Papers of John Bowes Morrell

Letter and note concerning Rowntree Company shares, 1898, 1955; correspondence with Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree concerning Askham Bog, 1944; 2 letters to William Wallace concerning Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree, 1959, and undated; brochure, memorandum, press cutting, and other papers relating to Folk Park at Heslington Hall, 1962-1963; material relating to 90th birthday of John Bowes Morrell, comprising press cuttings and typescript notes of address by William Wallace, 1963; obituaries of John Bowes Morrell, 1963.

John Bowes (‘J.B.’) Morrell was born in 1873, the son of William Wilberforce Morrell, a bank manager in York and author of ‘The History of Selby,’ and Lydia Hutchinson, a Quaker. He attended Bootham School, a Quaker establishment, in the 1880s, and joined Rowntree’s Cocoa Works at the age of 17, going on to become the company's Finance Director by the age of 25. In 1902 he married Bertha Spence-Watson at the Friends Meeting House in Newcastle upon Tyne. They had three children.
A lifelong Liberal, Morrell was a passionate advocate of the importance of the Liberal and provincial press and of effective municipal government. In 1906 he became a director of the Joseph Rowntree Social Service Trust, which financed many Liberal newspaper and publishing companies. Morrell served on their boards, and became chairman of Westminster Press in 1933. He was also twice Lord Mayor of York and chaired the City’s finance committee for 25 years. In 1940 he published The City of our Dreams, outlining a vision of York’s future which greatly influenced post war planning.
J.B. Morrell was a leading benefactor of York. In 1938 he helped Dr John L. Kirk found the York Castle Museum on the site of the old female prison. In 1945 he co-founded the Ings Property Company Ltd, later the York Conservation Trust, with his brother Cuthbert Morrell and in 1948 he co-founded the York Civic Trust with Oliver Sheldon, Dean of York, Eric Milner White, and Noel Terry.
He was also instrumental in the movement to establish a university in York through the Civic Trust’s creation of the Academic Development Committee, succeeded in 1956 by the York Academic Trust. The Committee and Trust ran a programme of academic activities with the intention of establishing York as a candidate for a new university, including the foundation of the Borthwick Institute for Archives in St Anthony’s Hall in 1953. The Joseph Rowntree Social Service Trust, which he chaired, was the major financial sponsor of the new university and the academic activities which preceded it. In 1955 Morrell persuaded the Trust to buy Heslington Hall and its grounds and later gave them as the nucleus of the University site. The University of York opened in 1963 and the university library was named in his honour.
J.B. Morrell died 26 April 1963 at the age of 90.

Records are open to the public, subject to the overriding provisions of relevant legislation, including data protection laws.

The archive was deposited at the Borthwick Institute in 2006.

John Bowes (‘J.B.’) Morrell was born in 1873, the son of William Wilberforce Morrell, a bank manager in York and author of ‘The History of Selby,’ and Lydia Hutchinson, a Quaker. He attended Bootham School, a Quaker establishment, in the 1880s, and joined Rowntree’s Cocoa Works at the age of 17, going on to become the company's Finance Director by the age of 25. In 1902 he married Bertha Spence-Watson at the Friends Meeting House in Newcastle upon Tyne. They had three children.
A lifelong Liberal, Morrell was a passionate advocate of the importance of the Liberal and provincial press and of effective municipal government. In 1906 he became a director of the Joseph Rowntree Social Service Trust, which financed many Liberal newspaper and publishing companies. Morrell served on their boards, and became chairman of Westminster Press in 1933. He was also twice Lord Mayor of York and chaired the City’s finance committee for 25 years. In 1940 he published The City of our Dreams, outlining a vision of York’s future which greatly influenced post war planning.
J.B. Morrell was a leading benefactor of York. In 1938 he helped Dr John L. Kirk found the York Castle Museum on the site of the old female prison. In 1945 he co-founded the Ings Property Company Ltd, later the York Conservation Trust, with his brother Cuthbert Morrell and in 1948 he co-founded the York Civic Trust with Oliver Sheldon, Dean of York, Eric Milner White, and Noel Terry.
He was also instrumental in the movement to establish a university in York through the Civic Trust’s creation of the Academic Development Committee, succeeded in 1956 by the York Academic Trust. The Committee and Trust ran a programme of academic activities with the intention of establishing York as a candidate for a new university, including the foundation of the Borthwick Institute for Archives in St Anthony’s Hall in 1953. The Joseph Rowntree Social Service Trust, which he chaired, was the major financial sponsor of the new university and the academic activities which preceded it. In 1955 Morrell persuaded the Trust to buy Heslington Hall and its grounds and later gave them as the nucleus of the University site. The University of York opened in 1963 and the university library was named in his honour.
J.B. Morrell died 26 April 1963 at the age of 90.

A typescript finding aid, to file level, is available for consultation in the searchroom of the Borthwick Institute. This can be found in the catalogue entitled 'Joseph Rowntree Foundation: Materials on the Rowntree Family, Company, and Trusts.'

Created 25-09-15.

A reprographics service is available to researchers subject to the access restrictions outlined above. Copying will not be undertaken if there is any risk of damage to the document. Copies are supplied in accordance with the Borthwick Institute for Archives' terms and conditions for the supply of copies, and under provisions of any relevant copyright legislation. Permission to reproduce images of documents in the custody of the Borthwick Institute must be sought.

The archive was deposited as part of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation Historical Archive.

Further accruals are not expected.

Further records relating to John Bowes Morrell are deposited at the Borthwick Institute as part of the Rowntree Company Archive, the Research Papers of Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree, the Rowntree Family Papers, Letters and Papers found in Books in the J. B. Morrell Library and records of Askham Bog Nature Reserve. Morrell also deposited an archive of deeds and related historical papers at the Borthwick, which form Morrell Deeds.

Published

GB 193