Arthur Morgan (1856 - 1916)

Born 19 Sep 1856 in Warwick, Queensland, Australia

Husband of Alice Augusta (Clinton) Morgan — married 26 Jul 1880 in Queensland, Australia

Descendants

Died 20 Dec 1916 at age 60 in Paddington, Queensland, Australia

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Biography

Arthur Morgan is Notable.

Sir Arthur Morgan was a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for eighteen years. He held the integral parliamentary posts of Speaker of the Legislative Assembly for four years and the Queensland Legislative Council for a further two. He was Premier of Queensland from 1903 to 1906. He was also Mayor of Warwick for five years. Morgan succeeded his father as owner and editor of the Warwick Argus.

Arthur Morgan was born on 19th September 1856 at Rosenthal Station, Warwick, Queensland, Australia. He was the fourth son of James Morgan, who later represented Warwick in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, and his wife Kate, née Barton, both Irish-born.^[1][2] Morgan was educated at a public school at Warwick and then joined the staff of the Warwick Argus, which was owned and edited by his father. He quickly learned the trade from back room to front office.^[3]

By the time he was eighteen, Arthur was manager, as his father's responsibilities in the Queensland Legislative Assembly took him away increasingly from 1873. A justice of the peace before he was twenty, Arthur became editor and, with his brother, Charles, proprietor of the Argus a few months before their father died in 1878.^[4]

Arthur married Alice Clinton on 26th July 1880 at Queensland.^[5]

Morgan became a member of the Warwick Municipal Council in 1885 and served as Mayor of Warwick 1886–1890 and again in 1898.^[3] In 1887 he was elected a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for the district of Warwick, and held this seat until 1896. In 1899, he was chosen as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland. In 1903, Morgan was asked to lead a combination of a group of liberals and the labor party; which he managed, tenuously, as Premier of Queensland, chief secretary, secretary for railways, and vice-president of the executive council. In January 1906, after the death of Sir Hugh Nelson, Morgan was appointed President of the Queensland Legislative Council and was acting-governor on two occasions.^[3]

Morgan received a knighthood in 1907. In 1908 he was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Queensland.

He passed away, aged 60 years, on 20th December 1916 at Paddington, Queensland and is buried in the Brisbane General Cemetery, Toowong.^[6] He was survived by his wife, five sons and three daughters.

(Sir)

Buried Toowong Cemetery, QLD.

Occupation: Newspaper Editor, Premier Of QLD.

Note: Arthur's schooling the the Warwick district was cut short when his father bought the 'Warwick Argus' newspaper and printing business on 01 Jun 1868. Arthur learned the trade from back room to front office. By 18 he was manager, as his father's. responsibilities in the Legislative Assembly took him away increasingly from 1873. A justice of the peace before he was 20, Arthur became editor and, with his brother, proprietor of the 'Argus' a few months before his father died in 1878. The. paper became a bi-weekly publication from 26 Aug 1879, and a month later moved into new commodious premises. On 26 Jul 1880 Arthur married Alice Augusta Clinton at Warwick with Church of England rites. By August 1888 the 'Argus' was asserting. that its circulation bordered on one thousand each issue, double that of its competitor, the 'Examiner and Times'. Arthur Morgan entered politics at the local level in 1885 when elected to the Warwick Municipal Council; he served as mayor in 1886-90 and 1898. On 18 July 1887 he was elected to the Legislative Assembly for Warwick and represented this. electorate until 04 Apr 1896 when he stood aside to allow T. J. Byrnes to pursue the premiership via the seat. He was chairman of the royal commission on local government that year. Morgan regained Warwick on 02 Oct 1898 at the by-election. after Byrne's death and, enjoying 'the confidence of all parties', served the assembly as Queensland's first native-born Speaker from May 1899 until September 1903. He resigned after a series of dramatic political events surrounding the defeat. of the Philp government. Labor leader W. H. Browne, unable to form a government, recommended that the government send for Morgan. Drawing on support from the 'Darling Downs bunch' 9seceders from (Sir) Robert Philp), he formed a composite group. from farming representatives, liberal progressives and the Labor Party. When the Morgan-Browne coalition ministry was sworn in on 17 Sep 1903, one commentator noted tat the member for Warwick had before him a particular opportunity for performing 'a master stroke of statesmanship'. Morgan became premier, chief. secretary and secretary for railways. The coalition was returned overwhelmingly in 1904. It was responsible for the mildly progressive Income Tax Amendment Act of 1904 and introduced the franchise for women in State elections. According to T. O'Sullivan, Morgan was a dignified, courteous and sensitive man who became 'thoroughly disillusioned' by the hurly-burly, factionalism and strife of parliamentary politics. He relinquished the premiership, accepting the presidency of the. Legislative Council from 19 Jan 1906 after the death of Sir Hugh Nelson. William Kidston became premier. In 1907, about the time he was knighted, Morgan effectively stepped aside as editor of the 'Warwick Argus'. For nearly thirty years he had followed a moderately liberal political line. Never a member of the Queensland Club, actively identified. with agricultural and acclimatization bodies, he compared city people to drones who were simply useful machines for paying taxes. It was the miner, pastoralist and farmer who produced the wealth on which the city people lived and grew fat. Morgan released his reins on the 'Argus' overtly in 1910 when he ceased to be sole proprietor and became chairman of directors of Warwick Argus Ltd, which was incorporated on 04 Jun 1910 with a capital of L8000. Andrew Dunn and sons bought the. paper on 31 March 1914. On Kidston' recommendation in 1908 the governor Lord Chelmsford reluctantly appointed Morgan - 'the lesser evil of the two', who was still close to politics - lieutenant-governor, by-passing (Sir) Pope Cooper. Morgan deputized in 1907 and 1908. during Chelmsford's absences and, in 1909 and 1914, was lieutenant-governor on the retirement of governors Chelmsford and Sir William MacGregor. He was still president of the Legislative Council when he died at his Brisbane residence, Clinton, Upper Paddington, on 20 Dec 1916 after a long illness; he was buried in Toowong cemetery after a state funeral and service at St. John's Anglican Cathedral. His estate was valued for probate at L8790. Morgan was survived by his wife, five sons. and three daughters. His eldest son Arthur Clinton served with the 11th Light Horse at Gallipoli and briefly became a member of parliament.

Sources

1. ↑ Queensland Birth Index #C1878/1856
2. ↑ New South Wales Birth Index #7903/1856
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} Wikipedia profile: Arthur Morgan
4. ↑ Kirkpatrick, Rod. Morgan, Sir Arthur (1856–1916), Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1986; accessed online 18 Aug 2019
5. ↑ Queensland Marriage Index #C1093/1880
6. ↑ Queensland Death Index #C4609/1916