Jeremy Morse

Sir
Jeremy Morse
KCMG
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

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

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

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

  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. Archived from the original on 22 January 2015. 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
Academic offices
Preceded by Chancellor of the University of Bristol
1989–2003 		Succeeded by