roots in the 1820s, through the formation of JCB in the 1940s, to the present day’s position as one of the world’s leading construction and agricultural machinery manufacturers.
The exhibition is split into 12 zones, each of which highlights a key period or company philosophy. Starting with The Early Years, we show you how the JCB brand was built, largely on a foundation of the twin values of design and innovation. Other zones in The Story of JCB focus on our global expansion, our agricultural machinery range, and our heavyline products. Along the way, you’ll see a range of original JCB machines including the seminal 3C, 110B crawler loader and 520-4 telehandler; you’ll also get to see the actual office of Mr JCB himself, Joseph Cyril Bamford.
