James Morrison (bef. 1789 - 1857)

Born before 1789 in Middle Wallop, Hampshire, England

Husband of Mary Ann (Todd) Morrison — married 6 Aug 1814 in England

Descendants

Died 30 Oct 1857 after age 68 in Basildon Park, Berkshire, England

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Biography

Joseph Morrison, was a British millionaire businessman and Whig Member of Parliament. He was the son of Joseph Morrison, an innkeeper in Middle Wallop in Hampshire and his wife Sarah. Joseph was baptized 6 Sep 1789 in Middle Wallop, Hampshire, England.^[1]

Morrison began his career working in a London warehouse. Effort eventually secured him a partnership in the general drapery business in Fore Street, London of Joseph Todd, whose daughter, Mary Anne he married. The firm became known as Morrison, Dillon & Co, and later was converted into the Fore Street Limited Liability Company. ^[2]

His children included:

1. Alfred Morrison, of Fonthill, who was High Sheriff of Wiltshire in 1857, a notable art collector (see The Morrison Triptych), the father of Hugh and Major #James Archibald Morrison of Fonthill and Basildon
2. Charles of Basildon Park and Islay;
3. Frank of Hole Park, Kent, and Strathraich, Ross; and
4. Walter Morrison of Malham Tarn , Yorkshire.

An accomplished businessman, known in his time as the "Napoleon of shopkeepers", he was reputedly the wealthiest commoner in England at the middle of the 19th century. When he died in 1857, his estate was estimated at between £4,000,000 and £6,000,000.^[3]

Sources

1. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NTFQ-9MD : 5 February 2023), James Morrison, 1789.
2. ↑ Goodwin, Gordon (1894). "Morrison, James". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 39. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
3. ↑ The History of Parliament, entry for James Morrison.

Cited as father of Mary Morrison Glossop in University of Cambridge Alumni Database.

Jones, Charles (2004). "Morrison, James (1789–1857)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/19326. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

Dakers, Caroline (2005) James Morrison (1789–1857), 'Napoleon of Shopkeepers', Millionaire Haberdasher, Modern Entrepreneur. In: Fashion and Modernity. Berg, Oxford, pp. 17–32. ISBN 1-84520-027-6

Dakers, Caroline (2012) A Genius for Money: Business, Art and the Morrisons. Wiley. ISBN 9780300112207

Wikipedia James Morrison https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Morrison_(businessman)#CITEREFGoodwin1894