MORGAN
,
GEORGE OSBORNE
(
1826
-
1897
),
politician
;
son of the
Rev.
Morgan
Morgan
,
vicar
of
Conway
from
1838 to 1870
(and a son of
David
Morgan
,
Llanfihangel-Geneu'r-Glyn
and his wife
Avarina
Richards
, a member of
Ffos-y-bleiddiaid
family — see under
Lloyd
,
Vaughan
), and
Fanny
Nonnen
daughter of
John
Nonnen
,
Gothenburg
,
Sweden
; he was b.
8 May 1826
at
Gothenburg
, where his father was a
chaplain
. Educated at
Friars school
,
Bangor
,
Shrewsbury school
, and
Oxford
, he graduated in
1848
. He won the
Craven scholarship
and the
Newdigate prize
, and was elected
Fellow
of
University College
,
1850-7
. He was
called to the Bar
(
Lincoln's Inn
)
6 June 1853
, and practised as
equity draughtsman
and
conveyancer
; he
took silk
in
1869
. He was a
Liberal candidate
for
Caerns.
in
1859
but withdrew to avoid splitting the
Liberal
vote. In
1868
he was returned as one of the members for
Denbighshire
, his colleague being
Sir
Watkin
Williams Wynn
. After the redistribution of
1885
he elected to stand for
east Denbighshire
, where the
Wynn
influence had been paramount for nearly two centuries, and won the seat against
Sir
Watkin
's candidature; he held the seat at the elections of
1886
and
1892
. In
Parliament
he
took a prominent part in Welsh affairs
; in
1869
he seconded
Henry
Richard
's resolution on the
Welsh
evictions after the election of
1868
, and in
1870
he
introduced the burials bill, permitting any Christian service in a parish churchyard
, a direct result of what had happened at the funeral of
Henry
Rees
(q.v.)
in the previous year.
Osborne
Morgan
introduced this bill in ten successive sessions until, in
1880
, it was passed. In
1870
he also
introduced the places of worship (acquisition of land) bill
, which became law in
1873
. He was a
strong supporter of the Welsh Sunday closing bill
and of disestablishment, and
took a keen interest in Welsh education
, supporting
Stuart
Rendel
's motion in favour of placing
Aberystwyth College
on the same footing as
Bangor
and
Cardiff
and
advocating the establishment of the hostel for women students
at
Bangor
. An
Osborne Morgan scholarship
was founded at
Bangor
as a memorial. He was twice in office in
Gladstone
's ministry, the first time in
1880
as
Judge-Advocate-General
, when he carried
the
abolition of flogging in the army
, and again,
1886
, as
parliamentary under-secretary for the colonies
. In the latter capacity he took an interest in the fortunes of the
Welsh
settlement in
Patagonia
. He wrote for the
Contemporary
,
Fortnightly
, and
Nineteenth Century
, and translated
Virgil
's
Eclogues
. He was made a
baronet
in
1892
. He d.
25 Aug. 1897
, and was buried at
Llantysilio
,
Llangollen
. He m.,
1856
,
Emily
, daughter of
Leopold
Reiss
,
Eccles
; they had no children.
Bibliography:
-
Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography
;
-
T. Gwynn Jones
,
Cofiant Thomas Gee
, Denbigh, 1913
;
-
information supplied by
Dr. Thomas Richards
.
Author:
Edward Morgan Humphreys, O.B.E., M.A., (1882-1955), Caernarfon
One of his brothers,
JOHN
MORGAN
, b.
1828
, d.
4 May 1892
, was
professor of medicine
(
1873
) at
Owens College
,
Manchester
. The other,
HENRY
MORGAN
(
1830
-
1912
), b.
1 July 1830
at
Gothenburg
, went from
Shrewsbury school
to
Jesus College
,
Cambridge
, and was a
Wrangler
, and a
Fellow
of his college, in which he held almost every office, eventually (
1885
) becoming
master
. When he d.,
2 Sept. 1912
, he had been at
Jesus
for sixty-three continuous years. ‘
Black Morgan
’ was a vigorous and muscular figure, a great
oarsman
and
mountaineer
— he and his friend,
Leslie
Stephen
, were the first to climb the
Jungfrau-Joch
(
1862
). In academic politics he was a liberal, and in
1871
promoted the movement to allow Fellows to marry
, at the same time limiting to seven years the ordinary tenure of a Fellowship. He published little; his
Church and Dissent in Wales
,
1895
, may be mentioned. He was m., and had a son (
killed in war
in
1915
) and four daughters.
Bibliography:
-
Iris Osborne Morgan
,
Memoirs of Henry Arthur Morgan, master of
Jesus college, Cambridge, 1885-1912
, London,
1927
;
-
other information from
Miss Gerda Morgan
.
Author:
Emeritus Professor Robert Thomas Jenkins, C.B.E., D.Litt., Ll.D.,
F.S.A., (1881-1969), Bangor
