History: The grave of Viscount Dunrossil

The churchyard has officially been closed to burials since 1936, but, between 1920 and 1937, £2 could buy you an Exclusive Right of Burial Certificate, ensuring your final resting place would be the one you chose. This most often meant that those who had relatives already buried there could stay with them in the great beyond.

Cash was not the only way into this exclusive enclave; the Cemeteries Ordinance of 1933 left specific provision for "such exceptions and qualifications as the Minister thinks fit". Which was fortunate, because in 1961 an extremely qualified candidate needed a place in the crowded churchyard.

William Shepherd Morrison, widely known as "Shakes" for his habit of quoting Shakespeare, was born in Argyllshire, Scotland, in 1893. A scholar of Edinburgh University and a decorated veteran of the First World War, he became a barrister before entering the British Parliament as the Conservative member for Cirencester and Tewkesbury. After a distinguished political career, including as Speaker of the House of Commons from 1951 to 1959, he retired due to ill health.

It would seem that quiet retirement did not suit him, because the following year he became the 14th Governor-General of Australia.

As the first Viscount Dunrossil (as former Speaker he was awarded a hereditary peerage), he was sworn in on February 3, 1960. Despite a propensity for ostentatious outfits and fierce expressions, Viscount Dunrossil was, by many accounts, a pleasant and good-humoured man, whose ill-health unfortunately meant that after a cracking start, he was unable to engage fully with his role. Lady Dunrossil often stood in for him.

Viscount Dunrossil's untimely demise at only 67, one year and a day after he was sworn in, caused not only significant personal grief to his widow, family and staff, but consternation among public officials. A governor-general had never previously (or in fact since) died whilst in office. Arrangements were quickly made with direct input from the prime minister and one of Canberra's most famous public servants, Sir Geoffrey Yeend.

It was reported in The Canberra Times that the funeral for Viscount Dunrossil was "...one of the saddest in Canberra's short history, but mixed with the sadness was a pride - a pride that a man of such qualities as Viscount Dunrossil had so loved Canberra that his widow had known she would be following his wishes in allowing him to be buried here, so becoming forever part of a growing city in a growing country."

But this was only the beginning of a saga of costs and maintenance that would span the next 20 years and beyond.

Prime Minister Robert Menzies, who had been a personal friend of the late Governor-General, requested well-known Canberra designer Mr Derek Wrigley, then the ANU's architect, to design the gravestone. It was built in white marble, granite and bronze by Henry Satrapa, a monumental stonemason from Queanbeyan. They also designed a contemplative seat to be placed nearby.

While the responsibility for the upkeep of the church and its yard lay with the parish council, its importance as an historical site meant that a Commonwealth grant was awarded towards maintenance. In 1934 the amount of the grant was £100 per annum, by 1980, it was $2000. This arrangement would prove to be a matter for ongoing debate between the government and the leaders of the church.

While the Viscount's surrounds were designed to be low maintenance, it was noted that some of the other residents had let themselves go.

These discussions were still taking place over 20 years later, when the ashes of Lady Dunrossil were brought from the UK to take their place on the gravestone.