A photograph of Francis Orpen Morris from his biography by son Marmaduke Morris. A copy is held in East Riding Archives CH/YE/B/MOR
Birds, Books and Belfries
An East Yorkshire Parson-Naturalist.
This webpage has content from an exhibition at the Treasure House, Beverley in 2022. The exhibition was inspired by books written by Reverend Francis Orpen Morris (1810 - 1893) held in East Riding Archives. Morris combined his work for the Church of England with studying nature and campaigning for wildlife.
East Riding Museums would like to thank researcher and collector Richard Taylor for his support with this project. Images used are in the public domain unless stated otherwise.
The Parson-Naturalists
In the 1800s there was an explosion of interest in natural history. Clergymen were particularly enthusiastic in embracing the subject, leading to the name parson-naturalist. As well as being an absorbing hobby, the parson-naturalists felt studying nature was an extension of their religious work, believing God would want man to understand his creations.
Scroll through images from the exhibition
Early Days
Francis Orpen Morris was born in 1810 in County Cork. His father was stationed in Ireland as a British navy admiral and his mother was the daughter of a County Kerry vicar.
School Days
The Morrises moved to England when Francis was 14. Francis boarded at Bromsgrove School where he experimented with catching moths after lights out using a candle and string tied to a window.
Oxford
In 1829 Francis began studying classics at Worcester College in Oxford but had no passion for his subject. Son Marmaduke recalls that his father rarely looked at Greek or Latin texts after graduation, preferring to study “the book of Nature” whose “last page could never be reached”.
Inspiration at the Ashmolean
Oxford was not the ideal place for Francis to develop his interest in natural history: Marmaduke writes that “the School of Natural Sciences was not even thought of at that time”. Luckily, Francis met the keeper of the Ashmolean Museum who let him help with the insect collection – a task he had more enthusiasm for than his studies!
American Connections
Francis’ grandfather Colonel Roger Morris built Morris-Jumel Mansion in Manhattan which played an important role in the American Revolution. Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote parts of the hit musical Hamilton in the house which is now a museum.
Francis’ father gave his son a taxidermy jay when he started at Bromsgrove School. The object became a lifelong treasure.
The proper study of mankind is man: the favourite study of mankind is certainly birds, beasts, and fishes. From the introduction to A History of British Birds (1851) by Francis Orpen Morris.
An engraving of the Ashmolean Museum around the time Francis helped there. The building is today the History of Science Museum. The present Ashmolean Museum opened in 1894.
Morris-Jumel Mansion in Manhattan. Photograph - Beyond My Ken, CC BY-SA 4.0
A postcard of Beechfield House when it was a museum. Image courtesy of Heritage Doncaster.
This postcard of Sandall Beat dates from the 1910s but it was already a popular place for strolling when Morris lived in Doncaster.
A notice Francis Orpen Morris had printed in The Magazine of Natural History in 1838.
Doncaster
After Oxford, Francis Orpen Morris entered the Church of England. He was ordained in 1834 and held short posts in West Yorkshire and Cheshire.
Beechfield House
In January 1835 Morris married Anne Sanders of Bromsgrove and in October took up an assistant curate post in Doncaster. The Morrises lived at a comfortable property known as Beechfield House which would later become the first Doncaster Museum.
Around Doncaster
Morris found time to explore his natural surroundings alongside his church duties. Sandall Beat Wood, Thorne Moor, Edlington Wood and Hatfield Chase were his favourite spots for walking and collecting insect specimens.
Early Writing
Morris was a prolific essay and newspaper letter writer but was famously argumentative in his contributions. In Doncaster he wrote an essay for The Naturalist on the natural history of Hatfield Chase but after a disagreement asked The Magazine of Natural History to print a notice saying he had no further connection with “that periodical”.
A Passion for Birds
Morris was interested in all wildlife but in Doncaster his passion for birds became evident. Son Marmaduke writes that his father was excited to spot crossbills and nightingales, especially since nightingales were said to not travel so far north.
Nafferton
After Doncaster, Francis Orpen Morris held Church of England positions at Ordsall near Retford then Crambe near Malton.
An Exacting Parish
In 1844 Morris became vicar of Nafferton near Driffield. Marmaduke writes that his father found the parish “somewhat of an exacting one” believing the vicarage inadequate and church interior dreary. Nevertheless, Morris was enthusiastic in overseeing church renovations and set up a clothing club, school and library.
Surroundings
Morris took his butterfly net with him to collect specimens on visits around his parish. The St Quintin family gave him unlimited access to a private trout stream near Lowthorpe - fishing was Morris’ favourite activity on the rare few days he took off work.
Stormy Times
Marmaduke recalls that there were many disagreements between Morris and his parishioners in his ten years at Nafferton and suggests his strong-willed father could have handled some situations with more tact. The family also suffered the loss of eldest child Emily at the age of twelve.
Historic postcard of Nafferton showing All Saints church. East Riding Archives PO-1-95-3
Historic postcard of Nafferton showing All Saints church and the village pond. East Riding Archives and PO-1-95-2
Morris enjoyed trout fishing on the rare few days he took off work.
A photograph of Fawcett from Benjamin Fawcett colour printer and engraver (1925) by Marmaduke Morris. A copy is held in East Riding Archives CH-YE-B-FAW
Morris’ natural history books were all printed in small monthly parts. This monthly part is for A History of British Butterflies. Richard Taylor collection.
A page from a volume of A History of British Butterflies held in East Riding Archives CH-595
Blackcap from Natural History of the Nests and Eggs of British Birds (1851 – 1853). Various editions are held in East Riding Archives.
British Birds contained over 350 coloured plates. Colour was added to wood engravings by a team of female colourists, overseen by Fawcett. Later, multiple coloured wood blocks were used.
An illustration of Alnwick Castle from County Seats. The series was so prestigious that a book with copies of the signatures of subscribers was produced. Richard Taylor collection.
The signatures for Indian, German, Japanese and Persian civil servants and royalty who subscribed to the prestigious County Seats. Richard Taylor collection.
Books
By chance, the move to East Yorkshire brought Francis Orpen Morris into contact with Benjamin Fawcett, one of the finest printers of the Victorian era.
A Lasting Partnership
In the 1840s Morris and Fawcett began a working partnership which lasted nearly fifty years. Morris researched and wrote the text for natural history books which Fawcett financed and printed. Many were illustrated by the talented Alexander Francis Lydon who was apprenticed with Fawcett age 14.
British Birds
The first success of the partnership was A History of British Birds which took around nine years to complete. The six volumes were launched as monthly parts on 1 June 1850 and were so successful that Fawcett had to move to bigger premises. Unlike the monochrome illustrations by famous engraver Thomas Bewick the books had luxurious colour.
Butterflies and Moths
The success of British Birds was quickly followed by A History of British Butterflies then A Natural History of the Nests and Eggs of British Birds then A History of British Moths.
Other Projects
Around 1864 Fawcett, Lydon and Morris embarked on their final collaborative masterpiece The County Seats of the Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland. This extensive study of aristocratic homes was published in a number of versions over 15 years with the final six volume edition sold on a subscription only basis.
Nunburnholme
In 1854 Francis Orpen Morris moved to Nunburnholme near Pocklington to take up the post of rector at St James church.
Home of Delight
The parish was smaller than Nafferton but with a larger salary. Son Marmaduke describes the rectory as a “home of delight” with Nunburnholme Beck flowing through its beautiful gardens. Britain’s smallest bird the goldcrest nested in the yew trees. The study was filled with insect specimens, many collected and arranged by his father.
Fresh Air
Marmaduke describes his father as a man of vigour and recalls that before the railway came he would walk the fourteen miles from Nunburnholme to Driffield to meet business partner Benjamin Fawcett. He enjoyed working in the rectory gardens and won prizes at Pocklington Flower Show for his turnips, beetroot and raspberries.
Church Improvements
The always-busy Morris set out to improve St James church as soon as he arrived in the village and asked buyers of his books to donate funds. In the early 1870s Morris oversaw major renovations to a scheme drawn up by architect George Gilbert Scott. Archbishop Thomson spoke at the reopening ceremony and reassured the congregation of their multi-tasking rector’s commitment to his parishioners: his interest in the souls of those to whom he ministers is none the less that he has spared a thought for the migratory birds which sometimes pass over this part of the country - Archbishop Thomson
Britain’s smallest bird the goldcrest nested in the Nunburnholme rectory gardens.
Morris was pleased by the lack of pubs in Nunburnholme when he moved to the village.
An illustration of Nunburnholme rectory from an article about Morris in the Christian journal Good Words (1893).
This advertisement to support improvements to the church appeared in an 1855 monthly edition of A History of British Birds. Richard Taylor collection.
Rape Threshing from The Costume of Yorkshire by George Walker (1814). Morris highlighted workers’ rights in his book The Present System of hiring farm servants in the East Riding of Yorkshire, with suggestions for its improvement (1854). A copy is held in East Riding Archives YE-331-128
Finish of the 1827 Gold Cup by John Frederick Herring from the Doncaster Museum and Art Gallery collection. Image courtesy of Heritage Doncaster.
Charles Darwin introduced his revolutionary theory about evolution in his 1859 book On the Origin of Species.
Strong Opinions
Francis Orpen Morris held strong opinions on many subjects, some of which were influenced by the times he lived in.
Contradictions
Morris campaigned for animal welfare and against vivisection but was a life-long collector of animal specimens. He stood up for the employment rights of local agricultural workers but in Parliament told a female Government zoologist to go home and knit.
Gambling
As a young cleric in Doncaster, Morris gave sermons about the perils of gambling. In 1837 the Sheffield Iris reported with amusement on his letter to Doncaster Corporation suggesting that the racecourse grandstand be made into a zoo or botanical garden.
Alcohol
Marmaduke Morris recalls how his father was delighted by the lack of public houses in Nunburnholme when he moved to the village in 1854.
Darwinism
Evolution is today widely accepted but in Morris’ day it was the subject of much debate. Morris was one of most vocal of the anti-Darwin parson-naturalists. In his 1877 book All the Articles of the Darwin Faith Morris satirizes Darwin’s theories as if Darwin is himself writing: I believe that all the wisest men in the world for the six thousand years since it is commonly supposed to have been created, or six hundred thousand million years, or any number more, as I believe, have been altogether wrong, and that it has been reserved for me in this so-called nineteenth century to set them all right and lay down the law for ever - Francis Orpen Morris
Conflict
Francis Orpen Morris was passionate about animal welfare but his actions and brusk personality sometimes led to conflict.
Bird Catchers
On his way back to Nunburnholme after a long walk around his parish Morris came across a bird catcher setting up his equipment. Morris squared up to the man saying he would make sure he left “if it was til ten-o’clock at night”.
Beverley Sessions
In 1886 Morris twice gave notice that he would be attending the Quarter Sessions at Beverley Guildhall to discuss seabird shooting. Newspapers reported that he offended the magistrates by not turning up on the first occasion and on the second was so late that they had moved on to other business.
Boatmen
Morris had a reputation for being self-righteous and pompous but appears to have at times considered how his actions might impact on others. In his book The Sea-Gull Shooter which documents shooting on Yorkshire coast he writes: I should be sorry indeed if a single word in this small book should be, or even should be considered to be, of the slightest injury to any of my good friends the boatmen of the York shire coast... I am sure that the more our sea-birds are preserved the better it will be for those boatmen who may be engaged to take out the visitors at our watering-places to see that wonderful and most interesting sight, the birds in their native home - Francis Orpen Morris
A recreation of how Beverley Guildhall may have looked in Morris’ day.
Herring Gull from Morris’ A History of British Birds. Numerous volumes and editions are held in East Riding Archives
Iceland Gull from Morris’ A History of British Birds.
Ivory Gull from Morris’ A History of British Birds.
Seabird shooting can be seen in this detail of a print of Flamborough cliffs from around 1830. East Riding Museums ERYMS: 1993.183
Shooting Sea Fowl by George Morland, 1795. Image Birmingham Museums Trust.
Photograph of Henry Barnes-Lawrence U DSB/196, Hull University Archives (Hull History Centre), image used by permission of Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union.
Slaughter on the Cliffs
In the 1860s Francis Orpen Morris was alarmed by the plight of seabirds on the East Yorkshire coast.
Shooting
Seabird shooting was popular around Britain’s coastline but especially on the Yorkshire coast. One report by Commander Knocker in Land and Water magazine suggested over 232,000 birds and eggs were killed or taken in a season at Bempton and Flamborough.
Seabird Eggs
Eggs were taken for personal consumption, for city restaurants and for use in industrial processes such as leather patenting. Eggs were also taken to sell to egg collectors with some collectors even requesting eggs from a specific nest.
Reverend Henry Barnes-Lawrence
Parson-naturalist Henry Barnes-Lawrence (1815 - 1896) of Bridlington Priory was shocked by the situation in Yorkshire. He was also angry that shooting was blamed on locals and said that “cheap trippers” from out of town were involved. In 1868 he set up the Association for the Protection of Sea-Birds of which Francis Orpen Morris became a key member. The association’s archives are held at Hull History Hull Centre.
Progress
For many years Morris had worked on ideas for petitions (political papers) to protect wildlife but his constant revisions led to minimal progress. Involvement with the new association finally turned some of his ideas into action.
Sea Birds Preservation Act 1869
Campaigns against shooting and trapping were historically based on keeping wildlife alive so it could be used for sport. The Association for the Protection of Sea-Birds gave other arguments.
Flamborough Pilots
For millennia, the cries of seabirds had alerted mariners to rocky cliffs. The Hull Packet reported that in Yorkshire these actions had earned the birds the name Flamborough pilots. Birds also showed fishermen where shoals of fish could be found by following boats.
God’s Creatures
The association drew heavily on abandoned chicks starving in nests and injured birds being left to die, saying it was a Christian issue.
Fear of Extinction
The tragedy of the great auk which was hunted to extinction around 1850 was highlighted in letters to newspapers. Could hunting and trapping lead to the same fate for other seabirds?
Success
The association found an ally in East Riding MP Sir Christopher Tatton Sykes who presented their petition to Parliament in June 1869. Francis Orpen Morris travelled to London for a pre-Parliament meeting where details were finalised. The Sea Birds Preservation Act was passed giving protection to birds but not their eggs. It covered the period 1 April to 1 August but was later extended to 1 September.
The Gull’s Friend
Sykes was well liked but his political career was unimpressive. In twenty years as an MP he gave only six speeches and presented just one act. This earned him the name The Gull’s Friend in a caricature in Vanity Fair magazine.
Seabirds fly around a chalk stack in this 1822 print of Flamborough. East Riding Museums ERYMS: 1993.269
An 1880s photograph of a great auk taxidermy specimen. Smithsonian Institution Archives, Acc. 11-007, Box 026, Image No. MNH-5118
East Riding Museums has a copy of Sykes’ Vanity Fair caricature. ERYMS (BAG): 2019.4
The Wild Bird Protection Act (1872) gave protection to certain species of wild birds but not nests and eggs. Richard Taylor collection.
An amendment to the Wild Birds Protection Act in 1880 covered all wild birds. Richard Taylor collection.
An 1889 letter from Randolph Churchill to Francis Orpen Morris in which Churchill writes that the issue of bird conservation should be “in the hands of a Yorkshire MP”. Richard Taylor collection.
An advertisement for the Plumage League from Punch magazine (1886).
In 1889 Emily Williamson of Didsbury set up the all-women Society for the Protection of Birds to campaign against the “malicious millenary” of the plume trade. The organisation would later become the RSPB.
A postcard of egg collectors at Flamborough who were also known as egg climmers or egg climbers. East Riding Museums ERYMS: 1996.795
Further Campaigns
Sadly, the success of the 1869 Sea Birds Preservation Act was limited. In just two weeks in August 1874 eighty-nine people were stopped with guns on the Flamborough cliffs.
Wild Birds Protection Act
The Wild Birds Protection Act (1872) gave protection to certain species of wild bird from shooting and trapping between March to August with an amendment in 1880 that covered all wild birds. Campaigns to increase the season for protection and to cover bird eggs followed. Morris wrote to newspapers asking for support and to Winston Churchill’s father Randolph.
Feathers
The use of feathers in women’s fashions rocketed from the mid-1800s onwards with department stores producing hats for less affluent buyers. The industry wasn’t restricted to exotic feathers such as ostrich - seabird feathers were also used with kittiwake especially popular.
The Plumage League
In 1885 Francis Orpen Morris and Lady Mount Temple set up the Plumage League, the first British organisation to campaign against the feather trade. The Plumage League was soon absorbed into the Selbourne Society but other anti-plume campaigns followed.
Eggs
Perhaps surprisingly eggs were not protected by law until the 1950s. Watching eggs being collected on the East Yorkshire cliffs was a popular activity until these activities was outlawed by the Protection of Birds Act 1954.
Later Years
Francis Orpen Morris was in his mid 70s when he set up his Plumage League. He continued his prolific newspaper letter writing into his 80s.
Acknowledgement
Although his methods were at times unscientific, Morris’ work as a naturalist was acknowledged by Government and in 1888 he was awarded a Civil List pension of £100 per year. Last Works In 1892 Morris and Fawcett worked together on the seventh edition of The Natural History of British Butterflies, forty years after it was first published. Fawcett died in January 1893 and Morris three weeks later, after a harsh winter in which Marmaduke writes “keen winds and storms swept over the wolds”. Nunburnholme Morris stayed in Nunburnholme until his death and is buried near the south porch of St James church. In a memorial service at nearby Londesborough, Canon Wilton described him as the cleric who “pleaded in the papers and the pulpit and in his books for dumb animals”. A new church tower, which was designed by Temple Moore and built in 1902, was dedicated as a memorial to Morris.
Biography
The biography written in 1897 by youngest child Marmaduke provides a rich insight into Francis Orpen Morris’ life, work and character. Marmaduke was clearly inspired by his father, writing books and taking over the role of Nunburnholme rector.
East Riding Archives
Morris’ books are today valuable and collectable. East Riding Archives holds copies of his key works, many of which were purchased by philanthropist John Edward Champney and were some of the first books in Beverley Library.
An illustration of the dingy skipper from The Natural History of British Butterflies. Various volumes and editions are held in East Riding Archives.
An illustration from an article about Morris in Christian magazine Good Words (1893).
St James church Nunburnholme. Photograph © Martin Dawes cc-by-sa/2.0
John E Champney by Fred Elwell, 1906. East Riding Museums ERYMS (BAG): 1997.47
A postcard of the opening of Beverley Public Library on 8 August 1906. East Riding Archives PO-1-14-210
Puffin and Gannet © Ali Barratt
Bempton Cliffs © George Stoyle
Viewpoint © Mark Smales
Visitors to the exhibition enjoyed the stunning film A Day in the Life of RSPB Bempton Cliffs Reserve by George Stoyle which is on YouTube.
Seabirds at RSPB Bempton Cliffs
The RSPB opened its new visitor centre at Bempton in 2015. Thousands of visitors travel to the cliffs each year to visit what Reverend Francis Orpen Morris described as that wonderful and most interesting sight, the birds in their native home.
The Nou Camp of the bird world
That’s how Chris Packham described the wildlife spectacle on the cliffs, a reference to the packed FC Barcelona football stadium. In spring and summer every ledge, nook and cranny is full to bursting with almost half-a-million seabirds making a home. Cute puffins and thousands of the UK’s largest seabird, the gannet, live alongside guillemots, razorbills, kittiwakes, fulmars, herring gulls and shags. The towering cliffs keep the birds safe from predators and the North Sea provides a good supply of food.
A place of every season
From March to October, the seabirds are the stars of the show. But there’s something special to see all year round. During the height of summer, red campion looms and turns the cliff tops pink. Autumn brings migrant birds, some from as far away as Asia and Russia. In winter, short-eared owls are often welcome visitors. Roe deer and brown hares regularly roam the nearby fields, while bottlenose dolphins are being seen more frequently from the viewing platforms.
Protecting the seabirds in the 21st century
One of the RSPB’s most important roles on the cliff is seabird monitoring. The warden and team keep a close eye on the cliffs’ key species, recording numbers of chicks annually. This vital data tells us about the health of the colony – both puffin and kittiwake are currently declining in the UK.
Operation Seabird
Operation Seabird is a response to the increase in seabirds being disturbed by recreational marine craft. It’s designed to educate those using leisure craft and jet skis about the dangers they present to seabirds both on the cliffs and on the sea. Operation Seabird is a joint initiative between the RSPCA, RSPB, Marine Management Organisation (MMO) and North Yorkshire Police.