GeneralStaats Long Morris (27 August 1728 –28 January 1800) was a British Army officer and politician who sat in the British House of Commons representing the constituency of Elgin Burghs from 1774 to 1784. He also served as governor of Quebec from 1797 until his death. Born in the colony of New York,Morris parlayed a marriage to a Scottish noblewoman into a successful career as a military officer and politician in the British Parliament.
After serving in India from 1762 to 1763 during the Seven Years' War,Morris focused his attentions on American affairs,receiving 10,000 acres (4,000ha) of land grants in Canada. Morris also began to develop a political career,entering Parliament in 1774 thanks to a friendship with the 4th Duke of Gordon. When war broke out between Britain and its North American colonies in 1776,Morris,a Loyalist,avoided service in North America.
His wife died in 1779,and Morris remarried a year later. In 1796,Morris was promoted to the rank of general,and was given the governorship of Quebec in the next year. The position was a sinecure and Morris remained in England while holding the governorship,which he continued to do until his death in office at the age of 71. After his death,Morris was buried in Westminster Abbey,one of the few Americans to be accorded such an honor.
Morris was sent by his father to study at Yale College in Connecticut alongside his brothers Richard and Lewis,entering the college in 1743 and graduating three years later in 1746.[4] The same year that he graduated,Morris' grandfather Lewis,who served as governor of New Jersey from 1738 to 1746,died. His father remarried to Sarah Gouverneur in the same year as well (Katryntje had died in 1731,when Morris was three years old).[3]
In 1749,Shirley was temporarily recalled to Great Britain,and Morris followed him there as well. While staying in Britain,Morris met and eventually married widowed Scottish noblewoman Catherine Gordon,Duchess of Gordon,the widow of Cosmo Gordon,3rd Duke of Gordon,on 25 March 1756.[5][6] As noted by British historians Lewis Namier and John Brooke,the Duchess had been searching for an eligible bachelor "for some time."[7]
At the time of their marriage,Morris was only at the rank of captain in the British Army and ten years her junior,which according to English historian Stephen Conway "raised [eyebrows] in polite society".[8] After marrying the Duchess,Morris made a brief visit to North America before returning to Britain in November 1759,settling down in his wife's personal residence of Gordon Castle and establishing himself as the consort of the Duchess.[7]
The marriage led to Morris acquiring significant political influence,rising to the rank of major two years later.[9] In 1759,the Duchess persuaded King George II to allow Morris to raise a Highland regiment in the traditional territories of the Clan Gordon,a region she was familiar with. This was done as a means of both advancing her husband's military career and countering the political influence of the Argyll family (vis-à-vis the Gordon family).[8]
Recruitment efforts for the new regiment,spurred on by the reputation of the Duchess,were so successful that within a few weeks 960 recruits had been assembled at Gordon Castle. In December 1759,the recruits marched from the castle to Aberdeen,where they were organised into the 89th Regiment of Foot. Morris,who had been promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel,was made the regiment's commander and held control over the distribution of commissions.[8] Fellow military officer Hector Munro,8th Laird of Novar served under him in the regiment at the rank of major.[10]
To the dismay of the Duchess,the regiment was ordered to sail to India as part of the Seven Years' War,embarking in November 1761.[8] Morris himself did not leave England until April 1762,when he finally travelled to India and joined his regiment,which was stationed in the Bombay Presidency.[11] The regiment was described by Scottish historian Frank Adam as "having acquitted itself in a most exemplary manner" during its existence.[12] In December 1763,Morris returned to England,and his regiment followed him in the next year,before being disbanded in 1765.[7]
After the Seven Years' War,Morris revived his interest in North American affairs,applying for land grants in East Florida,Nova Scotia and Quebec in 1765;he was granted 10,000 acres (4,000ha) in Canada in 1766. In 1768,Morris toured North America alongside his wife,visiting Pennsylvania and New York. Returning to Scotland in 1769,his friendship with the 4th Duke of Gordon helped Morris to be elected to the House of Commons,representing Elgin Burghs from 1774 to 1784.[7]
When the Revolutionary War broke out between Britain and the Patriots in 1776,Morris,a Loyalist,offered to resign,but the War Office in London instead assigned him to the British garrison on the island of Minorca "so that he would not be forced to fight on his native soil."[3][13] Morris was promoted to the rank of major-general in 1777,and made an application to command the 50th Regiment of Foot,which was unsuccessful despite being supported by incumbent Prime Minister Lord North.[7]
In the same year,Morris was appointed as the commander of the 61st Regiment of Foot. In Parliament,Morris was absent from votes on numerous proposed bills,which led King George III to instruct Jeffery Amherst,1st Baron Amherst to write to Morris insisting that he attend parliament more frequently.[7] Persuaded by Amherst,Morris increased his attendance in Parliament,becoming a strong supporter of the North ministry. In the 1780 general election,Morris successfully kept his seat.[7]
After his wife died in 1779,Morris remarried to Jane Urquhart in 1780. Morris remarrying so soon led relations between him and the 4th Duke of Gordon to quickly deteriorate,and by 1788 Morris was said to be "at variance with the Duke". Upon Sarah Gouvernour's death in 1786,Morris inherited her family estate,which had been partially damaged by British forces during the American Revolution. Expressing no interest in the property,Morris quickly sold it to his half-brother,Gouverneur.[14][7]
In 1796,Morris was promoted to the rank of general,and was appointed governor of Quebec the next year,succeeding General James Johnston.[15][16] The position was a sinecure and Morris remained in England while holding the position,which he continued to do until his death in office three years later on April 2,1800 at the age of 71.[15] The governorship of Quebec was succeeded by Major-General William Goodday Strutt.[17] Morris' corpse was eventually interred in Westminster Abbey,one of the few Americans to be accorded such an honor.[18]
Personal life,family and legacy
Morris was born into a prominent Anglo-American colonial family whose members had long been influential in the English colonization of both New York and New Jersey.[7] However,the American Revolutionary War divided the members of the Morris family,though American historian Richard Brookhiser has noted that Morris was the only member of his family to support the Loyalist cause;his brothers all supported the Patriots,with Richard resigning from his position as a judge during the American Revolution rather than continue to serve under a British colonial administration.[3]
Though his marriage to the Duchess initially proved to be controversial among British high society,according to a 1781 edition of the English Chronicle,Morris "conducted himself in this new exaltation with so much moderation,affability and friendship that the family soon forgot the degradation the Duchess had been guilty of by such a connexion [sic],and received her spouse into their perfect favour and esteem."[9] Morris was also the stepfather of infamous politician Lord George Gordon,famous for his role in initiating and leading the anti-Catholic Gordon Riots of 1780.[19]
After his father's death,Morris received half of his estate,which partially consisted of extensive landholdings in Westchester County,New York. As noted by historian William Howard Adams,his stepmother Sarah was only given a life interest in Morris' half of his father's estate due to distrust from her stepsons Lewis and Richard,who prevented her from receiving an increased share of her late husband's estate.[20] When she died in 1789,the life interest passed to Morris,who eventually sold it to Gouverneur along with the New York landholdings he had received from his father.[3]
Not soon after Morris died on 2 April 1800,his wife Jane died on 15 March 1801 at the age of 52;she was buried alongside him in Westminster Abbey. The original full-sized gravestone for the couple was replaced by a "very small and barely legible" replacement stone following the repaving of the Westminster Abbey nave in 1834 which only mentions Jane and not Morris. English historian Tony Willoughby speculates that a similar replacement stone was installed for Morris,though he also noted that as of 2018 any such stone was not present in Westminster Abbey.[21]
Related Research Articles
General John Burgoyne was a British general,dramatist and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1761 to 1792. He first saw action during the Seven Years' War when he participated in several battles,most notably during the Portugal campaign of 1762.
Gouverneur Morris was an American statesman,a Founding Father of the United States,and a signatory to the Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution. He wrote the Preamble to the United States Constitution and has been called the "Penman of the Constitution". While most Americans still thought of themselves as citizens of their respective states,Morris advanced the idea of being a citizen of a single union of states. He was also one of the most outspoken opponents of slavery among those who were present at the Constitutional Congress. He represented New York in the United States Senate from 1800 to 1803.
Sir Lewis Bernstein Namier was a British historian of Polish-Jewish background. His best-known works were The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III (1929),England in the Age of the American Revolution (1930) and the History of Parliament series he edited later in his life with John Brooke.
Lewis Morris was an American Founding Father,landowner,and developer from Morrisania,New York,presently part of Bronx County. He signed the U.S. Declaration of Independence as a delegate to the Continental Congress from New York.
General William Henry Kerr,4th Marquess of Lothian,was a Scottish nobleman,British soldier and politician,the eldest son of William Kerr,3rd Marquess of Lothian. He was styled Master of Jedburgh until 1722,Lord Jedburgh from 1722 to 1735,and Earl of Ancram from 1735 to 1767. As the Earl of Ancram,he distinguished himself during the War of the Austrian Succession.
Helen Percy,Duchess of Northumberland,was an English aristocrat and courtier.
Lewis Morris,chief justice of New York and British governor of New Jersey,was the first lord of the manor of Morrisania in New York City.
Richard Brookhiser is an American journalist,biographer and historian. He is a senior editor at National Review. He is most widely known for a series of biographies of America's founders,including Alexander Hamilton,Gouverneur Morris,and George Washington.
Simon Fraser of Lovat was a son of a notorious Jacobite clan chief,but he went on to serve with distinction in the British army. He also raised forces which served in the Seven Years' War against the French in Quebec,as well as the American War of Independence. Simon was the 19th Chief of the Clan Fraser of Lovat.
Admiral of the White Hugh Pigot,of Wychwood Forest in Oxfordshire,was a Royal Navy officer. He commanded York at the reduction of Louisbourg in June 1758 and commanded Royal William at the capture of Quebec in September 1759 during the Seven Years' War. He went on to serve as Commander-in-Chief of the Leeward Islands Station during the American Revolutionary War and then became First Naval Lord. He also served as a Member of Parliament.
Richard Valentine Morris was a United States Navy officer and politician.
Abraham Ogden was an American lawyer and politician who served as U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey from 1791 to 1798 and negotiated the Treaty of New York (1796).
Lewis Gouverneur Morris was an American maritime advocate and sheep and cattle breeder who was a member of the prominent Morris family of Morissania.
Colonel Samuel Ogden was a colonial businessman in New Jersey who had an iron works. He fought on the winning side during the American Revolutionary War. Afterward,he became a developer and land speculator for a large tract of land in upstate New York.
James Johnston was a general in the British Army.
Richard Morris was an American lawyer and politician from New York. He was chief justice of the New York Supreme Court from 1779 to 1790.
William Walton Morris Jr. was an American soldier and a career officer in the United States Army. He served as a colonel and brevet brigadier general in the Regular Army,with Union Army service during the American Civil War (1861–1865). Morris served as a brigade commander primarily in charge of the defense of Fort McHenry and Baltimore Harbor. He had several brief periods in command of VIII Corps and of the Middle Department,which almost completely overlapped with each other.
Catherine Gordon,Duchess of Gordon,was the wife of Cosmo George Gordon,3rd Duke of Gordon,and the mother of the 4th Duke. After the duke's death,she married General Staats Long Morris.
Lewis Morris Jr. was a colonial American judge,politician and vast landowner who was the 2nd Lord of the Manor of Morrisania.
Thomas Oswald,younger brother of James Oswald (younger) of Dunnikier,was a British Army officer in the 18th century,engaged in the War of the Austrian Succession and Seven Years' War.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
Great Britain 
