James Morrison (British politician)
Major James Archibald Morrison DSO (18 September 1873 – 27 October 1934) was a British Conservative Party politician.
Morrison was the son of Alfred Morrison, of Fonthill House. A rower and expert shot, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 4th (Eton Volunteer) Battalion, Oxfordshire Light Infantry on 12 December 1891,[1] and transferred to the 4th Middlesex Volunteer Rifle Corps on 15 May 1895.[2] He transferred to the Grenadier Guards on 5 February 1895,[3] and subsequently fought in the Second Boer War.[4]
He was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for the Wilton division of Wiltshire at an unopposed by-election in July 1900. He was re-elected at 1900 general election, but at the 1906 election he lost his seat to the Liberal Party candidate.[5] In 1910, he inherited Basildon Park from his uncle Charles (son of James Morrison, and was elected MP for Nottingham East. He resigned the seat in 1912[5] by the procedural device of accepting the post of Steward of the Manor of Northstead.
Morrison made major improvements to the Basildon estate, building new cottages and pumping stations to supply it with water. When World War I broke out, he returned to the Grenadier Guards. Harold Macmillan served as a lieutenant under his command. Badly wounded at the Battle of the Somme, he was invalided out of the Army and turned over Basildon Park for use as a Guards' convalescent home.[4] He was awarded the DSO in 1916.[6]
Morrison sold off the Basildon estate to Sir Edward Iliffe in 1929 and died in 1934.[4]
References
- ^ "No. 26232". The London Gazette. 11 December 1891.
- ^ "No. 46224". The London Gazette. 14 May 1895.
- ^ "No. 26706". The London Gazette. 4 February 1895.
- ^ a b c "A brief history of Basildon, Berkshire". Retrieved 2008-08-26.
- ^ a b Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 418. ISBN 0-900178-27-2.
- ^ "No. 29608". The London Gazette. 2 June 1916.
External links
- 1873 births
- 1934 deaths
- British Army personnel of World War I
- British Army personnel of the Second Boer War
- Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
- Conservative MPs (UK)
- Grenadier Guards officers
- Members of the United Kingdom Parliament for English constituencies
- Old Etonians
- UK MPs 1895–1900
- UK MPs 1900–1906
- UK MPs 1910
- UK MPs 1910–1918
- People from Basildon, Berkshire
- Middlesex Rifle Volunteers officers
- Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry officers
- Conservative MP (UK), 1870s birth stubs