Morris, William (1786-1860)

William Morris was the first chair of Queen's Board of Trustees (1840-1842) and a crucial figure in the university's early development.

He was born in Paisley, Scotland in 1786 and immigrated to Canada with his parents when he was 14. His father was a well-to-do Scottish manufacturer who turned import merchant in the colony.

Morris arrived in Upper Canada in 1802 After his father’s business collapsed, Mr. Morris attached himself to a pioneer settlement on the Tay River in Lanark County, which was largely populated by demobilized Scottish soldiers. He was named a Justice of the Peace in 1818.

Mr. Morris prospered in Perth as a merchant, real estate speculator, militia colonel.

In 1820, Morris became a member of the Upper Canada Parliament as a representative for Lanark. Perhaps more than anyone else at this early stage, his views shaped the university's future course.

As a Presbyterian, he resented the preferential treatment enjoyed by Anglicans. As the colony’s established religion, The Anglican Church was supported by “clergy reserves” (land set aside for sustenance) and access to King’s College in Toronto, created in 1827.

Mr. Morris became a vocal advocate of equality between Anglicans and Presbyterians. He wanted access to the clergy reserves and dreamt of the day when Upper Canada might have a Scottish-style university. Working with the Presbyterian Synod, he lobbied for an expansion of educational rights in the young colony.

Aligning himself with a group of eastern Ontario clerics and businessmen in the late 1830s, Morris spearheaded a demand for a Presbyterian theological college in Kingston. The vision was soon broadened into that of an arts and science college. After a provincial act enabled the college’s creation, Mr. Morris became the first chair of its Board of Trustees in 1840. As such, he secured the royal charter that gave life to “Queen’s College.”

He led the effort to obtain the university's Royal Charter and, wary of too much clerical influence at Queen's, ensured that it was established not as a simple Bible college, but as a true university, providing secular as well as theological training.

It was also largely thanks to his efforts that the university was named "Queen's," in honour of Queen Victoria.

Mr. Morris remained chair of the board until early 1842, not always agreeing with his clerical fellow trustees, but always wrestling with the college’s frail finances. Later in the decade, he reconnected with Queen’s as its early tentativeness was transformed into permanence.

Mr. Morris died in 1858 after a series of strokes. Morris Hall residence on campus is named in his honour.