Alpheus Morton
{{short description|British politician}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
File:Alpheus Cleophas Morton, Vanity Fair, 1893-06-15.jpg published in Vanity Fair in 1893.]]
Sir Alpheus Cleophas Morton (12 March 1840{{cite book |last1=Mair |first1=Robert Henry |title=Debrett's House of Commons, and the Judicial Bench |date=1918 |publisher=Dean and Son |page=118 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JkZV0FgsU3UC&q=Alpheus+Morton+March+1840 |language=en |quote=Alpheus Cleophas MORTON, 2nd son of the late Francis Morton; b. March 12th, 1840}} – 26 April 1923){{Rayment-hc|s|6|date=March 2012}}{{Rayment-hc|p|1|date=March 2012}} was a British architect and surveyor, and a Liberal Party politician. He was active in local government in London from the 1880s until his death, and sat in the House of Commons in two periods between 1889 and 1918.
Career
Morton was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire,1871 England Census the son of Francis and Ann Morton, and considered himself Scottish.New York, Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957 He was educated privately in Canada.{{cite book
|last=Hesilridge
|first=Arthur G. M.
|title=Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1918
|url=https://archive.org/stream/debrettshouseo1918londuoft#page/118/mode/1up
|year=1918
|publisher=Dean & Son
|location=London
|page=118
}} He became an architect and surveyor, based in Chancery Lane in London. By 1885 he was living in Clapham, and was a member of the Wandsworth District Board of Works and president of the Clapham, Stockwell, and South Lambeth Water Consumers' Defence Association.{{cite news
|title=Biographies of Candidates
|date=24 November 1885
|url=http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/infomark/79/860/137035600w16/purl=rc1_TTDA_0_CS50645368&dyn=4!xrn_2_0_CS50645368&hst_1?sw_aep=mclib
|newspaper=The Times
|page=3, col E
|access-date=10 December 2010
|location=London
}} {{subscription required}}
He was a member of the City of London Corporation from 1882 until his death, for the ward of Farringdon Without. The park at Finsbury Circus was known as "Morton's Park" in Corporation circles,{{cite news
|title=Mulberries in Finsbury-Circus Garden
|date=9 August 1912
|work=The Times
|page=9, col G
|location=London
|title=News in Brief
|date=20 August 1919
|work=The Times
|page=7, col F
|location=London
}} because it was mainly due to his work that the gardens had been opened to the public after being compulsorily purchased by the Corporation through powers in the City of London (Various Powers) Act 1900.{{cite web
|url=http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/InspectionOutput/InspectionReports/2001/CorpLondon03.pdf
|title=Best Value Inspection: Corporation of London Open Spaces Department
|date=September 2001
|publisher=Audit Commission
|access-date=10 December 2010
}} Morton was one of those who gave evidence in support of the proposal to the House of Commons Select Committee which scrutinised the Bill in March 1900.{{cite news
|title=City of London (Various Powers) Bill
|date=28 March 1900
|work=The Times
|page=2, col F
|location=London
}} The Act received Royal Assent in July 1900,{{cite news
|title = House of Lords
|date = 7 August 1900
|work = The Times
|page = 5, col A
|location = London
}} and in August of each year Morton made an annual gift to the Lord Mayor of London of the first crop of mulberries from the park's gardens.{{cite news
|title=Court Circular
|date=26 August 1913
|work=The Times
|page=7, col F
|location=London
|title= News in Brief
|date=17 August 1917
|work=The Times
|page=3, col G
|location=London
|title= News in Brief
|date=14 August 1914
|work=The Times
|page=3, col G
|location=London
|title= News in Brief
|date=12 August 1920
|work=The Times
|page=5, col F
|location=London
|title= News in Brief
|date=10 August 1921
|work=The Times
|page=5, col G
|location=London
|title= News in Brief
|date=24 August 1922
|work=The Times
|page=5, col G
|location=London
}}
He was later a member of the City and Guilds of London Institute, a member of the Commission of Lieutenancy of the City of London, a governor of St Bartholomew's Hospital, and chairman of the Metropolitan Paving Committee.
In January 1918 he was appointed as a trustee of the Crystal Palace, as a representative of the City of London Corporation.{{cite news
|title=News in Brief
|date=28 January 1918
|work=The Times
|page=3, col G
|location=London
}}
= Parliament =
Morton first stood for Parliament at the 1885 general election, when he contested Hythe,{{cite book
|last=Craig
|first=F. W. S.
|authorlink= F. W. S. Craig
|title=British parliamentary election results 1832–1885
|orig-year=1977
|edition= 2nd
|year=1989
|publisher= Parliamentary Research Services
|location=Chichester
|isbn= 0-900178-26-4
|page=123
}} and was unsuccessful again in Christchurch at the 1886 election.Craig, page 87 He won a seat three years later, when he was elected at a by-election in October 1889 as the member of parliament (MP) for Peterborough,{{London Gazette
|issue= 25981
|date= 8 October 1889
|page=5301
}}Craig, page 168 after the death of the Liberal Unionist MP John Wentworth-FitzWilliam, becoming the 81st new MP since the general election in 1886.{{cite news
|title=Election Intelligence. Peterborough
|date=8 October 1889
|work=The Times
|page=7, col D
|location=London
}} His victory was unexpected, and when the result was declared he said that he hoped his victory would be seen as a gesture of conciliation Ireland. He was re-elected in 1892,{{London Gazette
|issue= 26311
|date=29 July 1892
|page=4310
}} and raised in Parliament the issue of the appointment of Justices of the Peace (magistrates) in April 1893.{{cite news
|title=Parliamentary Notices
|date=25 April 1893
|work=The Times
|page=8, col C
|location=London
}} In November that year, 280 Gladstonian MPs met the Lord Chancellor, Lord Herschell, in the House of Lords to discuss the system.{{cite news
|title=The Lord Chancellor yesterday added to his usual functions that of university lecturer
|date=16 November 1893
|work=The Times
|page=7, col C
|location=London
}} Morton led the response to the Lord Chancellor's explanation and defence of the existing system of appointment, and denounced the reliance on advice from Lord Lieutenants who were entirely dependent on what Morton called "class cliques". He was also a member of a Select Committee set up to examine the accommodation provided for members and officials of the House of Commons.{{cite news
|issue = 34245
|title = Political Notes
|date = 23 April 1894
|work = The Times
|page = 10, col B
|location=London
At the 1895 general election, Morton was defeated in Peterborough by the Liberal Unionist Robert Purvis. He continued to "nurse" the constituency in the hope of a return at the next election, but in May 1900 the Peterborough Liberal Association rejected a motion to adopt him as their candidate, choosing instead Halley Stewart, the former MP for Spalding.{{cite news
|title = News in brief: Election Intelligence
|date = 10 May 1900
|work = The Times
|page = 12, col F
|location = London
}}
He contested Bath at the general election in October 1900, supported by a campaigning visit from former Liberal leader Sir William Vernon Harcourt.{{cite news
|title=Sir William Harcourt at Bath
|date=1 October 1900
|work=The Times
|page=8, col F
|location=London
}}
However, the city's two seats were won by a Conservative Party and a Liberal Unionist, and Morton was the last-placed of the four candidates.Craig, page 66 After eleven years out of the Commons, he was returned at the 1906 general election as MP for the Scottish county of Sutherland,{{London Gazette
|issue= 27885
|date=13 February 1906
|page=1049
}} defeating the sitting Liberal Unionist MP Frederick Leveson-Gower.Craig, page 562 He was re-elected for Sutherland in both the January{{London Gazette
|issue= 28338
|date=11 February 1910
|page=1039
}} and December 1910 elections,{{London Gazette
|issue= 28449
|date=23 December 1910
|page=9559
}} and held the seat until the constituency was abolished at the 1918 general election.
In July 1910 he abstained on the Second Reading vote on the Parliamentary Franchise (Women) Bill, but voted in favour of Bill being referred to a Committee of the Whole House.{{cite news
|title = Women's Suffrage Bill. Division List
|date = 14 July 1910
|work = The Times
|page = 9, col B
|location = London
}}
He was knighted on 6 February 1918,{{London Gazette
|issue= 30607
|date=2 April 1918
|page=4026
}} at a ceremony in Buckingham Palace where the new knights (who included the architect Edwin Lutyens) were introduced to King George V by the Home Secretary Sir George Cave.{{cite news
|title=Court Circular
|date=7 February 1918
|work=The Times
|page=9, col A
|location=London
}}
Morton died on 26 April 1923, aged about 83. A memorial service for him was held on 2 May in the church of St Dunstan-in-the-West in Fleet Street, where he had been a churchwarden, and had led the opposition 1919 to a proposal by the Bishop of London's Commission on the City Churches to demolish St Dunstans and 18 other churches.{{cite news
|title = Memorial Service. Sir A.C. Morton
|date = 2 May 1923
|work = The Times
|page = 17, col D
|location = London
}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Hansard-contribs | sir-alpheus-morton | Alpheus Morton }}
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{s-bef | before = Hon. John Wentworth-FitzWilliam }}
{{s-ttl
| title = Member of Parliament for Peterborough
}}
{{s-aft | after = Robert Purvis }}
{{s-bef | before = Frederick Leveson-Gower }}
{{s-ttl
| title = Member of Parliament for Sutherland
}}
{{s-non | reason = Constituency abolished }}
{{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morton, Alpheus}}
Category:Scottish Liberal Party MPs
Category:Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Highland constituencies