Jump to content

The Dictionary of Australasian Biography/Morris, Edward Ellis

From Wikisource
1413865The Dictionary of Australasian Biography — Morris, Edward EllisPhilip Mennell

Morris, Edward Ellis, M.A., the son of the late John Carnac Morris, of the Madras Civil Service, and grandson of John Morris, for many years director, and for some years chairman, of the Hon. East India Company. He was born at Madras on Dec. 25th, 1843, and educated at Temple Grove, East Sheen, and at Victoria College, Jersey. He was also at Rugby under Dr. Temple, and was an exhibitioner of Lincoln College, Oxford, in 1862, second class in classics (Final school) in June 1866, and second class in law and modern history in the following November. He was assistant master of St. Peter's College, Badley, and afterwards at Haileybury, near Hertford. Between these two appointments he was for a short time at the University of Berlin. In 1871 he was elected head master of the Bedfordshire Middle-Class Public School; at Easter 1875 he became head master of the Church of England Grammar School, Melbourne; and in Jan. 1884 was appointed Professor of English, French, and German Languages and Literature at the Melbourne University, a position he still holds. Professor Morris is the projector and original editor of "Epochs of Modern History," a series of school histories published by Messrs. Longmans & Co., of London; author of "The Age of Anne" and "The Early Hanoverians" in that series, besides some small editions of English authors for school use. He was also editor of Cassell's "Picturesque Australasia." The Melbourne Shakespeare Society and the Melbourne Charity Organisation Society owe their origin to his suggestions. He married a daughter of Mr. George Higinbotham, Chief Justice of Victoria.