Walter Morrison (politician)

Morrison in 1895.

Walter Morrison (21 May 1836 – 18 December 1921) was an English Liberal and Liberal Unionist politician who sat in the House of Commons in three periods between 1861 and 1900. He was a major funder and the treasurer of the Palestine Exploration Fund; in later years the fund was dependent on his donations.[1][2]

Morrison was the son of James Morrison and his wife Mary Anne Todd, daughter of Joseph Todd of London. His father was of the firm of Morrison, Dillon, & Co., and was a former MP for Ipswich. He was educated at Eton College and at Balliol College, Oxford graduating BA in 1857, and MA in 1862. He was a J.P. for the West Riding of Yorkshire, and Lieutenant-colonel of the West Riding Rifle Volunteers.[3]

In 1861, Morrison was elected Member of Parliament for Plymouth. He held the seat until 1874.[4] At the 1886 general election he was elected MP for Skipton as a Liberal Unionist and held the seat until 1892. He was re-elected at Skipton in 1895 and held the seat to 1900.[5] He served as High Sheriff of Yorkshire for 1883–84.[6]

Morrison died, unmarried, at the age of 85.[7]

  1. ^ John James Moscrop (1 January 2000). Measuring Jerusalem: The Palestine Exploration Fund and British Interests in the Holy Land. A&C Black. pp. 75–. ISBN 978-0-7185-0220-1.
  2. ^ Caroline Dakers (2013) A PORTRAIT OF WALTER MORRISON (1836–1921) TREASURER OF THE PALESTINE EXPLORATION FUND FOR 54 YEARS, RADICAL REFORMER AND SECRET PHILANTHROPIST, Palestine Exploration Quarterly, 145:2, 126-142, DOI: 10.1179/0031032813Z.00000000045 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1179/0031032813Z.00000000045?journalCode=ypeq20
  3. ^ Debretts House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1870
  4. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "P" (part 2)
  5. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 3)
  6. ^ "SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE, MARCH 3, 1883". London Gazette. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  7. ^ W. M. Ormrod, University of York. Dept. of History, The lord lieutenants and high sheriffs of Yorkshire (2000), p. 191 — "Walter Morrison (1883-4) Born on 21 May 1836, Walter Morrison was the son of James Morrison and his wife, Mary (nee Smith). Inheriting from his father a significant fortune made in business during the Napoleonic Wars, Walter was educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford, before going on the Grand Tour and then entering upon a long parliamentary career. As Liberal MP for Plymouth (1861-74) and Liberal Unionist for Skipton (1886-1900), he was particularly committed to the co-operative movement. Much of his time was spent at his Malham Tarn estate where he entertained a number of notable guests, including John Ruskin, Charles Darwin and Charles Kingsley. It was there that Kingsley was inspired to write The Water Babies. Morrison died, unmarried, on 18 December 1921 and was buried at Kirkby Malham."