George Hay Morgan

George Hay Morgan MP, circa 1906

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 1890–1900 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 1897–1900 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]' George Hay 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.^[5]

Election results

General Election 1900: Tottenham[6] Electorate 19,412
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 14 December 1918: Ipswich[7] Electorate 37,348
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Capt. Francis John Childs Ganzoni	13,553
	Labour	Robert Frederick Jackson	8,143
	Liberal	George Hay Morgan	3,663
Majority
Turnout
	Unionist hold		Swing

Abertillery by-election, 1920[8] Electorate 32,960
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[9] Electorate 37,297
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Denis Ewart Bernard Kingston Shipwright	11,566	42.7	-7.9
	Liberal	Sir Courtenay Cecil 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
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.3

Notes and references

1. http://www.ukwhoswho.com
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. British parliamentary election results, 1918–1949 (Craig)
5. British parliamentary election results, 1918–1949 (Craig)
6. British parliamentary election results, 1885–1918 (Craig)
7. British parliamentary election results, 1918–1949 (Craig)
8. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, F W S Craig
9. British parliamentary election results, 1918–1949 (Craig)

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by George Hay Morgan