John Morrison, 1st Baron Margadale

Major John Granville Morrison, 1st Baron Margadale TD, DL (16 December 1906 25 May 1996), was a British landowner and Conservative Party politician. An MP from 1942 to 1965, he notably served as Chairman of the 1922 Committee between 1955 and 1964.

Background

Morrison was the son of Hugh Morrison and Lady Mary Leveson-Gower, daughter of the Liberal statesman Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville. James Morrison was his great-grandfather.[1] He was educated at Eton College and Magdalene College, Cambridge and served in the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry in the Second World War.

Political career

Morrison was appointed High Sheriff of Wiltshire for 1938.[2] In 1942 he was elected Member of Parliament for Salisbury,[3] a seat he held until 1965,[4] and served as Chairman of the 1922 Committee between 1955 and 1964.[5] On 1 January 1965 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Margadale, of Islay in the County of Argyll,[6] in recognition of his "political and public services".[5] From 1967 to 1975, he was President of the Wiltshire Historic Buildings Trust.[7] He was also Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire between 1969[8] and 1981. In January 1983, he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for Wiltshire, together with Mary Salisbury.[9]

Family

Lord Margadale married the Honourable Margaret Smith, daughter of William Smith, 2nd Viscount Hambleden and Lady Esther Gore, on 16 October 1928. They had one daughter and three sons, the two younger of whom became Conservative politicians:

Lady Margadale died in 1980. Lord Margadale was succeeded in the barony by his eldest son, James.[1]

References

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
James Despencer-Robertson
Member of Parliament for Salisbury
19421965
Succeeded by
Michael Hamilton
Party political offices
Preceded by
Derek Walker-Smith
Chairman of the 1922 Committee
19551964
Succeeded by
Sir William Anstruther-Gray, Bt
Honorary titles
Preceded by
The Earl of Pembroke
Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire
19691981
Succeeded by
Hugh Trefusis Brassey
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baron Margadale
19651996
Succeeded by
James Morrison