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George Hay Morgan
MP
George Hay Morgan MP
Member of Parliament; for Truro
	In office; 1906–1918
Preceded by	Edwin Durning-Lawrence
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
Majority	6,097 (23.7%)
Personal details
Born	1866; Hay-on-Wye, Breconshire, Wales
Died	24 January 1931 (aged 64–65)
Nationality	British
Political party	Liberal Party
Education	Pontypool College; University College Cardiff; University of London;
Occupation	Politician; preacher;

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 David Lloyd George and the Coalition Government and in December 1920 he contested the 1920 Abertillery by-election 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 ^[5]
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 ^[5]^[6]
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

1920 Abertillery by-election^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Barker	15,942	66.4	n/a
	National 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^[7]
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

^ ‘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
^ General Election 1906, Wales and Monmouthshire: A Souvenir of all the Welsh MPs, 1906, Cardiff.
^ Tregida, Garry, Representing the Duchy, Francis Acland and Cornish Politics 1910–1922, Cornish Studies, 15.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, F. W. S. Craig.
^ ^a ^b ^c British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
^ Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916
^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, FWS Craig