CHARLES MORRISON
Charles Morrison retired to Peebles in the 1970s after a distinguished academic career which took him to West Africa from 1938 to1949, an area in which he retained a strong interest especially in the Gold Coast’s transition to Ghana in 1957. His academic career concluded at Dundee College of Education where his subject was the History and Theory of Education.
His interests were truly those of a ‘Renaissance Man’ – literature, the arts, music – but above all it was as a devoted amateur naturalist that his enthusiasms came through. He catalogued plants, kept sightings of migratory and resident birds as well as plotting the nesting areas of skylarks in order to advise farmers where not to plough.
Charles Morrison was a staunch supporter of The Tweeddale Society latterly becoming its inspirational President right up to his death. It was after his death that the then Council of the Society resolved that in each session there be a “Charles Morrison Memorial Lecture”. The invited lecturer would be asked to present a lecture on any aspect of the natural world of his/her choosing.
Past Charles Morrison Memorial Lectures
12 March 2024
Green Planet/Net Zero
Dominic Ashmole
11 January 2022
Gamekeeping and Conservation
Megan Rowland
11 February 2020
Secret Tweeddale
Liz Hanson
12 February 2019
The Importance of the River Tweed to the Borders’ Economy
Fay Hieatt & Dr. Ronald Campbell
12 December 2017
Plants associated with Christmas & the stories behind them
Colin Crosbie
14 March 2017
Penicuik House and its Designed Landscape
Sir Robert Clerk
9 February 2016
One Small Step for Amphibians, but a Giant Leap for Life on Earth
Dr. Nick Fraser
11 February 2014
Enjoying the Wild Harvest of Tweeddale
Fiona Martynoga
