The Revd William MORRISON (1831/2–1895)
His wife Mrs Magdalen MORRISON, née Wallace (1834–1916)
St Michael section: Row 51, Grave N47½
[Front, above] William Morrison M.A. 27 years Vicar of Midsomer Norton died Nov 13 1895 aged 63
Rest eternal Grant him O Lord and Light perpetual shine upon him
[Short end on left] In Peace
[Opposite side, below] Also Magdalen his wife born May 10, 1834, passed away February 12, 1916
Looking for the mercy
of our Lord Jesus Christ
William Morrison was born in Stoneleigh, Warwickshire in 1831/2 and baptised there on 12 February 1832. He was the only son of the Revd Archibald Charles Henry Morrison (born in Marylebone in 1795) and his wife Frances Mary (surname unknown). When William was born his father Curate of Stoneleigh, and at the time of the 1841 census William (9) was living at the vicarage house in Stoneleigh with his parents Archibald (47) and Frances (40) and his siblings Caroline (19), Mary (16), Frances (10), Emily (6), and Julia (1).
In 1846 William's father was presented to the rectory of Longborough with Sezincote in Gloucestershire. At the time of the 1851 census William (19) was described as a scholar at home and was living at the vicarage in Longborough with his parents and three of his sisters: Mary (26), Emily (16), and Julia (11). They had three servants (a cook, housemaid, and footman).
William was matriculated at the University of Oxford from Christ Church on 30 March 1852 when he was aged 20, and performed the duties of a servitor there from 1852 to 1855 to help pay for his education. He obtained his B.A. in 1856 and was then ordained. At the time of the 1861 census he was living in the Cloisters at Christ Church on staircase 3:3: he was then aged 29 and serving as both the Chaplain of Christ Church and the Curate of South Hinksey. He was appointed Vicar of Midsomer Norton in Somerset in 1867.
Magdalen Wallace was born in Edmonton, Middlesex on 10 May 1834, the daughter of the Revd James Lloyd Wallace and Magdalen Sharpe, who were married at All Saints' Church, Edmonton on 1 January 1828. When she was four her father was appointed Master of Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School in Sevenoaks, but he died in 1843 when he was only 39. Magdalen moved with to Brighton with her mother, who ran a small school there. At the time of the 1861 census Magdalen (26) was staying at Torquay with her mother and aunts and her sister Rose (20). By 1865 she was living at 14 The Crescent (now 27 Park Town) with her mother.
For more about her family, see the page about
her mother's grave
On 17 June 1869 at Ss Philip & James's Church, Oxford, William Morrison married Magdalen Wallace, and their marriage was announced in Jackson's Oxford Journal, requesting no cards. William continued to serve as Vicar of Midsomer Norton, but he and Magdalen Wallace are hard to find in the 1871 census.
They had just one child, whose birth was announced in Jackson's Oxford Journal:
- Ambrose Henry L. Morrison (born at the Vicarage, Midsomer Norton on 4 August 1872); died shortly after birth
At the time of the 1881 census William (49) and Magdalen (46) were living at the Vicarage in Midsomer Norton, Somerset with three servants (a cook, housemaid, and gardener).
The situation was unchanged in 1891, but within a few years they had retired to Oxford. They lived at 8 Winchester Road, and William Morrison died there in 1895:
† William Morrison died at 8 Winchester Road at the age of 63 on 13 November 1895 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 15 November (burial recorded in the parish register of St Michael's Church).
Several people from other parishes were buried in the St Michael section of the cemetery around this time, and it can only be assumed that that church was selling plots to people from other parishes.
William Morrison's effects came to only £50, and his wife was his executor.
In 1911 his widow Magdalen was living alone with two servants at 8 Winchester Road. She died there in 1916:
† Mrs Magdalen Morrison née Wallace died at 8 Winchester Road at the age of 81 on 12 February 1916 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery a few days later (burial recorded in the parish register of St Michael's Church).
Her effects came to £4,265 16s. 3d., and her executor was Percy Maxwell Wallace, Esq.
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