John Morrison, 2nd Viscount Dunrossil

Flight Lieutenant John William Morrison, 2nd Viscount Dunrossil CMG JP (22 May 1926–22 March 2000) was a diplomat and British peer. He was present in the South African courtroom when Nelson Mandela was sentenced to 27 years' imprisonment and obtained study materials for Mandela to achieve a law degree from the University of London.

Early life and education

Morrison was educated at Fettes College in Edinburgh before serving in the RAF between 1945 and 1948 and reaching the rank of Flight Lieutenant. Between 1948 and 1950 he read History at Oriel College, Oxford; his course being shorter than the usual three years due to the Second World War. He became President of the Conservative Association during his time at Oxford.

Career

The early years of Morrison's diplomatic career were wide-ranging, including as Assistant Private Secretary to The Viscount Swinton and as First Secretary in Dacca (now Pakistan). His career would go on to focus mainly on the Commonwealth countries. He inherited his father's titles in 1961 and was posted to South Africa, hence he was an observer of Nelson Mandela's trial.

His career reached its peak from 1978 onwards when he was appointed High Commissioner to Fiji, Nauru and Tuvalu. He then became High Commissioner to Barbados in 1982 before being appointed Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Bermuda in 1983. His time in Bermuda was very successful mainly, as John Ure argues, due to his "genial temperament" and "social standing" meaning that he was able to settle the troubles of the region that had preceded his appointment. [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/73798/?back=,35123] Lord Dunrossil was appointed a Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in 1981 for his diplomatic service.

After Bermuda

Upon retirement in 1988, Lord Dunrossil took on several directorships and also played an active part as a cross-bench peer in the House of Lords. He left the House in 1999 as he was not one of the elected hereditary peers allowed to remain in the Lords. Lord Dunrossil therefore devoted himself to spending time at Dunrossil House, his ancestral home in the Outer Hebrides, becoming a Justice of the Peace (JP). He was appointed Lord Lieutenant of the Western Isles in 1993, holding this post until his death in Lanzarote in 2000.

Personal life

Morrison married twice, firstly to Mavis Dawn Spencer-Payne on 3 July 1951. The couple had three sons and one daughter, including his heir Andrew William Reginald Morrison who was born in 1953.

He divorced his first wife in 1969 and remarried the same year to Diana Mary Cunliffe Vise who became Viscountess Dunrossil upon their marriage. The couple had two children.

tyles and Honours

* Mr John Morrison (1926–1959)
* The Hon. John Morrison (1959–1961)
* The Rt. Hon. The Viscount Dunrossil (1961–1981)
* The Rt. Hon. The Viscount Dunrossil CMG (1981–1993)
* The Rt. Hon. The Viscount Dunrossil CMG JP (1993–2000)

References