George Hay Morgan

George Hay Morgan

George Hay Morgan (1866 – 24 January 1931) was a British Liberal Party politician.

Background

He was born in the town of Hay-on-Wye Breconshire in 1866. This is where his middle name came from. He was the son of Walter and Ann Morgan, of Wernwilk House, Hay-on-Wye. He studied at Pontypool College, University College Cardiff and the University of London. He married Margaret Jane Lewis of Pontnewynydd, Monmouthshire.[1]

Career

He was part of the Baptist Ministry in North London. From 1890 to 1900 he was in charge of the Baptist Church, Woodberry Down, London. He was a Barrister-at-law and was later admitted to the Bar.

Political career

In Wales, he was an active member of the Liberal Party and also a member of the Welsh Nationalist Cymru Fydd.[2] From 1897 to 1900 he was a member of the Tottenham School Board. At the 1900 general election he stood unsuccessfully as Liberal candidate for Tottenham.

He was elected Liberal MP for Truro in the Liberal landslide of 1906 replacing the Liberal Unionist MP Edwin Durning-Lawrence.

Although Truro had been a Unionist seat Morgan, as a Baptist preacher, was able to attract the Methodist vote by preaching in the constituency's principal chapels. Morgan also justified his right to represent the Truro seat in Cornwall 'because he was a Cornishman, a Celt, and he ...belonged to the same stock, of the same blood line'.[3] Morgan was the first student from University College Cardiff to be elected to parliament.

He was a party whip in the House of Commons. He served until the Truro constituency was abolished in 1918. For the 1918 General election he tackled a challenge in a new area when he stood as Liberal candidate for Ipswich, however the Coalition Government endorsed his Unionist opponent and he lost badly.

He was however a supporter of Lloyd George and the Coalition Government and in December 1920 he contested the Abertillery by-election, 1920 as a Coalition Liberal candidate against a Labour candidate who successfully defended the seat.[4]

He contested the 1922 general election as National Liberal candidate for Penryn and Falmouth, but finished fourth.

Following Liberal reunion, at the 1923 general election he fought Salford West but came third. This was his last parliamentary election campaign.[4]

Election results

General election 1900: Tottenham[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Joseph Howard 6,721 62.6
Liberal George Hay Morgan 4,009 37.4
Majority 2,712 25.2
Turnout
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1906: Truro [5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal George Hay Morgan 4,187 53.2 +9.1
Liberal Unionist Sir Edwin Durning-Lawrence 3,683 46.8 -9.1
Majority 504 6.4 18.2
Turnout 83.7 +9.2
Liberal gain from Liberal Unionist Swing +9.1
General Election January 1910: Truro [6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal George Hay Morgan 4,874 53.4 +0.2
Liberal Unionist Sir Edwin Durning-Lawrence 4,261 46.6 -0.2
Majority 613 6.8 +0.4
Turnout 89.9 +6.2
Liberal hold Swing +0.2
General Election December 1910: Truro [7][8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal George Hay Morgan 4,573 52.3 -1.1
Conservative Charles Williams 4,176 47.7 +1.1
Majority 397 4.6 -2.2
Turnout 86.1 -3.8
Liberal hold Swing -1.1
General election 14 December 1918: Ipswich[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Unionist Francis John Childs Ganzoni 13,553
Labour Robert Jackson 8,143
Liberal George Hay Morgan 3,663
Majority 5,410
Turnout
Unionist hold Swing
Abertillery by-election, 1920[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour George Barker 15,942 66.4 n/a
Coalition Liberal George Hay Morgan 7,842 33.6 n/a
Majority 7,650 32.8 n/a
Turnout 70.8 n/a
Labour hold Swing n/a
General election 1922: Penryn and Falmouth[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Unionist Denis Shipwright 11,566 42.7 −7.9
Liberal Sir Courtenay Mansel 8,879 32.8 −16.6
Labour Joseph Harris 4,482 16.6 n/a
National Liberal George Hay Morgan 2,129 7.9 n/a
Majority 2,687 9.9 +8.7
Turnout 72.5 +15.9
Unionist hold Swing +4.3
General Election 1923: Salford West[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Alexander Wilkinson Frederick Haycock 9,868 38.4 +6.1
Unionist Frederick Wolfe Astbury 9,752 37.9 -7.0
Liberal George Hay Morgan 6,097 23.7 +0.9
Majority 116 0.5 13.1
Turnout 25,717 76.5
Labour gain from Unionist Swing +6.5

Notes and references

  1. ‘MORGAN, George Hay’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014 ; online edn, April 2014 accessed 20 July 2016
  2. General Election 1906, Wales and Monmouthshire: A Souvenir of all the Welsh MPs, 1906, Cardiff.
  3. Tregida, Garry, Representing the Duchy, Francis Acland and Cornish Politics 1910–1922, Cornish Studies, 15.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, F. W. S. Craig.
  5. British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
  6. British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
  7. British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
  8. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916
  9. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, FWS Craig

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Edwin Durning-Lawrence
Member of Parliament for Truro
19061918
Constituency abolished
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