Obituaries Australia

The many friends of Mr Alexander Fraser Morrison, eldest son of the late Dr Alexander Morrison, will learn with deep regret that a cable message was received yesterday announcing his death at London. Mr Morrison was born at Hamilton, near Glasgow, in 1850, and in the following year came to Melbourne with his parents by the ship Essex. He was educated at the Scotch College, and graduated at the University of Melbourne, taking his M.A. and LL. B. degrees, and was subsequently called to the Victorian bar. He continued his studies for three years in London, and was admitted to the English bar. Before returning to Melbourne he spent some time in Europe, travelling chiefly in Russia. He was a facile writer, and a keen observer, these qualities being shown in a remarkable good series of articles, "Sketches in Russia" which he contributed to The Argus upwards of twenty years ago. In addition to excellence in scholarship generally, Mr Morrison was a fine linguist. He was examiner in French and German at the Melbourne University. Further, he was passionately fond of music, and was not merely an accomplished player and critic, but had made a deep and effective study in musical literature. Mr Morrison left Melbourne for London about a year ago, and followed the calling of a journalist. The last mail brought news of his illness. He was then suffering seriously from pneumonia, and the cable message received yesterday announcing his death did not, in the circumstances, cause great surprise. Mr Morrison, who had a bright nature, will be missed by a very large circle of friends.