William Morrison, 1st Viscount Dunrossil

For other people named William Morrison, see William Morrison (disambiguation).

The Right Honourable The Viscount Dunrossil GCMG MC KStJ PC QC


14th Governor-General of Australia
In office 2 February 1960 – 3 February 1961
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	Robert Menzies
Preceded by	Sir William Slim
Succeeded by	The Viscount De L'Isle
Speaker of the House of Commons
In office 31 October 1951 – 19 September 1959
Monarch	George VI Elizabeth II
Preceded by	Sir Douglas Clifton Brown
Succeeded by	Sir Harry Hylton-Foster
Postmaster General
In office 15 May 1940 – 1942
Monarch	George VI
Prime Minister	Winston Churchill
Preceded by	George Tryon
Succeeded by	Harry Crookshank
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
In office 29 January 1939 – 3 April 1940
Monarch	George VI
Prime Minister	Neville Chamberlain
Preceded by	The Earl Winterton
Succeeded by	George Tryon
Minister of Food
In office 4 September 1939 – 3 April 1940
Monarch	George VI
Prime Minister	Neville Chamberlain
Preceded by	Office Established Charles McCurdy as Minister of Food Control, 1921
Succeeded by	The Lord Woolton
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
In office 29 October 1936 – 29 January 1939
Monarch	Edward VIII George VI
Prime Minister	Stanley Baldwin
Preceded by	Walter Elliot
Succeeded by	Sir Reginald Dorman-Smith
Personal details
Born	William Shepherd Morrison (1893-08-10)10 August 1893 Torinturk, Argyll, United Kingdom
Died	3 February 1961(1961-02-03) (aged 67) Canberra, ACT, Australia
Resting place	St John the Baptist Church, Reid
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservative

William Shepherd Morrison, 1st Viscount Dunrossil GCMG MC KStJ PC QC (10 August 1893 – 3 February 1961) was a British Conservative politician who served as Speaker of the House of Commons and the 14th Governor-General of Australia.

Early life

Morrison was born in Scotland and educated at George Watson's College and the University of Edinburgh. He joined the British Army as an officer in the First World War and served with an artillery regiment in France, where he won the Military Cross.^[1] In 1919 he left the Army with the rank of Captain. He was elected to the House of Commons as Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Cirencester and Tewkesbury in 1929. In Parliament he acquired the nickname "Shakes", from his habit of quoting from the works of William Shakespeare.

Ministerial career

Morrison had a long ministerial career under four Prime Ministers (Ramsay MacDonald, Stanley Baldwin, Neville Chamberlain and Winston Churchill). He was:

Parliamentary Secretary to the Attorney-General 1931-35,
Financial Secretary to the Treasury 1935-36,
Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries 1936-39,
Minister of Food 1939-40,
Postmaster-General 1940-43
Minister for Town and Country Planning 1943-45.

Political life

Campaigning during the general election of 1945, Morrison attacked Socialism and contended that Hitler and 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-Socialists.^[2] 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.^[3]

In 1951, when the Conservatives returned to power, Morrison was elected Speaker of the House of Commons. He was opposed by Labour MP Major 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 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.^[4] Given his health, it surprised many when it was announced shortly thereafter that he had been chosen to succeed 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.^[5] By this time support for the idea of British governors-general was declining in Australia, but the Liberal Prime Minister, Robert Menzies, was determined to maintain the British link (and, in particular, the Scottish link).

Honours and decorations

	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG)	1959^[5]
	Military Cross (MC)	1915^[1]
	Knight of the Order of St John (KStJ)	1960^[6]
	1914-15 Star
	British War Medal
	Victory Medal
	King George V Silver Jubilee Medal	1935
	King George VI Coronation Medal	1937
	Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal	1952

End of life

Dunrossil took office on 2 February 1960. However he died suddenly in Canberra only a year later (almost to the very day), on 3 February 1961. He was buried in Canberra at historic St John the Baptist Church, Reid and remains the only Australian governor-general to die in office. His Official Secretary throughout his term was Murray Tyrrell.

The 1st Viscount was succeeded 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.

Notes

1 2 The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 29131. p. 3694. 15 April 1915. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
↑ R. B. McCallum and A. Readman, The British General Election of 1945 (Oxford, 1947), p. 144.
↑ "Identity cards in the UK - a lesson from history". Statewatch News online. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
↑ The London Gazette: no. 41867. p. 7155. 13 November 1959. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
1 2 The London Gazette: no. 41917. p. 79. 1 January 1960. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
↑ The London Gazette: no. 42108. p. 5326. 2 August 1960. Retrieved 4 October 2015.

External links

Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Viscount Dunrossil
ADB Entry

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Sir Thomas Davies	Member of Parliament for Cirencester and Tewkesbury 1929–1959	Succeeded by Nicholas Ridley
Preceded by Douglas Clifton Brown	Speaker of the House of Commons 1951–1959	Succeeded by Sir Harry Hylton-Foster
Political offices
Preceded by Alfred Duff Cooper	Financial Secretary to the Treasury 1935–1936	Succeeded by John Colville
Preceded by Walter Elliot	Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries 1936–1939	Succeeded by Sir Reginald Dorman-Smith
New title	Minister of Food 1939–1940	Succeeded by The Lord Woolton
Preceded by The Earl Winterton	Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1939–1940	Succeeded by George Tryon
Preceded by George Tryon	Postmaster General 1940–1942	Succeeded by Harry Crookshank
Government offices
Preceded by Sir William Slim	Governor-General of Australia 1960–1961	Succeeded by The Viscount De L'Isle
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation	Viscount Dunrossil 1959–1961	Succeeded by John Morrison

Speakers of the House of Commons

House of Commons
of England

14th century	Hungerford De la Mare Pickering Guildesborough Waldegrave Pickering Bussy Cheney Doreward Savage Redford

15th century	Esturmy Tiptoft Chaucer Stourton Hungerford Chaucer Redman Beauchamp Flower Hunt Chaucer Baynard Russell Walton Vernon Tyrell Alington Bowes Burley Tresham Say Popham Oldhall Thorpe Charlton Wenlock Tresham Green Strangeways Wood Catesby Lovell Mordaunt Fitzwilliam Empson Drury Englefield

16th century	Dudley Sheffield Nevill More Audley Wingfield Rich Hare Moyle Baker Dyer Pollard Broke Higham Cordell Gargrave Williams Onslow Wray Bell Popham Puckering Snagge Coke Yelverton

17th century	Croke Phelips Crewe Richardson Crewe Finch Finch Glanville Lenthall Pelham Rous (Barebones Parliament) Widdrington (2nd Protectorate Parliament) Chute (3rd Protectorate Parliament) Long (3rd Protectorate Parliament) Bampfield (3rd Protectorate Parliament) Grimston Turnour Charlton Seymour Sawyer Gregory Williams Trevor Powle Foley Littleton

18th century	Harley Smith

House of Commons
of Great Britain

18th century	Smith R. Onslow Bromley Hanmer Compton A. Onslow Cust Norton Cornwall Grenville Addington

House of Commons
of the United Kingdom

19th century	Addington Mitford Abbot Manners-Sutton Abercromby Shaw-Lefevre Denison Brand Peel Gully

20th century	Lowther Whitley FitzRoy Brown Morrison Hylton-Foster King Lloyd Thomas Weatherill Boothroyd

21st century	Martin Bercow

Governors-General of Australia

	Hopetoun Tennyson Northcote Dudley Denman Novar Forster Stonehaven Isaacs Gowrie Gloucester McKell Slim Dunrossil De L'Isle Casey Hasluck Kerr Cowen Stephen Hayden Deane Hollingworth Jeffery Bryce Cosgrove

Chairmen of the 1922 Committee

Rentoul Morrison O'Neill Erskine-Hill McEwen Gridley Walker-Smith Morrison Anstruther-Gray Harvey Legge-Bourke du Cann Onslow Fox Hamilton Spicer Brady

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