Papers of Herbert Morrison, Lord Morrison of Lambeth, 1888-1965

A collection of press cuttings (1951-1964), photographs, cartoons, personal and political papers, correspondence, book reviews (1973-1975) and early drafts of his autobiography.

Herbert Morrison was born in Lambeth, London, on 3rd January, 1888. He was educated at the local elementary school and left at 14 to become an errand boy. He quickly become active in politics joining the Independent Labour Party in 1906 and then, later, the Social Democratic Federation. A founder member of the London Labour Party, Morrison became Mayor of Hackney from 1920-21. Morrison was also elected to the London County Council (LCC) in 1922 and the following year he became MP for South Hackney in the 1923 General Election. The Zinoviev scandal led to the Labour defeat of 1924 but he returned in 1929 and was appointed as Minister of Transport by Ramsay MacDonald. A mere two years later he left again but he was once again elected to the House in 1935, and it was in the interim period sitting on the London County Council that he had some of his biggest local government achievements. These included unifying the transport system and creating a 'green belt' around the suburbs. In 1940 he was appointed Minster of Supply in Churchill's wartime coalition government and then, later that year, took over as Home Secretary with responsibility for air raid precautions and organisation of the National Fire Service. After the war, Morrison was responsible for drafting Labour's manifesto which included blueprints for the nationalization and welfare programmes. 1945 also saw Morrison become deputy prime minister and leader of the House of Commons. Ill-health forced Ernest Bevin to resign in March 1951 and Morrison became Foreign Secretary, a post he held until Labour's defeat at the 1951 General Election. Morrison was due to reach the pinnacle of his political career on the retirement of Clement Attlee when it was assumed he would become Prime Minister however Attlee delayed his retirement until December 1955. The experience left him very disillusioned and he resigned his deputyship of the party. He did continue with his political career, however, and in 1959 was created a life peer. Business in the House of Lords and the post of President of the British Board of Film Censors (1960) kept him active until his death in 1965. (Source: Oxford DNB)

By boxes as follows: Autobiography; Press cuttings; Press cuttings, photographs and cartoons; Personal, political and publications; Correspondence; Book review press cuttings 1973-1975 and undated.

By prior appointment only. Application in writing (letter or email) to the Assistant Librarian (Archives). See Nuffield College Archives location page for more details.

The handlist for the Morrison collection can be found [online] Link: https://www.nuffield.ox.ac.uk/the-college/library/special-collection-and-archives/archive/

The Morrison papers were deposited in Nuffield College Library by D. Norman Chester in August 1978.