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{{Short description|Irish clergyman}} |
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{{Infobox_Person |
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{{EngvarB|date=October 2013}} |
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{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}} |
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{{Infobox person |
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| honorific_prefix = {{small|[[The Reverend]]}} |
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| name = Francis Orpen Morris |
| name = Francis Orpen Morris |
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| image = Francis Orpen Morris.jpg |
| image = Francis Orpen Morris.jpg |
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| imagesize = |
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| birth_date = {{birth date|1810|3|25|df=y}} |
| birth_date = {{birth date|1810|3|25|df=y}} |
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| birth_place = [[Cork (city)|Cork]], |
| birth_place = [[Cobh]] near [[Cork (city)|Cork]], Ireland |
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| death_date = {{death date and age|1893|2|10|1810|3|25|df=y}} |
| death_date = {{death date and age|1893|2|10|1810|3|25|df=y}} |
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| death_place = England |
| death_place = [[Nunburnholme]], England |
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| occupation = Vicar |
| occupation = Vicar |
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| known_for = [[Ornithologist]], [[entomologist]], and author |
| known_for = [[Ornithologist]], [[entomologist]], and author |
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| title = Reverend |
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| children = 3 sons and 6 daughters |
| children = 3 sons and 6 daughters |
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| spouse = Anne Sanders |
| spouse = Anne Sanders |
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| website = |
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| networth = |
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| website = |
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}} |
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'''Francis Orpen Morris''' (25 March 1810 – 10 February 1893) was an Anglo-Irish clergyman, notable as "[[parson-naturalist]]" ([[ornithologist]] and [[entomologist]]) and as the author of many children's books and books on [[natural history]] and heritage buildings. He was a pioneer of the movement to protect birds from the plume trade and was a co-founder of the [[Plumage League]]. He died on 10 February 1893 and was buried at [[Nunburnholme]], East Riding of Yorkshire, England. |
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[[Image:Francis Orpen Morris00.jpg|thumb|right|County Seats of The Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland (1870)]] |
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Rev. '''Francis Orpen Morris''' ([[25 March]] [[1810]] [[Cork (city)|Cork]] - [[10 February]] [[1893]]), Irish [[ornithologist]] and [[entomologist]], was notable as the author of many children's books and books on natural history and heritage buildings. He was the eldest son of the Royal Navy's Admiral Henry Gage Morris and Rebecca Orpen, youngest daughter of the Rev. Francis Orpen, vicar of [[Kilgarvan]], [[co. Kerry]]. Francis Orpen Morris grew up on the western shores of Ireland where he developed an enduring love of the natural world. The whole family relocated to England in 1824. After living for some time in [[Worcester]], they settled in [[Charmouth]], [[Dorset]] in 1826. |
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==Early life== |
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In his years at [[Bromsgrove School]] his love of natural history grew and he started a collection of birds and insects. After school he spent a year with a private tutor, and then enrolled at [[Worcester College]] [[Oxford]]. Here he read [[Classics]] and was awarded a BA in 1833. One of the subjects in which he chose to be examined, was [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]]'s ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Natural History]]''. During this period he met the entomologist [[James Duncan]] (1804-1861), author of ''British Butterflies''. Morris maintained his interest in natural history, and helped order the insect collection in the [[Ashmolean Museum]]. |
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Morris was the eldest son of [[Rear admiral (Royal Navy)|Rear Admiral]] Henry Gage Morris, a senior-ranking officer in the [[Royal Navy]], and Rebecca Orpen, youngest daughter of the Rev. Francis Orpen, vicar of [[Kilgarvan]], [[County Kerry]]. Francis Orpen Morris grew up on the western shores of Ireland where he developed an enduring love of the natural world. The whole family relocated to England in 1824. After living for some time in [[Worcester, England|Worcester]], they settled in [[Charmouth]], Dorset in 1826. |
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Francis Orpen Morris' grandfather was Colonel Roger Morris, a member of the Governor's council of New York, who married George Washington's early love interest, Mary Philipse. Mary had inherited one third of a vast estate, the Philipse Patent, 160,000 acres on the Hudson River. Roger and Mary's land was confiscated following the Revolutionary War. Later, John Jacob Astor traced the three surviving children (including Henry Gage Morris) of Roger and Mary Morris (the others had died without heirs) and bought out any claim they had to the land.<ref>William S. Pelletreau, ''History of Putnam County,New York'' 1886, Chapter XIII, "The Claim of John Jacob Astor", pages 178-201.</ref> Astor proved in court that the State had no legal right to confiscate the land in the first place. Mary had set up a trust for her unborn children two weeks before she married Roger, the Morris' had a legally binding life lease that was passed from generation to generation. Astor eventually sold it to the State of New York for a massive profit. |
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At this stage in his life he entered the Church and became curate at [[Hanging Heaton]], near [[Dewsbury]]. Then followed his ordaining as Deacon by the [[Archbishop of York]] in August 1834. |
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==Education== |
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In January of the following year he married Anne Sanders, who was the second daughter of Charles Sanders of [[Bromsgrove]], eventually raising a family of 3 sons and 6 daughters. In November 1844, he became vicar of [[Nafferton]] near [[Driffield]] in [[East Yorkshire]], a parish he served for nine years. From all accounts he was irascible by nature, impatient with conservatism and imbued with the spirit of reform - this did not endear him to many people. In 1854 he moved to the Rectory of [[Nunburnholme]], near [[Market Weighton]] in [[East Yorkshire]]. Here he had ample leisure to pursue his interests in natural history. |
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At [[Bromsgrove School]] his love of [[natural history]] grew, and he started a collection of birds and insects. He left school in 1828, spent a year with a private tutor, and enrolled at [[Worcester College]], [[Oxford]]. Here he read [[Classics]] and was awarded a BA in 1833. Among the subjects he studied was [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]]'s ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Natural History]]''. During this period he met the entomologist [[James Duncan (zoologist)|James Duncan]] (1804–1861), author of ''British Butterflies''. As a student Morris maintained his interest in natural history, and helped organise the insect collection in Oxford's [[Ashmolean Museum]]. |
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==Church== |
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During his stay at Nafferton he acquired a reputation for writing popular essays on natural history and in particular on birds. His first book was an arrangement of British birds and was published in 1834. About this time he formed a close working association with [[Benjamin Fawcett]] (1808-1893), a local printer. This relationship would last nearly 50 years and have a profound effect on British ornithology. Benjamin Fawcett was arguably the most accomplished of nineteenth century [[woodblock]] colour printers. |
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He entered the Church and was appointed as curate at [[Hanging Heaton]] near [[Dewsbury]] in 1834, before being ordained priest by the [[Archbishop of York]] in 1835. He was then curate at Taxal, Cheshire (1836), Christ Church in [[Doncaster]] (1836), and between 1837 and 1842 he was a curate at [[All Hallows' Church, Ordsall|All Hallows, Ordsall]] in [[Retford]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk/news/local-news/treason-17th-century-ordsall-vicar-1530723|title=TREASON! 17th century Ordsall vicar caught playing cards with wife had to forfeit his land|work=Lincolnshire Live|date=4 May 2018|author=James Peck}}</ref> before moving to [[Crambe, North Yorkshire]] (1842). In November 1844, he became vicar of [[Nafferton]] near [[Driffield]] in East Yorkshire, where he remained for nine years, and acted as chaplain to the Duke of Cleveland. In 1854 he moved to the Rectory of [[Nunburnholme]], near [[Market Weighton]] in East Yorkshire where he stayed until his death in 1893. Here he had ample leisure to pursue his interests in natural history.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://victorianweb.org/authors/morrisfo/bio.html|title=Francis Orpen Morris (1810-1893): A Brief Life|work=Victorian Web}}</ref> |
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==Writing== |
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Morris wrote the text for books which were financed and printed by Fawcett, and were illustrated by [[Alexander Francis Lydon]] (1836-1917). Colour printing showed an enormous improvement on the work of [[Thomas Bewick]] (1753-1828). At first wood-engraving illustrations were coloured by hand, but later a system of colouring from multiple wood blocks was used. |
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[[Image:Francis Orpen Morris00.jpg|thumb|upright|''County Seats of The Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland'' (1870)]] |
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During his stay at Nafferton, Morris acquired a reputation for writing popular essays on natural history and in particular on birds. His first book was an arrangement of British birds and was published in 1834. About this time he formed a close working association with [[Benjamin Fawcett]] (1808–1893), a local printer. This relationship would last nearly 50 years and have a profound effect on British ornithology. Benjamin Fawcett was arguably the most accomplished of nineteenth century [[woodcut|woodblock]] colour printers. |
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Morris' books were mostly published by Groombridge & Sons, of London. His first best-seller was ''A History of British Birds'' which was published from June 1850 in monthly parts over a period of some seven years. Each folio consisted of text and 4 hand-coloured plates. Initially only a thousand copies were printed, but surprising demand quickly forced Fawcett to move to larger premises at East Lodge in [[Driffield]]. ''A Natural History of the Nests and Eggs of British Birds'', ''A History of British Butterflies'' and ''A History of British Moths'' followed in rapid succession. The final work which Fawcett, Morris and Lydon would do together was ''The County Seats of the Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland''. This appeared in six volumes, each with 40 coloured plates, and text as usual by Morris. Groombridge & Sons dissolved about 1880, with neither Fawcett nor Morris having profited much financially from their collaboration. |
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[[File:Alpine Accentor Francis Orpen Morris History of British Birds 1850-1857.jpg|thumb|left|Alpine Accentor. Hand coloured, wood-block print by [[Alexander Francis Lydon]] for 'A History of British Birds' by Francis Orpen Morris. First Edition published by Groombridge & Son. London 1850–1857. Printed by Benjamin Fawcett in Driffield. From the collection held by RestoredPrints.com]] |
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Morris had deep-seated convictions on some matters: he was an anti-feminist, loathed [[fox hunting]] and any other destruction of wildlife, had an abiding abhorrence of [[evolution]] as expounded in [[Charles Darwin]]'s ''Origin of Species'' and a fervent dislike of [[Thomas Huxley]] whom he saw as an enthusiastic [[vivisectionist]]. He was an early advocate for conservation and was instrumental in founding the [[Royal Society for the Protection of Birds]]. |
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Morris wrote the text for books which were financed and printed by Fawcett, and were illustrated by [[Alexander Francis Lydon]] (1836–1917). Colour printing was a major change from the fine monochrome work of [[Thomas Bewick]] (1753–1828). At first wood-engraving illustrations were coloured by hand, but later a system of colouring from multiple wood blocks was used. |
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Francis Orpen Morris died on 10 February 1893 and was buried at [[Nunburnholme]]. Benjamin Fawcett had died three weeks earlier. |
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Morris' books were mostly published by Groombridge & Sons, of London. His first best-seller was ''A History of British Birds'' which was published from June 1850 in monthly parts over a period of some seven years. Each folio consisted of text and four hand-coloured plates. Initially only a thousand copies were printed, but surprising demand quickly forced Fawcett to move to larger premises at East Lodge in [[Driffield]]. ''A Natural History of the Nests and Eggs of British Birds'', ''A History of British Butterflies'' and ''A History of British Moths'' followed in rapid succession. The final work which Fawcett, Morris and Lydon would do together was ''The County Seats of the Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland''. This appeared in six volumes, each with 40 coloured plates, and text as usual by Morris. Groombridge & Sons dissolved about 1880, with neither Fawcett nor Morris having profited much financially from their collaboration. |
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====References==== |
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*[http://www.hull.ac.uk/oldlib/archives/paragon/1996/morris.html Biography] |
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*[http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Auk/v055n03/p0496-p0500.pdf Francis Orpen Morris: Ornithologist and Anti-Darwinist - Charles A. Kofoid] |
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==Personal life== |
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====Bibliography==== |
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In January 1835 he married Anne Sanders, who was the second daughter of Charles Sanders of [[Bromsgrove]], eventually raising a family of 3 sons and 6 daughters. His youngest child, Marmaduke Charles Frederick Morris, was an antiquarian,<ref>Morris, M.C.F, 1907, ''Nunburnholme: Its History and Antiquities'', Frowde</ref> author and Rector of Nunburnholme after his father.<ref>Papers of Rev. M.C.F. Morris and Rev. F.O. Morris, 1842-1931. Hull University Archives, Hull History Centre. GB 50 U DX21</ref> |
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*1834 Guide to an Arrangement of British Birds - 20 pp., Longmarts. |
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*1849 A Bible Natural History. Groombridge. |
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*1850 An Essay on the Eternal Duration of the Earth. 15 pp., Groombridge. |
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*1850 An Essay on Scientific Nomenclature. 10 pp., Groombridge. |
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*1850-1857. A Natural History of British Birds. 6 vols., 8vo, Groombridge. |
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*1851-53 A Natural History of the Nests and Eggs of British Birds. 3 vols., Royal 8no, Groombridge. |
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*1852 A Natural History of British Butterflies. Royal 8no, Groombridge. |
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*1856 A Book of Natural History. Groombridge. |
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*1859-70 A Natural History of British Moths. 4 vols., Royal 8no, Longmarts. |
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*1860 Anecdotes of Natural History. Longroans. |
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*1861 Records of Animal Sagacity and Character. Longroans. |
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*1865 A Catalogue of British Insects in all the Orders. 125 pp., Longmarts. |
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*1870 Dogs and their Doings. Partridge. |
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*1870 County Seats of The Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland. William Mackenzie, Ludgate Hill. |
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His sister Cornelia Morris married Abraham Bower, making their son, [[Frederick Orpen Bower]], Morris's nephew, and probably leading Bower to become a botanist.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gashe.ac.uk:443/public_docs/isaar/P0001.html|title=Bower, Frederick Orpen, 1855-1948, botanist|work=gashe.ac.uk|access-date=4 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150115060627/http://www.gashe.ac.uk:443/public_docs/isaar/P0001.html|archive-date=15 January 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> |
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====External links==== |
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*[http://www.classicnatureprints.com/pr.Morris%20Birds%202/morris.index1.html British Birds] |
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==Political and personal views== |
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From all accounts Morris was irascible by nature, impatient with conservatism and imbued with the spirit of reform – this did not endear him to many people. He was an anti-feminist, loathed [[fox hunting]] and any other destruction of wildlife, did not accept the theory of evolution, and had a fervent dislike of [[Thomas Huxley]], whom he saw as an enthusiastic [[vivisectionist]]. |
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<!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]] --> |
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{{Persondata |
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===Views on Darwinism=== |
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|NAME= Morris, Francis Orpen |
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|ALTERNATIVE NAMES= |
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Morris refused to accept the theories on [[evolution]] as expounded in [[Charles Darwin]]'s ''[[On the Origin of Species]]''. He was the author of anti-[[Darwinism|Darwinian]] pamphlets and rejected [[common descent]] and [[natural selection]], which he believed were absurd concepts unsupported by evidence.<ref>Livingstone, David N. (1997). ''Darwin's Forgotten Defenders''. Regent College Publishing. p. 131. {{ISBN|0-8028-1992-3}}</ref><ref>Armstrong, Patrick. (2000). ''The English Parson-naturalist: A Companionship Between Science and Religion''. Cromwell Press. p. 7. {{ISBN|0-85244-516-4}}</ref> Morris questioned why proponents of Darwinism were unable to answer such questions as "by what act of natural selection was the pouch of the camel formed" and "how are the electric organs in fishes accounted for by natural selection."<ref name="Lightman">Lightman, Bernard. (2007). ''Victorian Popularizers of Science: Designing Nature for New Audiences''. University of Chicago Press. pp. 43-48. {{ISBN|978-0-226-48118-0}}</ref> |
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|SHORT DESCRIPTION= Vicar, [[ornithologist]], [[entomologist]], and author |
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|DATE OF BIRTH= [[25 March]] [[1810]] |
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===Views on animals=== |
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|PLACE OF BIRTH= [[Cork (city)|Cork]], [[Ireland]] |
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|DATE OF DEATH= [[10 February]] [[1893]] |
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Morris was an advocate of [[animal welfare]] and an [[opponent of vivisection]].<ref name="Salmon 2000">Salmon, Michael A. (2000). ''The Aurelian Legacy British Butterflies and Their Collectors''. University of California Press. p. 154. {{ISBN|0-520-22963-0}}</ref> In his book ''Records of Animal Sagacity and Character'' (1861) he provided "abducent evidence" for the "mental capacities of animals furnished by their actions". He wrote that the [[Bible]] did not contradict the idea of animal immortality and argued for the possibility of a "future resurrection or restoration of the animal creation."<ref name="Lightman"/> He authored ''The Cowardly Cruelty of the Experimenter on Living Animals'' (1890) and ''A Defence of Our Dumb Companions'' (1892), which campaigned against cruelty to animals.<ref name="Salmon 2000"/> |
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|PLACE OF DEATH= England |
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}} |
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He was an early advocate for [[Wildlife conservation|conservation]], campaigning extensively and ultimately successfully for a nature conservation act.<ref name=Memoir>Morris, 1897. pp. 135–155</ref> He founded the Plumage League along with Mrs. R. Cavendish-Boyle and [[Georgina Cowper-Temple, Lady Mount Temple|Lady Mount Temple]] in December 1885 with its headquarters at Broadlands, Hampshire. It soon merged into the Selborne League in January 1886 to become the ''Selborne Society for the Preservation of Birds, Plants and Pleasant Places''. |
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Morris' conservation work was influential in the founding of the [[Association for the Protection of Sea-Birds]].<ref>Armstrong, Patrick. (2000). ''The English Parson-naturalist: A Companionship Between Science and Religion''. Cromwell Press. pp. 77-78. {{ISBN|0-85244-516-4}}</ref> |
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==Works== |
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*1834 ''Guide to an Arrangement of British Birds''. 20 pp., Longmarts. |
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*1850 ''An Essay on the Eternal Duration of the Earth''. 15 pp., London: Groombridge & Sons. |
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*1850 ''An Essay on Scientific Nomenclature''. 10 pp., London: Groombridge & Sons. |
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*1850–1857. ''A History of British Birds''. 6 volumes., 8vo, London: Groombridge & Sons. |
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*1851–53 ''A Natural History of the Nests and Eggs of British Birds''. 3 volumes., Royal 8vo, London: Groombridge & Sons. |
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*1853 [https://archive.org/details/historyofbritish00morr ''A History of British Butterflies'']. Royal 8vo, London: Groombridge & Sons. |
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*1856 ''A Book of Natural History''. London: Groombridge & Sons. |
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*1856 [https://archive.org/details/biblenaturalhist00morriala ''Bible Natural History'']. Manchester: J. Ainsworth. |
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*1859–70 ''A History of British Moths''. 4 volumes., Royal 8vo, Longmarts. |
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*1860 ''Anecdotes of Natural History''. Longroans. |
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*1861 [https://archive.org/details/recordsofanimals00morriala ''Records of Animal Sagacity and Character'']. London: Longman, Green, Lonman, & Robert. |
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*1865 ''A Catalogue of British Insects in all the Orders''. 125 pp., Longmarts. |
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*1869 ''Difficulties of Darwinism''. |
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*1870 [http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00026260/00001 ''Dogs and their Doings'']. London: S. W. Partridge & Co. |
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*1870 ''County Seats of The Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland''. 6 volumes. London: William Mackenzie, [https://archive.org/details/seriesofpictures01morr/ online at Internet Archive] |
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*1875 [https://archive.org/details/darwinallarticles00morrrich ''All the Articles of the Darwin Faith'']. |
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*1877 ''A Double Dilemma in Darwinism''. |
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*1880 ''The Darwin Craze''. |
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*1886 ''The Sparrow-Shooter''. |
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*1890 ''The Demands of Darwinism on Credulity''. London: S. W. Partridge & Co. |
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==References== |
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{{reflist}} |
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==Sources== |
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* {{cite book | author=Armstrong, Patrick | title=The English Parson-naturalist: A Companionship Between Science and Religion | year=2000 | pages=74–78 | publisher=Gracewing | isbn=978-0-85244-516-7}} |
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* {{cite ODNB|id=19304|title=Morris, Francis Orpen (1810–1893) |year=2004|last=Clark|first=John F. M.}} |
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* {{cite journal | author=Kofoid, Charles Atwood | url=http://sora.unm.edu/node/17612 | title=Francis Orpen Morris: Ornithologist and Anti-Darwinist | authorlink=Charles Atwood Kofoid | journal=The Auk | volume=55 |issue=3 | pages=496–500 |date=July 1938 | doi=10.2307/4078418| jstor=4078418 }} |
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* {{cite book | author=Morris, Marmaduke Charles Frederick | url=https://archive.org/details/francisorpenmorr00morrrich | title=Francis Orpen Morris. A Memoir | publisher=John C. Nimmo | year=1897}} |
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* {{cite book | author=Ross, Frederick | url=https://archive.org/stream/celebritiesofyor00ross#page/106/mode/1up | title=Celebrities of the Yorkshire Wolds | publisher=Trübner | year=1878 | pages=106–108}} |
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==External links== |
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* {{commons category-inline}} |
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* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Francis Orpen Morris}} |
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* [http://www.hull.ac.uk/oldlib/archives/paragon/1996/morris.html University of Hull: Biography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303204838/http://www.hull.ac.uk/oldlib/archives/paragon/1996/morris.html |date=3 March 2016 }} |
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* [http://overtown.org.uk/cw/Charles_Waterton/francis-orpen-morris.html]. |
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{{Animal welfare}} |
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{{Authority control}} |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Francis Orpen}} |
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[[Category:Irish ornithologists]] |
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[[Category:British ornithologists]] |
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[[Category:Irish entomologists]] |
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[[Category:British entomologists]] |
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[[Category:Irish writers]] |
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[[Category:British writers]] |
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[[Category:1810 births]] |
[[Category:1810 births]] |
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[[Category:1893 deaths]] |
[[Category:1893 deaths]] |
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[[Category:19th-century Irish Anglican priests]] |
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[[Category:19th-century British writers]] |
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[[Category:British Christian creationists]] |
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[[Category:Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford]] |
[[Category:Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford]] |
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[[Category:British animal welfare scholars]] |
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[[Category:British animal welfare workers]] |
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[[Category:British conservationists]] |
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[[Category:British entomologists]] |
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[[Category:British lepidopterists]] |
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[[Category:British ornithologists]] |
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[[Category:British nature writers]] |
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[[Category:Irish entomologists]] |
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[[Category:Irish ornithologists]] |
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[[Category:Irish writers]] |
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[[Category:Irish lepidopterists]] |
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[[Category:Parson-naturalists]] |
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[[Category:People educated at Bromsgrove School]] |
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[[Category:People from Cobh]] |
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[[Category:Christian clergy from County Cork]] |
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[[Category:Writers from County Cork]] |
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[[Category:Irish anti-vivisectionists]] |
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[[Category:British anti-vivisectionists]] |
Latest revision as of 21:32, 6 July 2024
Francis Orpen Morris | |
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Born | |
Died | 10 February 1893 Nunburnholme, England | (aged 82)
Occupation | Vicar |
Known for | Ornithologist, entomologist, and author |
Spouse | Anne Sanders |
Children | 3 sons and 6 daughters |
Francis Orpen Morris (25 March 1810 – 10 February 1893) was an Anglo-Irish clergyman, notable as "parson-naturalist" (ornithologist and entomologist) and as the author of many children's books and books on natural history and heritage buildings. He was a pioneer of the movement to protect birds from the plume trade and was a co-founder of the Plumage League. He died on 10 February 1893 and was buried at Nunburnholme, East Riding of Yorkshire, England.
Early life
[edit]Morris was the eldest son of Rear Admiral Henry Gage Morris, a senior-ranking officer in the Royal Navy, and Rebecca Orpen, youngest daughter of the Rev. Francis Orpen, vicar of Kilgarvan, County Kerry. Francis Orpen Morris grew up on the western shores of Ireland where he developed an enduring love of the natural world. The whole family relocated to England in 1824. After living for some time in Worcester, they settled in Charmouth, Dorset in 1826.
Francis Orpen Morris' grandfather was Colonel Roger Morris, a member of the Governor's council of New York, who married George Washington's early love interest, Mary Philipse. Mary had inherited one third of a vast estate, the Philipse Patent, 160,000 acres on the Hudson River. Roger and Mary's land was confiscated following the Revolutionary War. Later, John Jacob Astor traced the three surviving children (including Henry Gage Morris) of Roger and Mary Morris (the others had died without heirs) and bought out any claim they had to the land.[1] Astor proved in court that the State had no legal right to confiscate the land in the first place. Mary had set up a trust for her unborn children two weeks before she married Roger, the Morris' had a legally binding life lease that was passed from generation to generation. Astor eventually sold it to the State of New York for a massive profit.
Education
[edit]At Bromsgrove School his love of natural history grew, and he started a collection of birds and insects. He left school in 1828, spent a year with a private tutor, and enrolled at Worcester College, Oxford. Here he read Classics and was awarded a BA in 1833. Among the subjects he studied was Pliny's Natural History. During this period he met the entomologist James Duncan (1804–1861), author of British Butterflies. As a student Morris maintained his interest in natural history, and helped organise the insect collection in Oxford's Ashmolean Museum.
Church
[edit]He entered the Church and was appointed as curate at Hanging Heaton near Dewsbury in 1834, before being ordained priest by the Archbishop of York in 1835. He was then curate at Taxal, Cheshire (1836), Christ Church in Doncaster (1836), and between 1837 and 1842 he was a curate at All Hallows, Ordsall in Retford[2] before moving to Crambe, North Yorkshire (1842). In November 1844, he became vicar of Nafferton near Driffield in East Yorkshire, where he remained for nine years, and acted as chaplain to the Duke of Cleveland. In 1854 he moved to the Rectory of Nunburnholme, near Market Weighton in East Yorkshire where he stayed until his death in 1893. Here he had ample leisure to pursue his interests in natural history.[3]
Writing
[edit]During his stay at Nafferton, Morris acquired a reputation for writing popular essays on natural history and in particular on birds. His first book was an arrangement of British birds and was published in 1834. About this time he formed a close working association with Benjamin Fawcett (1808–1893), a local printer. This relationship would last nearly 50 years and have a profound effect on British ornithology. Benjamin Fawcett was arguably the most accomplished of nineteenth century woodblock colour printers.
Morris wrote the text for books which were financed and printed by Fawcett, and were illustrated by Alexander Francis Lydon (1836–1917). Colour printing was a major change from the fine monochrome work of Thomas Bewick (1753–1828). At first wood-engraving illustrations were coloured by hand, but later a system of colouring from multiple wood blocks was used.
Morris' books were mostly published by Groombridge & Sons, of London. His first best-seller was A History of British Birds which was published from June 1850 in monthly parts over a period of some seven years. Each folio consisted of text and four hand-coloured plates. Initially only a thousand copies were printed, but surprising demand quickly forced Fawcett to move to larger premises at East Lodge in Driffield. A Natural History of the Nests and Eggs of British Birds, A History of British Butterflies and A History of British Moths followed in rapid succession. The final work which Fawcett, Morris and Lydon would do together was The County Seats of the Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland. This appeared in six volumes, each with 40 coloured plates, and text as usual by Morris. Groombridge & Sons dissolved about 1880, with neither Fawcett nor Morris having profited much financially from their collaboration.
Personal life
[edit]In January 1835 he married Anne Sanders, who was the second daughter of Charles Sanders of Bromsgrove, eventually raising a family of 3 sons and 6 daughters. His youngest child, Marmaduke Charles Frederick Morris, was an antiquarian,[4] author and Rector of Nunburnholme after his father.[5]
His sister Cornelia Morris married Abraham Bower, making their son, Frederick Orpen Bower, Morris's nephew, and probably leading Bower to become a botanist.[6]
Political and personal views
[edit]From all accounts Morris was irascible by nature, impatient with conservatism and imbued with the spirit of reform – this did not endear him to many people. He was an anti-feminist, loathed fox hunting and any other destruction of wildlife, did not accept the theory of evolution, and had a fervent dislike of Thomas Huxley, whom he saw as an enthusiastic vivisectionist.
Views on Darwinism
[edit]Morris refused to accept the theories on evolution as expounded in Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species. He was the author of anti-Darwinian pamphlets and rejected common descent and natural selection, which he believed were absurd concepts unsupported by evidence.[7][8] Morris questioned why proponents of Darwinism were unable to answer such questions as "by what act of natural selection was the pouch of the camel formed" and "how are the electric organs in fishes accounted for by natural selection."[9]
Views on animals
[edit]Morris was an advocate of animal welfare and an opponent of vivisection.[10] In his book Records of Animal Sagacity and Character (1861) he provided "abducent evidence" for the "mental capacities of animals furnished by their actions". He wrote that the Bible did not contradict the idea of animal immortality and argued for the possibility of a "future resurrection or restoration of the animal creation."[9] He authored The Cowardly Cruelty of the Experimenter on Living Animals (1890) and A Defence of Our Dumb Companions (1892), which campaigned against cruelty to animals.[10]
He was an early advocate for conservation, campaigning extensively and ultimately successfully for a nature conservation act.[11] He founded the Plumage League along with Mrs. R. Cavendish-Boyle and Lady Mount Temple in December 1885 with its headquarters at Broadlands, Hampshire. It soon merged into the Selborne League in January 1886 to become the Selborne Society for the Preservation of Birds, Plants and Pleasant Places.
Morris' conservation work was influential in the founding of the Association for the Protection of Sea-Birds.[12]
Works
[edit]- 1834 Guide to an Arrangement of British Birds. 20 pp., Longmarts.
- 1850 An Essay on the Eternal Duration of the Earth. 15 pp., London: Groombridge & Sons.
- 1850 An Essay on Scientific Nomenclature. 10 pp., London: Groombridge & Sons.
- 1850–1857. A History of British Birds. 6 volumes., 8vo, London: Groombridge & Sons.
- 1851–53 A Natural History of the Nests and Eggs of British Birds. 3 volumes., Royal 8vo, London: Groombridge & Sons.
- 1853 A History of British Butterflies. Royal 8vo, London: Groombridge & Sons.
- 1856 A Book of Natural History. London: Groombridge & Sons.
- 1856 Bible Natural History. Manchester: J. Ainsworth.
- 1859–70 A History of British Moths. 4 volumes., Royal 8vo, Longmarts.
- 1860 Anecdotes of Natural History. Longroans.
- 1861 Records of Animal Sagacity and Character. London: Longman, Green, Lonman, & Robert.
- 1865 A Catalogue of British Insects in all the Orders. 125 pp., Longmarts.
- 1869 Difficulties of Darwinism.
- 1870 Dogs and their Doings. London: S. W. Partridge & Co.
- 1870 County Seats of The Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland. 6 volumes. London: William Mackenzie, online at Internet Archive
- 1875 All the Articles of the Darwin Faith.
- 1877 A Double Dilemma in Darwinism.
- 1880 The Darwin Craze.
- 1886 The Sparrow-Shooter.
- 1890 The Demands of Darwinism on Credulity. London: S. W. Partridge & Co.
References
[edit]- ^ William S. Pelletreau, History of Putnam County,New York 1886, Chapter XIII, "The Claim of John Jacob Astor", pages 178-201.
- ^ James Peck (4 May 2018). "TREASON! 17th century Ordsall vicar caught playing cards with wife had to forfeit his land". Lincolnshire Live.
- ^ "Francis Orpen Morris (1810-1893): A Brief Life". Victorian Web.
- ^ Morris, M.C.F, 1907, Nunburnholme: Its History and Antiquities, Frowde
- ^ Papers of Rev. M.C.F. Morris and Rev. F.O. Morris, 1842-1931. Hull University Archives, Hull History Centre. GB 50 U DX21
- ^ "Bower, Frederick Orpen, 1855-1948, botanist". gashe.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 15 January 2015. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
- ^ Livingstone, David N. (1997). Darwin's Forgotten Defenders. Regent College Publishing. p. 131. ISBN 0-8028-1992-3
- ^ Armstrong, Patrick. (2000). The English Parson-naturalist: A Companionship Between Science and Religion. Cromwell Press. p. 7. ISBN 0-85244-516-4
- ^ a b Lightman, Bernard. (2007). Victorian Popularizers of Science: Designing Nature for New Audiences. University of Chicago Press. pp. 43-48. ISBN 978-0-226-48118-0
- ^ a b Salmon, Michael A. (2000). The Aurelian Legacy British Butterflies and Their Collectors. University of California Press. p. 154. ISBN 0-520-22963-0
- ^ Morris, 1897. pp. 135–155
- ^ Armstrong, Patrick. (2000). The English Parson-naturalist: A Companionship Between Science and Religion. Cromwell Press. pp. 77-78. ISBN 0-85244-516-4
Sources
[edit]- Armstrong, Patrick (2000). The English Parson-naturalist: A Companionship Between Science and Religion. Gracewing. pp. 74–78. ISBN 978-0-85244-516-7.
- Clark, John F. M. (2004). "Morris, Francis Orpen (1810–1893)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/19304. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- Kofoid, Charles Atwood (July 1938). "Francis Orpen Morris: Ornithologist and Anti-Darwinist". The Auk. 55 (3): 496–500. doi:10.2307/4078418. JSTOR 4078418.
- Morris, Marmaduke Charles Frederick (1897). Francis Orpen Morris. A Memoir. John C. Nimmo.
- Ross, Frederick (1878). Celebrities of the Yorkshire Wolds. Trübner. pp. 106–108.
External links
[edit]- Media related to Francis Orpen Morris at Wikimedia Commons
- Works by or about Francis Orpen Morris at the Internet Archive
- University of Hull: Biography Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- [1].
- 1810 births
- 1893 deaths
- 19th-century Irish Anglican priests
- 19th-century British writers
- British Christian creationists
- Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford
- British animal welfare scholars
- British animal welfare workers
- British conservationists
- British entomologists
- British lepidopterists
- British ornithologists
- British nature writers
- Irish entomologists
- Irish ornithologists
- Irish writers
- Irish lepidopterists
- Parson-naturalists
- People educated at Bromsgrove School
- People from Cobh
- Christian clergy from County Cork
- Writers from County Cork
- Irish anti-vivisectionists
- British anti-vivisectionists