Flight Lieutenant John William Morrison, 2nd Viscount Dunrossil (22 May 1926 – 22 March 2000) was a British

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

. Lord Dunrossil was British High Commissioner to Fiji, Nauru and Tuvalu and later to Barbados. His career reached its peak when he was appointed Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Bermuda in 1983. While in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

he supported

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

during his imprisonment by helping him gain a law degree from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

Early life and education

Morrison was educated at

Fettes College Fettes College () is a co-educational private boarding and day school in Craigleith, Edinburgh, Scotland, with over two-thirds of its pupils in residence on campus. The school was originally a boarding school for boys only and became co-ed in ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

before serving in the RAF between 1945 and 1948 and reaching the rank of Flight Lieutenant. Between 1948 and 1950 he read History at

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is Colleges of the University of Oxford, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title for ...

; his course being shorter than the usual three years due to the Second World War. He became President of the Conservative Association during his time at Oxford.

Career

The early years of Morrison's diplomatic career were wide-ranging, including as Assistant Private Secretary to The Viscount Swinton and as First Secretary in

Dacca Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

(now

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

). His career would go on to focus mainly on the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

countries. In February 1961, he inherited the viscountcy of Dunrossil from his father,

William Morrison, 1st Viscount Dunrossil 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 (United Kingdom), Speaker of the House o ...

, who died in office as the Governor-General of Australia. Dunrossil was posted to South Africa, and was present during the trial of

and his sentencing to 27 years' imprisonment. He subsequently obtained study materials for Mandela in order that he might achieve a law degree from the

. His career reached its peak from 1978 onwards when he was appointed High Commissioner to

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

Nauru Nauru, officially the Republic of Nauru, formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country and microstate in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies within the Micronesia subregion of Oceania, with its nearest neighbour being Banaba (part of ...

and

Tuvalu Tuvalu ( ) is an island country in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean, about midway between Hawaii and Australia. It lies east-northeast of the Santa Cruz Islands (which belong to the Solomon Islands), northeast of Van ...

. He then became High Commissioner to

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

and the Eastern Caribbean in 1982 before being appointed Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Bermuda in 1983. His time in Bermuda was very successful mainly, as John Ure argues, due to his "genial temperament" and "social standing" meaning that he was able to settle the troubles of the region that had preceded his appointment. Lord Dunrossil was appointed a Companion of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

(CMG) in 1981 for his diplomatic service.

After Bermuda

Upon retirement in 1988, Lord Dunrossil took on several directorships and also played an active part as a cross-bench peer in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

. He left the House in 1999 as he was not one of the elected

hereditary peers The hereditary peers form part of the peerage in the United Kingdom. As of April 2025, there are 800 hereditary peers: 30 dukes (including six royal dukes), 34 marquesses, 189 earls, 108 viscounts, and 439 barons (not counting subsidiary ...

allowed to remain in the Lords. Lord Dunrossil therefore devoted himself to spending time at Dunrossil House, his ancestral home in the

Outer Hebrides The Outer Hebrides ( ) or Western Isles ( , or ), sometimes known as the Long Isle or Long Island (), is an Archipelago, island chain off the west coast of mainland Scotland. It is the longest archipelago in the British Isles. The islan ...

, becoming a Justice of the Peace (JP). He was appointed Lord Lieutenant of the Western Isles in 1993, holding this post until his death on holiday from a heart attack in

Lanzarote Lanzarote (, , ) is a Spanish island, the easternmost of the Canary Islands, off the north coast of Africa and from the Iberian Peninsula. Covering , Lanzarote is the fourth-largest of the islands in the archipelago. With 163,230 inhabi ...

in 2000.

Personal life

Lord Dunrossil married twice, firstly to Mavis Dawn Spencer-Payne on 3 July 1951. The couple had three sons and one daughter, including his heir, Andrew William Reginald Morrison, who was born in 1953. Mavis, Viscountess Dunrossil, is a governor of the Cotswold School. He divorced his first wife in 1969 and remarried the same year to Diana Mary Cunliffe Vise who became Viscountess Dunrossil upon their marriage. The couple had two children.

Arms

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dunrossil, John Morrison, 2nd Viscount 1926 births 2000 deaths People from Uist Nobility from the Outer Hebrides People educated at Fettes College Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Governors of Bermuda Scottish justices of the peace Lord-lieutenants of the Western Isles Scottish diplomats Viscounts in the Peerage of the United Kingdom High commissioners of the United Kingdom to Barbados High commissioners of the United Kingdom to Fiji High commissioners of the United Kingdom to Nauru High commissioners of the United Kingdom to Tuvalu Dunrossil