Architects

Name:

Roger Morris

Designation :

Architect

Date of Birth:

Exact Date

Exact DOB:

19/04/1695

Year of Birth :

Circa Year of Birth :

Date of Birth Before (Year):

Date of Birth After (Year):

DOB (1st 'Or' Year):

DOB (2nd 'Or' Year):

Date of Death:

Exact Date

Exact DOD:

31/01/1749

Year of Death:

Circa Year of Death:

Date of Death Before (Year):

Date of Death After (Year):

DOD (1st 'Or' Year):

DOD (2nd 'Or' Year):

Town of Birth :

Bio Notes :

Roger Morris was born in London on 19 April 1695, the son of Owen Morris. He is said to have been involved as a foreman bricklayer in the building of Hanover and Grosvenor Squares. The first record of his work as a builder was in 1724 when he took the lease of a plot of land on the Harley estate in Oxford Street and built a house for himself. He still described himself as a bricklayer at that date. By 1730 when he built a larger house for himself in Green Street he was described by the rate collector as a ‘gentleman’. He was later involved in speculative building developments in Argyll Street, London in 1736 and on the approaches to Westminster Bridge, London in 1740-42.

Morris’s career was inextricably linked to two architects, Colen Campbell and Henry Herbert, the ‘Earl Architect’ of Pembroke. Morris may be responsible for drawings of Goodwood House published by Campbell in ‘Vitruvius Britannicus’. Morris also made a variant drawing of Campbell’s design for Pembroke House, Whitehall and acted on Campbell’s behalf regarding the building of the stables at Studley Royal shortly before Campbell’s death. About this time Campbell was critical of two drawings by Morris describing them as ‘very ugly’ and ordered him to correct a third drawing. It appears therefore the Morris acted as Campbell’s assistant at some points.

It may have been through Campbell that Morris met the future Earl of Pembroke. He collaborated with the Earl on various projects including Marble hill, Wimbledon House and the Palladian bridge at Wilton. The earl valued his services highly and presented him with a silver cup in 1734 with an inscription added by Morris indicating he was much in the Earl’s debt. Because of the connections to Campbell and the Earl of Pembroke, Morris was able to attract a wide range of clients. He was known for the accuracy of his estimates. Between June 1731 and sometime in 1732 he made a foreign tour and from a drawing by him of Palladio’s house in Vicenza, we can conclude that he spent time in Italy.

In 1727 he had secured the newly created post of Clerk of Works at Richmond New Park Lodge and in 1734 he was appointed Master Carpenter to the Office or Ordnance. This he probably owed to the 2nd Duke of Argyll who was Master-General of the Ordnance from 1725-40. Morris had recently undertaken the enlargement of Adderbury House for the Duke. The latter appointment was highly remunerative. At the time of his death he was also Surveyor to the Mint, an appointment he may have owed to Sir Andrew Fountaine, Warden of the Mint since 1727.

Although he had a close association with Colen Campbell and the Earl of Pembroke he was not always an orthodox Palladian. Marble Hill and the White Lodge at Richmond were Palladian but elsewhere his style was individualistic – for example at Combe Bank and at Whitton Place – and used features such as pyramidal roofs, ‘oeil-de-boeuf’ windows, and distinctive porches. Some elements he borrowed from Vanbrugh (in the arcaded wings at Adderbury) and from Inigo Jones (the Tuscan porch at Althorp derived from Jones’ St Paul’s Convent Garden). His two castellated houses, Clearwell (c.1728) and Inveraray (1745) are remarkable. Clearwell is unique for its simple massing of genuine medieval domestic architecture. Inveraray was symmetrical and spawned a vast number of Georgian castles. It may be related to a sketch which Vanbrugh made for Inveraray. Morris was a significant player the history of neo-medieval architecture in Britain.

Morris married twice: first to Mary who died in 1729 by whom he had two sons and then to Elizabeth Jackson in 1731, daughter of Sir Philip Jackson of Richmond, Surrey, by whom he had one son and four daughters. His eldest son succeeded him in the post of Master Carpenter to the Ordnance and lived as a gentleman in Surrey. His daughters all married well.

Morris died on 31 January 1749.

Bio Notes continued...

Additional Notes

The following private or business addresses are associated with this person:

Private Addresses2 classic

Address	Class	Date From Char	Date From Type	Date To Char	Date To Type	Notes
Oxford Street London England	Private
Green Street London England	Private

row(s) 1 - 2 of 2

This person was involved with the following buildings or structures from the date specified (click on an item to view details):

Buildings and Designs2 classic

Building Name	Date Started	Town, District or Village	City or County	Country	Notes
Blair Castle, Coach-house and stable	In year 1742	Blair Atholl	Perthshire	Scotland	Designs drawn up
Blair Castle	In year 1742	Blair Atholl	Perthshire	Scotland	Drew up plans for coach-house and stable
Rosneath Castle	In year 1744		Dunbartonshire	Scotland	Drawings probably by Morris dated 1744, 1747 - for remodelling
Inveraray Castle	In year 1745	Inveraray	Argyll	Scotland
Inveraray Castle Estate, Garron Bridge	In year 1747		Argyll	Scotland
Glamis Castle	c. 1747		Angus	Scotland	Monumental stables and offices - possibly by Morris

row(s) 1 - 6 of 6

The following books contain references to this person:

Bib ref classic

Author	Title	Date	Publisher	Part	Notes
Parissien, Steven	The Careers of Roger and Robert Morris	1989	D.Phil thesis, Oxford (unpulished)
Draper, Marie P G	Marble Hill House	1970			pp17-19
Hogg, F G	The Royal Arsenal	1963			volume i, p285
Survey of London	Survey of London				xxxi, p284, 290
Burke	Burke\'s Landed Gentry of Great Britain: the Kingdom of Scotland	2001		19th edition	Entries under 'Morris of York' or 'Morris of Netherby'

row(s) 1 - 5 of 5

The following periodicals contain references to this person:

Period ref classic

Periodical Name	Date Circ	Edition	Notes
Builder	1875	xxxiii	pp881-2
Country Life	1944/03/24
Country Life	1944/02/25
Country Life	1944/03/17
Country Life	1944/04/07
Burlington Magazine	1969	xxxi	pp189-190 Article by G L M Goodfellow

row(s) 1 - 6 of 6

The following archives hold material relating to this person:

Arc ref classic

Archive Name	Source	Source Cat No	Building Id	Item Name	Notes
Wills	PRO	201483		49, Lisle

row(s) 1 - 1 of 1

Basic Biographic Details

Addresses

Private Addresses

Private Addresses2 classic

Buildings and Designs

Buildings and Designs2 classic

References

Bibliographic References

Bib ref classic

Periodical References

Period ref classic

Archive References

Arc ref classic