James Morrison (1789–1857) was a British millionaire businessman and Whig Member of Parliament.

Upbringing and family

Morrison was the son of an

innkeeper Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accomm ...

from

Middle Wallop Middle Wallop is a village in the civil parish of Nether Wallop in Hampshire, England, on the A343 road. At the 2011 Census the population was included in the civil parish of Over Wallop. The village has a public house, The George Inn, and a ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

. He married Mary Anne, daughter of Joseph Todd, a London

draper Draper was originally a term for a retailer or wholesaler of cloth that was mainly for clothing. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher. History Drapers were an important trade guild during the medieval period ...

business and quickly made it one of the most profitable in the world. His children included

Alfred Morrison Alfred Morrison (1821 – 22 December 1897) was an English collector, known for his interest in works of art, autographs and manuscripts. Life The second son of James Morrison (1790–1857) the textile businessman, he inherited from his father a ...

, of Fonthill, who was

High Sheriff of Wiltshire This is a list of the Sheriffs and (after 1 April 1974) High Sheriffs of Wiltshire. Until the 14th century, the shrievalty was held ''ex officio'' by the castellans of Old Sarum Castle. On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Go ...

in 1857, a notable art collector (see The Morrison Triptych), the father of

Hugh Hugh may refer to: *Hugh (given name) Noblemen and clergy French * Hugh the Great (died 956), Duke of the Franks * Hugh Magnus of France (1007–1025), co-King of France under his father, Robert II * Hugh, Duke of Alsace (died 895), modern-day ...

and Major James Archibald Morrison of Fonthill and Basildon; Charles of Basildon Park and Islay; Frank of Hole Park, Kent, and Strathraich, Ross; and

Walter Morrison Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...

of Malham Tarn , Yorkshire.

Career

Morrison began his career working in a London warehouse. Effort eventually secured him a partnership in the general drapery business in

Fore Street, London Fore Street is a street in the City of London near the Barbican Centre. It runs from Wood Street to Fore Street Avenue and is joined by Moor Lane on its north side. The street was extensively damaged by Nazi bombing during World War II an ...

of Joseph Todd, whose daughter he married. The firm became known as Morrison, Dillon & Co, and later was converted into the Fore Street Limited Liability Company. 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 in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

, Kent,

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, and

Islay Islay ( ; gd, Ìle, sco, Ila) is the southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Known as "The Queen of the Hebrides", it lies in Argyll just south west of Jura, Scotland, Jura and around north of the Northern Irish coast. The isl ...

Argyllshire Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

, an island he purchased for nearly £½m in 1854. In his ''Life and Correspondence'',

Robert Southey Robert Southey ( or ; 12 August 1774 – 21 March 1843) was an English poet of the Romantic school, and Poet Laureate from 1813 until his death. Like the other Lake Poets, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Southey began as a ra ...

records how he saw Morrison at Keswick in September 1823. He was then worth some £150,000 and was on his way to

New Lanark New Lanark is a village on the River Clyde, approximately 1.4 miles (2.2 kilometres) from Lanark, in Lanarkshire, and some southeast of Glasgow, Scotland. It was founded in 1785 and opened in 1786 by David Dale, who built cotton mills and housi ...

on the Clyde. He intended investing £5,000 in

Robert Owen Robert Owen (; 14 May 1771 – 17 November 1858) was a Welsh textile manufacturer, philanthropist and social reformer, and a founder of utopian socialism and the cooperative movement. He strove to improve factory working conditions, promoted e ...

's philanthropic community "if he should find his expectations confirmed by what he sees there". From his arrival in London, Morrison was associated with the Whig Party in the city. In 1830, he entered Parliament as member for St Ives Cornwall, which he helped to partially disfranchise by voting for the

Great Reform Bill The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the 1832 Reform Act, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. IV c. 45) that introduced major changes to the electo ...

. In 1831, he secured a seat at

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

, 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 Sir Fitzroy Edward Kelly (9 October 1796 – 18 September 1880) was an English commercial lawyer, Tory politician and judge. He was the last Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer Background and education Kelly was born in London, the son of Rob ...

and

Robert Adam Dundas Robert Adam Nisbet-Hamilton PC, FRS, JP (1804 – 9 June 1877), known as Robert Dundas until 1835 and as Robert Christopher between 1835 and 1855, was a British Conservative Party politician. He served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lanca ...

, the members, were unseated and Morrison, with

Rigby Wason (Peter) Rigby Wason (1797 – 24 July 1875) was a Scottish barrister and farmer, and a Whig politician. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Ipswich in Suffolk from 1831 until his defeat at the 1835 general election. However, the election was ...

, 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 the Inverness Burghs and was again returned unopposed in the general election of 1841 but, on the dissolution of 1847, in poor health, he finally retired. 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. An entirely self-educated man, Morrison built up a large library. He was likewise collected pictures by the

Old Master In art history, "Old Master" (or "old master")Old Masters De ...

s, Italian and Dutch, together with the English school of painters. It was a "collection of a very high class". Morrison housed his collection in his London house in

Harley Street Harley Street is a street in Marylebone, Central London, which has, since the 19th century housed a large number of private specialists in medicine and surgery. It was named after Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer.< ...

, and at Basildon Park in Berkshire which, by 1842, had completely replaced the Pavilion at Fonthill (Wiltshire) as his favoured country estate. It included works by

Constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

Da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...

, Hogarth, Holbein,

Poussin Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was the leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythological subjects painted for ...

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consid ...

Reynolds Reynolds may refer to: Places Australia *Hundred of Reynolds, a cadastral unit in South Australia *Hundred of Reynolds (Northern Territory), a cadastral unit in the Northern Territory of Australia United States * Reynolds, Mendocino County, Calif ...

, Rubens, Titian, Turner, Cuyp, Jan Steen, Murillo and Van Dyck.

Notes

References

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Morrison, James 1789 births 1857 deaths People from Basildon, Berkshire People from Test Valley People from Wiltshire English businesspeople Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Ipswich Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for St Ives Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Highland constituencies Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies Whig (British political party) MPs for Scottish constituencies UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs 1831–1832 UK MPs 1832–1835 UK MPs 1841–1847 British landowners

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

19th-century British businesspeople

Upbringing and family

Career

Notes

References

Further reading

External links