Jeremy Morse

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Sir
Jeremy Morse
6th Chancellor of the University of Bristol
In office
1989–2003
Preceded byDorothy Hodgkin
Succeeded byThe Baroness Hale of Richmond
Personal details
Born
Christopher Jeremy Morse

(1928-12-10)10 December 1928
London, England
Died4 February 2016(2016-02-04) (aged 87)
London, England
Spouse
Belinda Mills
(m. 1955)
Children5
Alma materNew College, Oxford

Sir Christopher Jeremy Morse KCMG (10 December 1928 – 4 February 2016) was an English banker, cruciverbalist and chess composer who was Chancellor of the University of Bristol from 1989 to 2003,[1] and was chairman of Lloyds Bank.[2]

Early life and education[edit]

Morse was born in Kensington, London, in 1928, the only son (he had a younger sister) of Francis John Morse, of Lenwade House, Norwich, and his wife, Kinbarra, daughter of barrister Edward Armfield-Marrow.[3][4] Francis John Morse, the second son of Sir George Henry Morse, a brewer and Lord Mayor of Norwich from 1922 to 1923, was from a junior branch of the landed gentry Morse family of Lound, Suffolk.[5] The family were Quakers.[4]

Morse was educated at West Downs School and Winchester College.[6] He went on to attend New College, Oxford, after completing two years of national service with the 60th Rifles in Mandatory Palestine.[4][7]

Career[edit]

A career banker, Morse began with Williams and Glyn's Bank and went on to be chairman of Lloyds Bank between 1977 and 1993; assuming the role at age 48, he was the youngest head of a clearing bank.[4] He served on the Board of the Bank of England as an executive director from 1965 to 1972, and as a non-executive from 1993 to 1997.[8] He was also the first Chairman of the International Monetary Fund's Committee of Twenty (C20).[9] In the 1975 New Year Honours, he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) "for services to the reform of the international monetary system".[10]

He had a keen interest in cryptic crosswords and was a skilful writer of clues.[4] His record of success in the clue-writing competitions of Ximenes and Azed was such that Azed's December 2008 Competition puzzle was dedicated to the occasion of his eightieth birthday.[11] He had puzzles published under the pseudonym "Esrom" (his surname in reverse).[12]

In addition to crosswords, Morse had an interest in other types of word puzzles, and was a frequent contributor to Word Ways: The Journal of Recreational Linguistics. He was also a chess writer and wrote a book called Chess Problems: Tasks and Records.[4]

Colin Dexter's fictional detective, Inspector Morse, was named after him.[13]

In 2006 Morse was awarded the title of World Federation for Chess Composition Honorary Master.

He was an honorary fellow of New College, Oxford,[14] and of All Souls College, Oxford.[15]

Personal life[edit]

In 1955, Morse married Belinda Marianne Mills, the daughter of Lt-Colonel Robert Breynton Yarnton Mills, OBE, MC, of the landed gentry Mills family of Sudgrove;[16] they had three sons and two daughters (one of whom died from leukaemia at the age of four).[4]

Morse died from complications of jaw cancer at Royal Trinity Hospice in London on 4 February 2016, at the age of 87.[4]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Bristol University – News – 2004: Chancellor". Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  2. ^ "UK – England – Bristol/Somerset – New university chancellor nominated". 23 May 2003. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  3. ^ "ComposersNamesInVariousAlphabetsM PCCC website". Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 24 August 2007.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Barber, Michael (2020). "Morse, Sir (Christopher) Jeremy (1928–2016), banker". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.111069. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  5. ^ Burke's Landed Gentry, 18th edition, vol. 1, ed. Peter Townend, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1965, p. 511
  6. ^ "Sir Jeremy Morse received Ad Portas". Winchester College. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  7. ^ Burke's Landed Gentry, 18th edition, vol. 1, ed. Peter Townend, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1965, p. 511
  8. ^ Bank of England News release retrieved 19 March 2009
  9. ^ Toniolo, Gianni; Clement, Piet (16 May 2005). Central Bank Cooperation at the Bank for International Settlements, 1930–1973. ISBN 9780521845519. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  10. ^ "No. 46444". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1974. p. 3.
  11. ^ For CJM at 80
  12. ^ "Listener" Crossword Setters Dinner 1993
  13. ^ "Sir Jeremy Morse, banker – obituary". The Daily Telegraph. 4 February 2016. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
  14. ^ "Emeritus, Honorary and Wykeham Fellows". Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  15. ^ List of Honorary Fellows of All Souls
  16. ^ Burke's Landed Gentry, 18th edition, vol. 1, ed. Peter Townend, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1965, p. 511

External links[edit]

Academic offices
Preceded by Chancellor of the University of Bristol
1989–2003
Succeeded by