Meet our Alumni

William Morris was the founding Headmaster of Anglican Church Grammar School. After studying at The University of Melbourne, Morris read theology, church history and medieval history at the University of Cambridge.

He became a Deacon of the Church of England in 1901 and then chose to work as Assistant-Curate in London’s impoverished Whitechapel. He had entered the church to, in his words, “do social work on a religious basis, instead of doing religious work on a social basis”.

Ordained as a priest in 1903, he returned to Australia and was Vicar at St Barnabas in South Melbourne. After taking up teaching positions at Geelong Grammar School and St Peter’s College in Adelaide, Morris opened the small private school St Magnus Hall in Brisbane. In 1914 St Magnus Hall was part of an amalgamation to form the Brisbane Church of England Grammar School for Boys. Morris was appointed its founding Headmaster. He served in that role for over 30 years, during which time 3,000 boys had passed through what had become one of Australia’s leading independent schools.

The Church recognised his contribution by appointing him an honorary Canon in 1935. Following his retirement in 1946 he wrote his memoirs in Sons of Magnus and published a collection of poems in Havenhome and Other Verses. Morris was honoured as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1955.