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A Portrait of Walter Morrison (1836-1921) Treasurer of the Palestine Exploration Fund for 54 years, radical reformer and secret philanthropist

This article draws on primary research at the Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF) in London, fieldwork at Morrison’s estate in Malham and cottages he built in the surrounding area, and material from the Morrison family’s private archives that was not included in Dakers’s book ‘A Genius for Money’.

Morrison’s significance as a philanthropist, scholar, and radical political figure has not been recognised in nineteenth-century cultural history; his activities across these different areas present a classic challenge for the historian. This study is appropriately published in the PEF’s peer-reviewed journal, as the Fund occupies premises donated by Morrison, the fund’s Treasurer for 54 years. Many items in the PEF’s significant collection of artworks and artefacts were donated by Morrison.

The PEF was established in 1865 as the first scholarly society dedicated to the study of what was then known as the Holy Land. With Morrison’s financial support it continues to fund research in the region.