The Viscount Dunrossil | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Morrison in 1960 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 14th Governor-General of Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 2 February 1960 – 3 February 1961 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Monarch | Elizabeth II | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Robert Menzies | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Sir William Slim | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Lord De L'Isle | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Speaker of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 31 October 1951 – 20 October 1959 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Monarchs | George VI Elizabeth II | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Winston Churchill Anthony Eden Harold Macmillan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Douglas Clifton Brown | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Sir Harry Hylton-Foster | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1893-08-10)10 August 1893 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 3 February 1961(1961-02-03) (aged 67) Canberra, Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Resting place | St John the Baptist Church, Reid | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | British | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Conservative | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | Four, includingJohn | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | University of Edinburgh | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
William Shepherd Morrison, 1st Viscount Dunrossil (10 August 1893 – 3 February 1961), was a British politician. He was a long-serving cabinet minister before serving asSpeaker of the House of Commons from 1951 to 1959. He was then appointed as the 14thgovernor-general of Australia, in office from 1960 until his death in 1961.
Morrison was the son of a Scottish farmer, born in the small village ofTorinturk,Argyll. He attendedGeorge Watson's College and then went on to theUniversity of Edinburgh; his studies were interrupted by World War I, where he served with theRoyal Field Artillery and won theMilitary Cross. Training as a lawyer, Morrison wascalled to the bar in 1923 and began working as a private secretary toSir Thomas Inskip, theSolicitor-General. After several previous attempts, he was elected to theHouse of Commons in 1929, representing a constituency inGloucestershire for theConservative Party.
In 1936, after several years as ajunior minister, Morrison was madeMinister of Agriculture and Fisheries byStanley Baldwin. He also served as a minister underNeville Chamberlain andWinston Churchill, including asMinister of Food (1939–1940),Postmaster General (1940–1943), andMinister of Town and Country Planning (1943–1945). Morrison was elevated to the speakership following the1951 general election. He was praised for his impartiality, especially during the heated debate on theSuez Crisis, and was raised to the viscountcy when his term ended. Lord Dunrossil became governor-general in 1960, on the nomination ofRobert Menzies, but served only a year before dying in office.
Morrison was born inTorinturk,Argyll,Scotland, the son of Marion (née McVicar) and John Morrison. His father was a farmer who had previously spent time working in South Africa's diamond industry. Morrison was educated atGeorge Watson's College and theUniversity of Edinburgh. He joined theBritish Army as an officer in theFirst World War and served with anartillery regiment in France, where he won theMilitary Cross.[1] In 1919 he left the Army with the rank of captain. He married Katharine Swan in 1924, with whom he had four sons.
Morrison was called to the English bar at theInner Temple in 1923 and worked as private secretary toSir Thomas Inskip, theSolicitor-General. He became aKing's Counsel in 1934 andRecorder ofWalsall in 1935.
Morrison was elected to theHouse of Commons asConservativeMember of Parliament (MP) forCirencester and Tewkesbury in 1929. In Parliament he was known as "Shakes", a nickname given him at Edinburgh when he was elected the University Bard for his Gaelic poetry and which stuck because of his prodigious memory for Shakespeare.[citation needed]
Morrison had a long ministerial career under four Prime Ministers (Ramsay MacDonald,Stanley Baldwin,Neville Chamberlain andWinston Churchill). He was:
Morrison was referred to in the bookGuilty Men byMichael Foot,Frank Owen andPeter Howard (writing under the pseudonym 'Cato'), published in 1940 as an attack on public figures for their failure to re-arm and their appeasement of Nazi Germany.[2] However, as noted in the diaries ofChips Channon, he was part of the Insurgents, the faction of the Conservative party that worked in secret against appeasement, to oust Chamberlain and replace him with Churchill ahead of the war.[citation needed]
Campaigning during thegeneral election of 1945, Morrison attackedSocialism and claimed thatHitler andMussolini began as Socialists. He further claimed that although Labour objected to the Conservatives calling themselves 'National', the Conservatives had no objection in their opponents labelling themselvesNational-Socialists.[3] In 1947 he attackedidentity cards which had been introduced during the war because he believed they were a nuisance to law-abiding people and also because the cards were ineffective.[4]
In 1951, when the Conservatives returned to power, Morrison waselectedSpeaker of the House of Commons. He was opposed byLabour MP MajorJames Milner, who said it was his party's turn to have a Speaker of the House. It was the first contested election for the post in the twentieth century. Morrison was elected in a vote on party lines.
Morrison held the post of Speaker until 1959, when he announced that he would not be contestingthe forthcoming general election but retiring for reasons of health. As was customary for former Speakers, he was made a viscount, taking the titleViscount Dunrossil, of Vallaquie in the Isle of North Uist and County of Inverness.[5]
Given his health, it surprised many when it was announced shortly thereafter that he had been chosen to succeedSir William Slim asGovernor-General of Australia, leading to 155 MPs voting against the customary bill granting him the traditional pension of £4,000 per annum. He was also appointed aKnight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) that year.[6] By this time support for the idea of British governors-general was declining in Australia, but theLiberalPrime Minister,Robert Menzies, was determined to maintain the British link (and, in particular, the Scottish link).
Dunrossil took office on 2 February 1960. He was the first governor-general sinceSir Isaac Isaacs (1931–1936) to wear the full ceremonial vice-regal uniform, but despite this was known for having a more relaxed approach than his predecessor. Dunrossil suffered from ill health while in office, and his wife frequently deputised for him at ceremonial events. He suffered apulmonary embolism on the morning of 3 February 1961, becoming the first and only governor-general to die in office. He was granted astate funeral, and buried atSt John the Baptist Church, Reid. HisOfficial Secretary throughout his term wasMurray Tyrrell.[7]
Dunrossil was succeeded in the viscountcy by his son,John Morrison, 2nd Viscount Dunrossil, who was a career officer in the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, holding several senior diplomatic appointments, including serving asGovernor of Bermuda. He was proud to wear his father's vice-regal hat on formal occasions on the island colony.
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Morrison was unusual in having separate, and entirely different, grants of arms from both the College of Arms in England and the Lyon Court in Scotland.
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| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forCirencester and Tewkesbury 1929–1959 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Speaker of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom 1951–1959 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Financial Secretary to the Treasury 1935–1936 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries 1936–1939 | Succeeded by |
| New title | Minister of Food 1939–1940 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1939–1940 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Postmaster General 1940–1942 | Succeeded by |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by | Governor-General of Australia 1960–1961 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Viscount Dunrossil 1959–1961 | Succeeded by |
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