First World War Chaplain by Morris Meredith-Williams, 1927

Morris Meredith Williams (1881–1973) trained at the Slade and continued his studies in Paris, where he met his wife, the sculptor Alice Meredith Williams ARSBS (1877-1934). They married in 1906 and lived in Edinburgh where Morris was an Art Master at Fettes College and book illustrator of myth, folklore and history. During the First World War Morris was commissioned into the Welch Regiment and served three years on the Western Front. In the 1920s he and Alice worked together on many war memorials, leading to a collaboration in 1927 with the architect Sir Robert Lorimer on the Scottish National War Memorial at Edinburgh Castle. The present drawing was incorporated into the cartoon for the multi-figure freize illustrating the many roles filled by the nation’s men and women during the war. The completed frieze won critical acclaim and drew particular praise from the 8th Duke of Atholl. Referring to Alice’s frieze, the Duchess of Atholl recorded, ‘The beauty of the frieze is in part due to her husband. During his three years in the ranks in France he made endless drawings of his fellow soldiers. The drawings furnished a priceless inspiration for the amazing number of men and women recorded in his wife's masterpiece’. In 1929, the Meredith-Williams moved to Devon. Alice died in 1934 and Morris remarried in 1936. He also worked in landscape and genre painting, stained glass and engraving. He exhibited at the Royal Academy in London and at the Royal Scottish Academy. Several of his works are held by museums and galleries in Liverpool and by the National army Museum and the National Galleries of Scotland.