James Morrison (1859 – 1963), first Provost of Stevenston
James Morrison was born 9th July 1859, 11pm, at 444 Argyle Street, Glasgow, the first of six sons born to parents James Morrison, a Master Baker, and his second wife Elizabeth Hill Sharp. His siblings were Robert Buchanan, born 3rd July 1861; William, born 10th April 1863; William Sharpe, born 7th September 1864; John Sloan, born 8th December 1866 and George Sharpe, born 2nd June 1869 posthumously.
James Morrison and Elizabeth Sharp were married on 20th October 1857 at Napier Place, Glasgow, the bride’s home, by Rev. Thomas Laurie, Minister of the United Presbyterian Church. Both James and Elizabeth were previously married.
The 1861 census reveals that James and Elizabeth Morrison with their one-year-old son James and James’s daughter Susanna from his previous marriage were living at 448 Argyle Street, Glasgow. Also living with them on the night of the census was Elizabeth Caldwell, a domestic servant. The 1861 census revealed that James Morrison, Senior, was employed as a baker and employed three men and a boy in his shop.
Sadly 1863 was a tragic year for the Morrison family with the death of their sons Robert Buchanan aged two and William who died in infancy.
James Morrison, Senior, died 13th December 1868 at 448 Argyll Street, Glasgow. His wife Elizabeth gave birth to their sixth son George, the following year. On 2nd September 1873 she married Alexander Wilson. The following year they had a daughter Elizabeth Hill Wilson, born 17 April 1874 in Glasgow.
In 1870 James left school to start his apprenticeship as a baker, after which he was employed as a foreman in a bakery in Glasgow city. He moved to Stevenston in 1883 as foreman to baker John Dickie in Fullarton Place, and soon afterwards they formed a joint partnership. In 1885 he became the sole owner of the bakery which he and his sons grew until it became well known throughout Ayrshire. J. Morrison’s & Sons, Bakers, remained an independent family business until 1958 when it was sold to Spillers.
From 1919 to 1920 James was President of the Scottish Master Bakers’ Association and in 1921 was appointed to the post of Convener of the Baker’s Benevolent Fund Committee which he held for over 40 years.
James Morrison began his civic work in 1903 when he was elected on to the Stevenston School Board. In December 1916 he was elected chairman and was instrumental in the building of the Stevenston Higher Grade School. He served on Stevenston District Council for 15 years, was a member of the Parochial Council and the Education Committee and was also a member of the Irvine and District Water Council, in which he served as Convener of the Nobel Supplies Committee and was the first Stevenston man to be elected chairman.
He was a founding member of the Stevenston Nursing Association and the Ambulance Association and was heavily involved in the fundraising and installation of the Stevenston War Memorial for which services he was presented with an oil portrait of himself in 1947, which was hung in the Burgh Chambers. James had previously been presented with two portraits, the first in 1935 by the War Memorial Institute and the second in 1936 by Livingstone Church.
In 1903 James Morrison, along with solicitor James Campbell and a committee of men began the fight to have Stevenston raised to Burgh Status, which was granted in 1952, by which time James was the only living member of the original committee. Aged 92, he was elected as a town Councillor and as Stevenston’s first Provost. His first public duty for the newly formed Stevenston Town Council was to open the Barony Church garden fete which took place on Mr Morrison’s 93rd birthday. He held the office of Provost for three years.
At the age of 97, ex-Provost Morrison was presented to Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh during their first visit to Ayrshire in June 1956.
In February 1962 ex-Provost Morrison, then aged102, was appointed “Admiral of the Great Navy of the State of Nebraska” and in February 1963 he was made honorary president of the Bute and North Ayrshire Liberal Association.
James and Mary Dick were married on 17th June 1884 at Townhead Street, Stevenston, by Rev. Joseph Forrest, minister of the Free Church of Scotland. They had five children: Jeanie Jack, born 1885 Glasgow; Elizabeth Sharp (Lily), born 1887 Stevenston; James, born 1889 Stevenston; Robert Skeoch, born 1892 Stevenston and Mary Jack, born 1897 Stevenston. Sadly Elizabeth Sharp (Lily) died 8th October 1893 aged 6½ and Mary Jack died in infancy.
Upon settling in Stevenston, James joined the Stevenston Free Church which was later renamed Livingstone Church in 1929. He was a member of the church for over 70 years, during which time he served as a Sunday School teacher and Superintendent, church elder, Deacon and Session Clerk. He also took an active role in Home Mission work.
On 4th July 1937 two stained glass windows were dedicated at the Livingstone Church. They were presented to the church by James Morrison in memory of his wife Mary and daughter ‘Lily’. Other items gifted to the church by Mr Morrison included a communion table inscribed with the names of church members who fell during World War One, a wall plaque to commemorate church members who fell during World War Two and a communion lectern.
In his leisure hours, James Morrison supported Glasgow Rangers and was a member of Ardeer Bowling Club, of which he was elected honorary president. He took part in the Millers of Scotland bowling competition and helped his team win the cup.
In April 1955 he attended a Billy Graham rally at Kelvin Hall, Glasgow, where he was introduced to Billy Graham. A photograph of them together can be found in the Dundee Courier, 22nd April 1955. On Saturday afternoon, 9th July 1955, on his 96th birthday, the Town Council of Stevenston honoured James with “The Freedom of the Burgh” for his lifetime of service to the people of Stevenston and presented him with a casket containing the Burgess Scroll at Ardeer Hall.
On Friday 1st June 1962, the B.B.C. Scottish Home Service radio programme “Memories are Long” aired featuring ex-Provost James Morrison being interviewed by the actor Jameson Clark.
James Morrison died Saturday 17 August 1963, 7am at Woodside, 51 High Road, Stevenston, aged 104. His funeral service was held on Tuesday 20th August at Livingstone Church, which was attended by members of Stevenston Town Council, Saltcoats Town Council, representatives of Ayrshire Constabulary, Dick Gammon, the Liberal candidate and Rev. Samuel Dempster, Clerk of the Presbytery of Ardrossan. From Livingstone Church, the mourners marched behind the hearse to New Street Cemetery where he was buried in the family plot.