Joseph Bamford could shoot, fish, swim, and sail. Bamford paid more than fair wages, which rose regularly, and annual bonuses based on reports of individual worth. In 1967 Bamford stood on a farm cart and handed out personal cheques totalling £250,000. This extraordinary focus in return gave unprecedented levels of workforce flexibility, with the average JCB employee through the strike-dominated 1970s and early 1980s being seven times more productive than the average British manufacturing worker. In 1975 Bamford and his wife Marjorie (née Griffin – married 1941) handed over the business to their two sons, and retired to Switzerland as tax exiles.
Edward Bamford 1887 to the Rev. Robert Bamford, Chaplain to the Yeatman Hospital in Sherborne (died 9 November 1898, aged 44), and Blanch Edith Bamford (later Mrs E.B. Bamford, 89, Bloomfield Avenue, Bath). The family lived at Lynton House (now known as Abbot's Litten), Long Street, Sherborne, Dorset. Edward was educated at Sherborne Preparatory School, and later at Sherborne School, which he attended as a day boy from September 1900 until April 1902. His two brothers, Robert Bamford (1883-1942) who was one of the founders of Aston Martin and Arthur Bamford (1889-1915) were also educated as day boys at Sherborne School. Arthur,