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Frederick L. H. Morrice (1855-1915)

Frederick Lancelot Hamilton Morrice of The Vine, Northbourne, was a barrister-at-law of the Inner Temple, London, but known locally as Squire Morrice, or by his friends simply as Freddie. The Morrice family had a long association with Betteshanger, the most famous being Vice-Admiral Salmon Morrice[1] (1672-1740/41). Frederick L. H. Morrice's grandfather, Frederick Edward Morrice (1778-1858) built the earlier Betteshanger House - a villa - in 1829; it was sold to Sir Walter James (later 1st Baron, Lord Northbourne) in 1850.

Frederick L. H. Morrice was a keen hunter and sportsman; he travelled extensively and was described as a 'tireless walker.' While stalking game in the Pyrenees, a region he knew very well, he was arrested as a suspected smuggler, twice on the same day; first by the French custom officers and then by the Spanish.

A Walk Across Lapland

In 1881 he published a book - 'The Nightless North - A Walk Across Lapland.' Frederick, along with two companions, sailed to the mouth of the river Tana in northern Norway, and after a detour to Varanger Fjord, they travelled southward following the courses of the rivers Tana, Munio and Torneo to the Gulf of Bothnia and the Baltic Sea. The trio consisted of an Englishman a Scotsman and an 'Irishman.' The Scotsman was his friend Killearn and the 'Irishman' an Irish water spaniel named Barle, I presume named after the river Barle which flows across Exmoor.

Apart from a guide he employs for some of the journey, Frederick did not have a good opinion of the native Laps. In Tromsö they met their first bonâ fide Laplander:

"… a horrible moving heap of skins and dirt. This was our first close inspection of the breed, and I think, from what I afterwards saw, he was a fair average specimen of his countrymen. He was about 4ft. 6in. high, face and hands absolutely grimed with dirt, a peculiar sort of hat - somewhat like the headpiece that Britannia wears on the English penny ….. his long uncombed hair fell some way down over a tunic of skins that reached to his knees, and a broad leathern belt was fastened round his loins. The skin is never properly cured, and the smell may, therefore, be better imagined than described, while, of course, it becomes a regular harbour for animals of the worst description."

Initially the shooting and fishing was unproductive, their tent leaked, and they were greatly bothered by mosquitoes, or "müg" as they are called in Norse, they:

 "… began buzzing and biting in the most aggravating manner. A pipe when inside the tent kept them off pretty well, for they got suffocated; but when outside we had to sit in the smoke of the fire to keep at all free from them. Sleep, however, was hopeless without veils…. I dare say we were rather an odd sight, for the "müg" had so aggravated us the previous day that I had given way to my feelings and rubbed the skin when I felt the irritation of their bites to be almost unbearable. The result was, that I could with difficulty see out of my eyes, and my whole face was swollen to an enormous size."

Throughout most of the journey the mosquitoes continued to be a problem, and had tragic consequences for the dog, Barle. Frederick writes:

"… we had to shoot Barle … he was too ill to travel. The previous day his hind-quarters had failed him several times, and he was nothing but a bag of bones. Poor brute! It was a mercy to kill him; the mosquitoes had worried him to death …. It is a lesson to others never to take a valuable dog into this horrible country in summer; if you want a dog, buy a native one when you get there."

The three travellers did not walk all the way, they also hired local boatmen and later in the journey lightened their loads by employing a guide with a horse. They had travelled from northern Norway south along the border between Sweden and Russia (now Finland), occasionally crossing into Russia, according to Morrice they had boated 320 odd miles, walked 330, and carrioled about 26. After a short time in Stockholm they returned to England by steamer. He concludes his book by saying:

"I felt a certain satisfaction that our journey was finished, and, I think, determined that, if ever again I left my native shores, it should not be for a Walk in Lapland."

Northbourne and World War I

He married Emily Theresa Stapleton on 5 July, 1905 and had two children Humphry Allan Walter b. 1906 and James Ralph Malcolm b. 1910. Frederick acquired the 17th century Vine farmhouse at Northbourne and added an east wing. A plaque records: "This wing was erected on the original foundations by Frederick Morrice, 1911." It was said that he carried out this rebuilding with 'almost boyish joy.'

Known as a raconteur, he related the story of being stranded at Vittel in France when war broke out in August 1914 and on the way home across France was mistaken for an 'Espion.' He became platoon commander of The Northbourne Volunteer Training Corps - The 'Dad's Army' of the 1914-1918 war, but he unexpectedly died in Aosta, Italy on 3 October 1915.

Memorial in Betteshanger church:

Sacred
To the Memory
of
FREDERICK LANCELOT
HAMILTON MORRICE,
of The Vine, Northbourne
who died suddenly
at Aosta Italy,
October 3rd 1915
Aged 60 Years.

Seek ye first the kingdom of God and
his righteousness.

and of
EMILY THERESA, wife of the above
born 5th Nov 1879, died 21st Nov 1956.

See also:
Frederick L. H. Morrice - 1915
Volunteer Training Corps Meeting - 1915
Memorial Service
Morrice Family (1670-1915)