Charles Morrison

Sir Charles Andrew Morrison (25 June 1932 – 9 May 2005) was a British landowner and Conservative Party politician. He served as member of parliament for Devizes from 1964 until 1992.

Early life Morrison was born in London, the son of John Morrison, a Wiltshire landowner and Conservative member of parliament who was later ennobled as Baron Margadale (entitling his son to the honorific "The Honourable"), and was educated at Eton. Morrison was the brother of Peter Morrison, who became member of parliament for Chester, while his sister, Dame Mary Morrison, was a Woman of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth II for over fifty years.

Morrison's great-great-grandfather James Morrison created the family's great fortune by stockpiling black crepe fabric in readiness for the mourning of King William IV in 1837, becoming known as "the richest commoner in the Empire". In the 1830s, he circumvented high tariffs on pairs of gloves by importing right-handed gloves through Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, and left-handed ones through Southampton.

After Eton and National Service in the Life Guards, Morrison went up to Cambridge for two years, but left, explaining later that "I was just wasting my time and didn't feel like a third year... But I did leave voluntarily." He then trained at the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, before starting work on managing the family estates. He entered Parliament in May 1964 at a by-election in the Devizes constituency which followed the death of Percivall Pott, holding the seat for the Conservatives against all opinion poll forecasts and against the trend in three other by-elections held on the same day. This was put down to his being well-known, popular and active in the constituency. His campaign had the support of Ian Fleming, a relation by marriage of Morrison's wife Sara, who wrote an article called To Westminster with Love beginning with the words "Charles Morrison - Licensed to Kill." The marriage ended in divorce in 1984.