Jan Morris | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | James Humphry Morris[1]: 4 (1926-10-02)2 October 1926 Clevedon,Somerset, England |
| Died | 20 November 2020(2020-11-20) (aged 94)[2] Pwllheli,Wales |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Nationality | Welsh |
| Genre | Non-fiction,travel writing |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 5 |
Catharine Jan Morris[3][4]CBE FRSL (bornJames Humphry Morris; 2 October 1926 – 20 November 2020) was a Welsh historian, author andtravel writer. She was known particularly for thePax Britannica trilogy (1968–1978), a history of theBritish Empire, and for portraits of cities, includingOxford,Venice,Trieste,Hong Kong andNew York City.[5] She published under her birth name, James, until 1972, when she had gender reassignment surgery aftertransitioning from male to female.[5]
Morris was a member of the1953 British Mount Everest expedition, which made the first ever confirmed ascent of the mountain.[6] She was the only journalist to accompany the expedition, climbing with the team to a camp at 22,000 feet, and using a prearranged code to send news of the successful ascent, which was announced inThe Times on the day ofQueen Elizabeth II's coronation (2 June 1953).[7][5]
Morris was born inClevedon,Somerset, England, the youngest of three children of Walter Henry Morris (died 1938), an engineer fromMonmouth, on the borders of Wales, who never fully recovered after being gassed in theFirst World War, and Enid (née Payne; died 1981), an English church organist who trained as a concert pianist at theLeipzig Conservatory[8][9][5] and was a "well-known recitalist in the early days of broadcasting in south Wales and the west of England".[10][3] Her elder brothersGareth (1920–2007) and Christopher (1922–2014) achieved distinction, as a flautist and as an organist and music publisher for theOxford University Press respectively.[11][12][13][5]
Morris was a chorister in the choir ofChrist Church Cathedral, Oxford, while boarding atChrist Church Cathedral School.[14] She went on to be educated atLancing College, returning toChrist Church, Oxford, as an undergraduate, taking a second-class honoursBA in 1951 (promoted to the customaryOxford MA in 1961), and editing theCherwell magazine.[11][15][5] Despite being born and largely raised in England, Morris always identified as Welsh.[16] In the closing stages of theSecond World War, Morris served in the9th Queen's Royal Lancers, and in 1945 was posted to theFree Territory of Trieste, during the joint British–American occupation, eventually serving as regimental intelligence officer.[6][17]
After the war, Morris wrote forThe Times and in 1953 was the onlyjournalist accompanying the1953 British Mount Everest expedition, which includedEdmund Hillary andTenzing Norgay, who were the first to scaleMount Everest.[5] Morris reported the success of Hillary and Tenzing in a coded message to the newspaper, "Snow conditions bad stop advanced base abandoned yesterday stop awaiting improvement",[18] and by coincidence the scoop was published inThe Times on the morning of thecoronation of Elizabeth II.[19][5]
The message was initially interpreted to mean thatTom Bourdillon and Tenzing had reached the summit, but the first name was corrected before the story was broken. Claims that the news was held back ignore the communication problems of the time; it was quite an achievement to get the news of the 29 May ascent to London by Coronation Day on 2 June, as it had to be sent toNamche Bazaar by runner.[20]
Reporting fromCyprus on theSuez Crisis for theManchester Guardian in 1956, Morris produced the first "irrefutable proof" of collusion betweenFrance andIsrael in the invasion ofEgyptian territory, interviewingFrench Air Force pilots who confirmed that they had been in action in support of Israeli forces.[21] She also reported on the 1961 trial ofAdolf Eichmann inJerusalem.[22] Later, Morris opposed theFalklands War.[23]
In 1949, Morris married Elizabeth, daughter ofCeylon tea planter Austen Cecil Tuckniss;[17] they had five children together, including the poet and musicianTwm Morys.[5] One of their children died in infancy. They lived together in the village ofLlanystumdwy, inNorth Wales, for over 50 years until Morris's death in November 2020, first in a large Georgian house, Plas Trefan, and latterly in a converted stable block, Trefan Morys, in the grounds.[24][25][5]
Morris began transitioning to life as a woman in 1964, one of the first high-profile people to do so.[1]: 105 [26] In 1972, Morris travelled toMorocco to undergosex reassignment surgery, performed by surgeonGeorges Burou,[1]: 135–144 because doctors in Britain refused to allow the procedure unless Morris and Tuckniss divorced, something Morris was not prepared to do.[1]: 127 They did divorce later, but remained together, and on 14 May 2008 were legally reunited when they formally entered into acivil partnership.[5][6][27] She detailed her transition inConundrum (1974), her first book under her new name, and one of the firstautobiographies to discuss a personal gender reassignment.[5][28][note 1]
Morris died on 20 November 2020 atYsbyty Bryn Beryl (Bryn Beryl Hospital) inPwllheli in North Wales, at the age of 94, survived by Elizabeth and their four children. Her death was announced by her son Twm.[2][11][5]
Her wife Elizabeth died at age 99 on 17 June 2024.[29]
Morris receivedhonorary doctorates from theUniversity of Wales and theUniversity of Glamorgan, was an honorary fellow ofChrist Church, Oxford, and was a fellow of theRoyal Society of Literature. She was elected to theGorsedd Cymru in 1992,[5][11][30] and received theGlyndŵr Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Arts in Wales in 1996.[31] "Out of polite respect" she accepted her appointment asCommander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the1999 Birthday Honours for services to literature,[32] but Morris was aWelsh nationalist republican at heart.[33][5] In 2005, she was awarded theGolden PEN Award byEnglish PEN for "a Lifetime's Distinguished Service to Literature".[34][35] In January 2008,The Times named her the 15th-greatest British writer since the War.[27] She has featured in the Pinc List of leading Welsh LGBT figures.[36] She won the 2018Edward Stanford Outstanding Contribution to Travel Writing Award.[37]
Morris's 1974 best-selling memoirConundrum documented her transition and was compared to that of transgender pioneerChristine Jorgensen (A Personal Autobiography). Later memoirs includedPleasures of a Tangled Life (1989) andHerstory (1999). She also wrote many essays on travel and her life, and published a collection of her diary entries asIn My Mind's Eye in 2019.[38]
Morris wrote many books on travel, particularly aboutVenice andTrieste. HerPax Britannica trilogy, on the history of theBritish Empire, received praise.[5][39] In an interview with the BBC in 2016, she toldMichael Palin that she did not like to be described as a travel writer, for her books were not about movement and journeys; they were about places and people.[40] Morris's 1985 novelLast Letters from Hav, an "imagined travelogue and political thriller" was shortlisted for that year'sBooker Prize.[41]
In 1995, Morris completed a biography ofFirst Sea LordJohn Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher, entitledFisher's Face.[42] She began researching the life of the Admiral in the 1950s, describing the several-decades-long project as a "jeu d’amour" (love game).[43]
Her writing about nature is included byKatharine Norbury in her anthology "Women on Nature".[44] The book was published in 2021 and includes dozens of writers including Morris,Thomasine Pendarves,Jane Austen,Vanessa Bell,Enid Blyton andVirginia Woolf.[45]
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