Basic Biographical Details Name: | Talwin Morris | Designation: | | Born: | 14 June 1865 | Died: | 29 March 1911 | Bio Notes: | Talwin Morris was born in Winchester on 14 June 1865, the son of Thomas Morris, auctioneer, and his wife Harriet who died at his birth. As his father died a few years later he was brought up by his father's spinster sister, Emily Morris. He was educated at Lancing College and articled to an uncle Joseph Morris of Reading (Thomas Morris is also described as an architect on his son's death certificate). He completed his articles and obtained an assistant's post in London with James Martin Brooks, son of the church architect James Brooks. There his main interest became graphic design. In 1891 a downturn in business resulted in him leaving to take up the post of sub-art editor for the journal 'Black and White' under M H Spielman. He moved to Glasgow as art director for Blackie & Co's publishing house in May 1893.
Morris's main business was bookbindings and graphics but he made avant-garde Glasgow-style designs for furniture, stained glass, metalwork jewellery and just occasionally interior work, mainly at his own houses at Bowling, that at Dunglass Castle being illustrated in 'The Studio' in 1897. His work was exhibited at Budapest and Turin in 1902.
Morris married Alice Marsh in 1892. He died suddenly of a cardiac embolism at Torwood, Bowling on 29 March 1911. His death was reported by his near neighbour and closest friend Charles Macdonald, the lawyer brother-in-law of Charles Rennie Mackintosh; Macdonald had bought Dunglass Castle from him in July 1899. His gravestone at Dumbarton cemetery was designed by Mackintosh.
After Morris's death Alice Morris returned to England. In the 1940s she was living at Greenhays, Braunton, North Devon. | Private and Business AddressesThe following private or business addresses are associated with this : | | Address | Type | Date from | Date to | Notes | | England | Private | 1865 | 1893 | | | Field Court, Gray's Inn, London, England | Business | 1892 | 1893 | | | Glasgow, Scotland | Business | 1893 | | | | Dunglass Castle, Bowling, Dunbartonshire, Scotland | Business | 1893 | 1899 | | | Torwood, Bowling, Dunbartonshire, Scotland | Private | 1899 | 1911 | |
Buildings and DesignsThis was involved with the following buildings or structures from the date specified (click on an item to view details): | | Date started | Building name | Town, district or village | Island | City or county | Country | Notes | | | Glagsow Necropolis, Blackie Monument | | | Glasgow | Scotland | | | After 1893 | Dunglass Castle | Bowling (near) | | Dunbartonshire | Scotland | Porch connecting entrance doorway to east wing and mural within |
ReferencesBibliographic ReferencesThe following books contain references to this : | | Author(s) | Date | Title | Part | Publisher | Notes | | Crawford, Alan | 1995 | Charles Rennie Mackintosh | | London: Thames and Hudson | | | Howarth, Thomas | 1977 | Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Modern Movement | Second Edition | London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd | | | Neat, Timothy and McDermott, Gillian | 2002 | Closing the Circle: Thomas Howarth and the Modern Movement | | Aberdour: Inyx Publishing | Letters of Alice Talwin Morris to Thomas Howarth, October 1944 and May 1948, pp145-151 | | Robertson, Pamela and Johnston, J Stewart | 1996 | Charles Rennie Mackintosh | exhibition catalogue | Glasgow: Glasgow Museums | | | Stark, David | 2004 | Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Co., 1854 to 2004 | | Glasgow: Stenlake Publishing Ltd | |
Archive ReferencesThe following archives hold material relating to this : | | Source | Archive Name | Source Catalogue No. | Notes | | Professor David M Walker personal archive | Professor David M Walker, notes and collection of archive material | | Information on death from Iain Paterson |
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