Alexander Morrison (3 February 1829 – 31 May 1903) was a Scottish-born educator who was the

headmaster A headmaster/headmistress, head teacher, head, school administrator, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school. Role While s ...

of the

Scotch College (Melbourne) Scotch College is a private school, private, Presbyterian Day school, day and boarding school for boys, located in Hawthorn, Victoria, Hawthorn, an inner-eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria, Austral ...

for 47 years.

Early life and education

Morrison first taught in Scottish institutions in Moray,

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, and later at the Elgin Academy, King's College, and the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

. He began teaching at Elgin Academy three years after graduating, later becoming rector of St John's Grammar School,

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for three years. During this period, enrolment at the school doubled from 194 to 397. In 1855, Morrison married Christina Fraser. The following year, after the resignation of the inaugural headmaster, Robert Lawson, Morrison accepted the position of headmaster at Scotch College. He emigrated aboard the ''Essex'' with his wife, son, and younger brother Robert (who later became vice-principal at Scotch College from 1869 to 1904). They arrived in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

on 25 July 1857, and Morrison began his duties the following month.

Career in Australia

When Morrison arrived in Melbourne, there were 56 pupils (50 day boys and six boarders) at Scotch College. By 1870, enrolment had passed 300. Following a severe illness in 1874, Morrison was granted a year's leave of absence and left to visit Europe. He was appointed to the council of the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

in 1878, and attended meetings regularly. In November 1876, Morrison moved the motion at the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

of the Presbyterian Church of Victoria that led to the founding of

Ormond College Ormond College is the largest of the residential colleges of the University of Melbourne located in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is home to around 350 undergraduates, 90 graduates and 35 professorial and academic residents. H ...

at the University of Melbourne, and he heavily influenced

Francis Ormond Francis Ormond (23 November 1827 – 5 May 1889) was a Scottish-born Australian pastoralist, member of the Parliament of Victoria and philanthropist in the areas of education and religion. Ormond is notable for founding the Working Men's Coll ...

in his endowment of the college. He worked to obtain subscriptions when the college was instituted, was elected chairman of the trustees, and presided at the opening ceremony on 18 March 1881. In his earlier years at Scotch College, Morrison taught classes in several subjects, but as the school grew, his work became largely focused on administration. The

conferred on Morrison the honorary degree of

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

in 1876. He was the author of ''A First Latin Course''.

Legacy

Morrison had a 47-year tenure at Scotch College (from 1857 until his death in 1903). In this period, the number of enrolled students grew significantly, and in 1870, a larger proportion passed university examinations than at any previous point in the college's history. He trained and encouraged Frank Shew (1851–1934), who joined the staff in 1870 and taught for 53 years. Other masters included Weigall, Alexander Sutherland, and W. F. Ingram. Morrison died from heart failure on 31 May 1903 in

. He was survived by four sons and three daughters.

References

*E. L. French,
Morrison, Alexander (1829 - 1903)
, ''

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

'', Volume 5, MUP, 1974, pp 295–297. Retrieved 2009-10-18 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Morrison, Alexander 1829 births 1903 deaths Scottish emigrants to colonial Australia Australian Presbyterians Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Australian headmasters 19th-century Australian educators Scotch College, Melbourne People educated at Elgin Academy, Moray People from Moray