James Morrison (1789–1857) was a British millionaire businessman andWhig Member of Parliament.
Morrison was the son of aninnkeeper fromMiddle Wallop inHampshire. He married Mary Anne, daughter of Joseph Todd, a Londondraper; he continued the drapery business and quickly made it one of the most profitable in the world.[1]
His children includedAlfred Morrison, ofFonthill, who wasHigh Sheriff of Wiltshire in 1857, a notable art collector (seeThe Morrison Triptych), the father ofHugh andMajor James Archibald Morrison of Fonthill and Basildon; Charles of Basildon Park and Islay; Frank ofHole Park, Kent, and Strathraich, Ross; andWalter Morrison of Malham Tarn , Yorkshire.
Morrison began his career working in a London warehouse. Effort eventually secured him a partnership in the general drapery business inFore Street, London of Joseph Todd, whose daughter he married. The firm became known asMorrison, Dillon & Co, and later was converted into theFore Street Limited Liability Company.[2]
Morrison worked to small margins, with a rapid circulation of capital, his motto being "small profits and quick returns". He made a fortune, much of which went to buying land inBerkshire,Buckinghamshire, Kent,Wiltshire,Yorkshire, andIslay inArgyllshire, an island he purchased for nearly £½m in 1854. In hisLife and Correspondence,Robert Southey records how he saw Morrison atKeswick in September 1823. He was then worth some £150,000 and was on his way toNew Lanark on the Clyde. He intended investing £5,000 inRobert Owen's philanthropic community "if he should find his expectations confirmed by what he sees there".[2]
From his arrival in London, Morrison was associated with theWhig Party in the city. In 1830, he entered Parliament as member forSt Ives, Cornwall, which he helped to partially disfranchise by voting for theGreat Reform Bill. In 1831, he secured a seat atIpswich, for which he was again elected in December 1832. He was, however, defeated there on the 'Peel Dissolution' in January 1835. On an election petition,Fitzroy Kelly andRobert Adam Dundas, the members, were unseated and Morrison, withRigby Wason, headed the poll in June 1835. At the succeeding dissolution, in July 1837, Morrison remained out of parliament and, in the following December, on the occasion of a by-election for a vacancy at Ipswich, he was defeated in a contest with Joseph Bailey. In March 1840, he re-entered the House of Commons as member for theInverness Burghs and was again returned unopposed in the general election of 1841 but, on the dissolution of 1847, in poor health, he finally retired.[2]
In the 1830s, Morrison established the American trading company,Morrison, Cryder & Co., and invested heavily in the railway industry both in the United States and in France. On 17 May 1836, he made an able speech on moving a resolution urging the periodical revision of tolls and charges levied on railroads and other public works. In 1845, he moved similar resolutions and, again in March 1846, when he finally succeeded in obtaining a select committee for the better promoting and securing of the interests of the public in railway acts. His draft report, not altogether adopted, was drawn with great skill and many of its principles were adopted in subsequent legislation.[2]
An entirely self-educated man, Morrison built up a large library. He likewise collected pictures by theOld Masters, Italian and Dutch, together with the English school of painters. It was a "collection of a very high class".[2] Morrison housed his collection in his London house inHarley Street, and atBasildon Park in Berkshire which, by 1842, had completely replaced the Pavilion at Fonthill (Wiltshire) as his favoured country estate. It included works byConstable,Da Vinci,Hogarth, Holbein,Poussin,Rembrandt,Reynolds, Rubens, Titian, Turner, Cuyp, Jan Steen, Murillo and Van Dyck.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Goodwin, Gordon (1894). "Morrison, James". InLee, Sidney (ed.).Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 39. London: Smith, Elder & Co.| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forSt Ives 1830–1831 With:William Pole-Tylney-Long-Wellesley | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forIpswich 1831–1835 With:Rigby Wason | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forInverness Burghs 1840–1847 | Succeeded by |
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