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 as

Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings. Systems that have such a position include: * Speaker of ...

from 1951 to 1959. He was then appointed as the 14th Governor-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 of

Torinturk Torinturk () is a village in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. Torinturk is from Tarbert. Torinturk comes from the Gaelic for the hill of the boar. This is where the last wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine ...

Argyll 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 ...

. He attended

George Watson's College George Watson's College is a co-educational independent day school in Scotland, situated on Colinton Road, in the Merchiston area of Edinburgh. It was first established as a hospital school in 1741, became a day school in 1871, and was merg ...

and then went on to the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

; his studies were interrupted by World War I, where he served with the Royal Field Artillery and won the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC ...

. Training as a lawyer, Morrison was called to the bar in 1923 and began working as a private secretary to

Thomas Inskip Thomas Walker Hobart Inskip, 1st Viscount Caldecote, (5 March 1876 – 11 October 1947) was a British politician who served in many legal posts, culminating in serving as Lord Chancellor from 1939 until 1940. Despite legal posts dominating his ...

, the Solicitor General. After several previous attempts, he was elected to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

in 1929, representing a constituency in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

for the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

. In 1936, after several years as a

junior minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry (government department), ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is desi ...

, Morrison was made

Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was a United Kingdom cabinet position, responsible for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. The post was originally named President of the Board of Agriculture and was created in 1889. ...

by Stanley Baldwin. He also served as a minister under Neville Chamberlain and

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

, including as

Minister of Food The Minister of Food Control (1916–1921) and the Minister of Food (1939–1958) were British government ministerial posts separated from that of the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Minister of Agriculture. In the Great War the Minist ...

(1939–1940),

Postmaster General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having a government official responsib ...

(1940–1943), and Minister of Town and Country Planning (1943–1945). Morrison was elevated to the speakership following the 1951 general election. He was praised for his impartiality, especially during the heated debate on the Suez Crisis, and was raised to the viscountcy when his term ended. Lord Dunrossil became governor-general in 1960, on the nomination of Robert Menzies, but served only a year before dying in office.

Early life

Morrison was born in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, 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 at

and the

. He joined the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

as an officer in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and served with an

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

regiment in France, where he won the

. In 1919 he left the Army with the rank of captain. He married Katharine Swan in 1924, with whom he had four sons.

Political career

Morrison was elected to the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for

Cirencester and Tewkesbury Cirencester and Tewkesbury was a parliamentary constituency in Gloucestershire which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created for the 1918 general election and abolish ...

in 1929. In Parliament he acquired the nickname "Shakes", from his habit of quoting from the works of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

Government minister

Morrison had a long ministerial career under four Prime Ministers (Ramsay MacDonald, Stanley Baldwin, Neville Chamberlain and

). He was: * Parliamentary Secretary to the Attorney-General 1931–35, * Financial Secretary to the Treasury 1935–36, *

1936–39, *

1939–40, * Postmaster General of the United Kingdom, Postmaster-General 1940–43 * Minister for Town and Country Planning 1943–45. Morrison was referred to in the book "Guilty Men" by Michael Foot, Frank Owen (politician), Frank Owen and Peter Howard (journalist), Peter 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. However, as noted in the diaries of Chips 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. Campaigning during the 1945 United Kingdom general election, general election of 1945, Morrison attacked Socialism and pointed out that Adolf Hitler, Hitler and Benito Mussolini, Mussolini 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 themselves National Socialism, National-Socialists. In 1947 he attacked identity 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.

Speaker of the House of Commons

In 1951, when the Conservatives returned to power, Morrison was 1951 Speaker of the British House of Commons election, elected

. He was opposed by British Labour Party, Labour MP Major James Milner, 1st Baron Milner of Leeds, James 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.

Governor-General of Australia

Morrison held the post of Speaker until 1959, when he announced that he would not be contesting 1959 United Kingdom general election, the forthcoming general election but retiring for reasons of health. As was customary for former Speakers, he was made a Viscount, taking the title Viscount Dunrossil, of Vallaquie in the Isle of North Uist and County of Inverness. Given his health, it surprised many when it was announced shortly thereafter that he had been chosen to succeed William Slim, 1st Viscount Slim, Sir William Slim as Governor-General of Australia. He was also appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) that year. By this time support for the idea of British governors-general was declining in Australia, but the Liberal Party of Australia, Liberal Prime Minister of Australia, Prime 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 since 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 a pulmonary embolism on the morning of 3 February 1961, becoming the first and only governor-general to die in office. He was granted a state funeral, and buried at St John the Baptist Church, Reid. His Official Secretary to the Governor-General of Australia, Official Secretary throughout his term was Murray Tyrrell. 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 as Governor of Bermuda. He was proud to wear his father's vice-regal hat on formal occasions on the island colony.

Honours, decorations and arms

King George V Silver Jubilee Medal ribbon

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.

Notes

External links

*
ADB Entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunrossil, William Morrison, 1st Viscount 1893 births 1961 deaths Agriculture ministers of the United Kingdom, Morrison, William Alumni of the University of Edinburgh British Army personnel of World War I English King's Counsel Chairmen of the 1922 Committee Chancellors of the Duchy of Lancaster, Morrison, William Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies, Morrison, William Conservative Party (UK) hereditary peers Governors-General of Australia Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Ministers in the Chamberlain peacetime government, 1937–1939 Ministers in the Chamberlain wartime government, 1939–1940 Ministers in the Churchill caretaker government, 1945 Ministers in the Churchill wartime government, 1940–1945 Viscounts created by Elizabeth II People educated at George Watson's College Politicians awarded knighthoods Recipients of the Military Cross Royal Artillery officers Speakers of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, Morrison, William UK MPs 1929–1931, Morrison, William UK MPs 1931–1935, Morrison, William UK MPs 1935–1945, Morrison, William UK MPs 1945–1950, Morrison, William UK MPs 1950–1951, Morrison, William UK MPs 1951–1955, Morrison, William UK MPs 1955–1959, Morrison, William UK MPs who were granted peerages United Kingdom Postmasters General, Morrison, William Viscounts in the Peerage of the United Kingdom British King's Counsel