Robert Morrison, 1st Baron Morrison

Robert Craigmyle Morrison, 1st Baron Morrison (29 October 1881 – 25 December 1953) was a British Labour and Co-operative politician.[1]

The Lord Morrison
Robert Morrison in 1923
Member of Parliament
for Tottenham North
In office
1935–1945
Preceded byEdward Doran
Succeeded byWilliam Irving
Member of Parliament
for Tottenham North
In office
1922–1931
Preceded bySir William Prescott
Succeeded byEdward Doran
Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister
In office
1929–1931
Prime MinisterRamsay MacDonald
Preceded byCharles Rhys
Succeeded byFrank Markham, Ralph Glyn, John Worthington
Personal details
Born
Robert Craigmyle Morrison

(1881-10-29)29 October 1881
Aberdeen
Died25 December 1953(1953-12-25) (aged 72)
Tottenham
Political partyLabour and Co-operative
SpouseGrace Glossop (m. 1910)
Children2
OccupationSchoolmaster
Military service
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Branch/serviceBritish Army
Years of service1915–1919
RankPrivate
Battles/warsFirst World War

Born in Aberdeen, he was the son of James Morrison. He originally worked as a schoolmaster in the Middlesex suburbs of North London. He became involved in the Labour and Co-Operative movements, and in 1914 was elected to Wood Green Urban District Council. In the same year war broke out, and he served as a private in the British Army from 1915 to 1919.[1] In 1919 he returned to local politics when he was elected to Middlesex County Council.[1]

At the 1922 general election, he was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Tottenham North. He lost his seat at the 1931 general election to the Conservative Edward Doran, but was re-elected at the 1935 general election. After the 1924 general election, he served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the then Leader of the Opposition Ramsay MacDonald,[2] continuing to serve as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister after MacDonald's elevation to the Premiership.

On 15 November 1945, shortly after he had been re-elected at the 1945 general election, he was ennobled as Baron Morrison, of Tottenham in the County of Middlesex.[1][3] In 1946, Morrison was appointed as a member of the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry seeking a policy to resolve the increasing conflict between Jews and Arabs in Palestine. The committee then unanimously recommended a binational state in Palestine.[citation needed]

Morrison married Grace Glossop in 1910, and the couple had two sons. He died in a Tottenham Hospital on Christmas Day 1953, aged 72.[1] His eldest son, Dennis Morrison, inherited his title.[1]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d e f "Obituary: Lord Morrison. Long Service to the Labour Party". The Times. 28 December 1953. p. 9.
  2. ^ Rosen, Greg Serving the people: Co-operative Party history from Fred Perry to Gordon Brown, London: The Co-operative Party, 2007, p. 7
  3. ^ "No. 37354". The London Gazette. 16 November 1945. p. 5604.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Tottenham North
19221931
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Tottenham North
19351945
Succeeded by
Government offices
Preceded by Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister
1929–1931
serving alongside Lauchlan MacNeill Weir
Succeeded by
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baron Morrison
1945–1953
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Lord-in-waiting
1947–1948
Succeeded by