George Morris (Australian politician)
{{Short description|Australian politician (1892–1967)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix =
| name = George Morris
| honorific-suffix =
| image = Meeting of the Annual conference of the Protestant Labour Party at the Builders Exchange (cropped).jpg
| caption =
| office1 = Member of the Legislative Assembly for Kelvin Grove
| term_start1 = 2 April 1938
| term_end1 = 29 March 1941
| predecessor1 = Frank Waters
| successor1 = Bert Turner
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1892|7|15|df=y}}
| birth_place = Sydney, Colony of New South Wales
| death_date = {{death date and age|1967|5|18|1892|7|15|df=y}}
| death_place = Greenslopes, Queensland, Australia
| restingplace =
| birthname = George Alfred Morris
| nationality = Australian
| party = Protestant Labour
| otherparty =
| spouse = {{marriage|Gladys Winifred Clark|1915|1967}}
| children = 3
| occupation =
| education = Glebe Public School
| alma_mater =
| allegiance = {{flagdeco|Australia}} Australia
| branch = {{navy|Australia}}
| serviceyears = 1913–1923
| rank = 18px Chief petty officer
| unit =
| commands =
| battles = World War I
| mawards =
}}
George Alfred Morris (15 July 1892 – 18 May 1967) was a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly.{{cite web|title=Former Members|publisher=Parliament of Queensland|year=2015| url=http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/members/former/bio?id=3650407881|accessdate=6 April 2016}} He was the only member of the Protestant Labor Party to hold a seat in the Queensland Parliament.
Biography
Morris was born in Sydney, New South Wales, the son of William Boyd Morris and his wife Emily Jane (née Finney). He was educated at Glebe Public School, Sydney and after leaving school he enlisted with the Royal Australian Navy and was stationed at the Haslar Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, England, and from 1915-1918 was on HMAS Australia as a sick-berth attendant. He left the navy in 1923 was in show business from 1928 to 1938.
He rejoined the navy when World War II broke out, being based at the Flinders Naval Hospital & Balmoral Depot, Rushcutters Bay, and at Leeuwin in Western Australia. By the time he was discharged in 1944 Morris was based at HMAS Moreton.[http://www.ww2roll.gov.au/Veteran.aspx?serviceId=N&veteranId=1144392 MORRIS, GEORGE ALFRED] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160512164831/http://www.ww2roll.gov.au/Veteran.aspx?serviceId=N&veteranId=1144392 |date=12 May 2016 }} — World War II Nominal Roll. Retrieved 6 April 2016. From 1948 to 1964 he was the secretary of the Queensland Taxi Cab Owner-Drivers' Association.
Morris captained the first Victorian Rugby Union team to play South Africa and was a welterweight boxing champion. He was a member of the ANZAC club, and of the Ashgrove Returned Sailors, Soldiers and Airmen's Imperial League of Australia (RSSAILA). He captained the Queensland Diggers XI in 1937 and was a life member of the Newmarket Bowling Club.
On 16 July 1915 Morris married Gladys Winifred Clark (died 1971)[https://www.qld.gov.au/law/births-deaths-marriages-and-divorces/family-history-research/ Family history research] — Queensland Government births, deaths, marriages, and divorces. Retrieved 26 March 2016. in England and they had two sons and one daughter. He died May 1967 at Greenslopes and was cremated at the Albany Creek Crematorium.[http://www.heavenaddress.com/restingplace/george-alfred-morris/887550 George Alfred Morris ( - 1967)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414195327/http://www.heavenaddress.com/restingplace/george-alfred-morris/887550 |date=14 April 2016 }} — Heaven Address. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
Public career
Morris was a member of the Protestant Labor Party, a party formed in the 1920s to counter the perceived Roman Catholic dominance of the Labor. At the Queensland state election of 1938, he contested the seat of Kelvin Grove and defeated the sitting member, Frank Waters.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article39749771 |title=Labour Loses Three Seats In Bitter Election |newspaper=The Courier-mail |issue=1432 |location=Queensland, Australia |date=4 April 1938 |accessdate=6 April 2016 |page=1 |via=National Library of Australia}}
When World War II broke out, he received a leave of absence from parliament to rejoin the Navy. By the time the Queensland state election of 1941 came around, Morris was an independent with the Protestant Labor Party all but wound up. He was defeated at that election by the Labor candidate, John Turner.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article44896988 |title=DETAILS OF VOTING THROUGHOUT QUEENSLAND |newspaper=The Courier-mail |issue=2363 |location=Queensland, Australia |date=31 March 1941 |accessdate=6 April 2016 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}}
References
{{reflist|30em}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|au-qld}}
{{s-bef|before= Frank Waters}}
{{s-ttl |title= Member for Kelvin Grove|years=1938–1941}}
{{s-aft|after=Bert Turner}}
{{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, George Alfred}}