Hyacinth Bernard Wenceslaus Morgan (11 September 1885 – 7 May 1956) was a Labour Party politician in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1929 to 1931, and 1940 to 1955. He was born, of Irish descent, in

Grenada Grenada is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The southernmost of the Windward Islands, Grenada is directly south of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and about north of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and the So ...

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

and came to the

to study medicine at

Glasgow University The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...

in 1904. While at University he was active in the

Fabian Society The Fabian Society () is a History of the socialist movement in the United Kingdom, British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in ...

and founded the students' Irish Nationalist Club. After qualifying, he worked in a number of Glasgow mental hospitals and then served as a doctor in the Royal Army Medical Corps during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in both France and England. He then entered general practice in London, initially at

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, later

Camberwell Camberwell ( ) is an List of areas of London, area of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles' Church, Camberwell, St Giles ...

and finally at

Paddington Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough of the County of London, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station, designed b ...

Political career

Morgan contested the

South London South London is the southern part of Greater London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, Lon ...

constituency of Camberwell North West at the 1922 general election, but lost by a wide margin to the

National Liberal National liberalism is a variant of liberalism, combining liberal policies and issues with elements of nationalism. Historically, national liberalism has also been used in the same meaning as conservative liberalism (right-liberalism). A serie ...

MP Thomas James Macnamara. He stood again at the 1923 election, when Macnamara had re-joined the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

, and lost by only 80 votes. In

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20–January 30, 30 – Kuomintang in Ch ...

, Sir Edward Taswell Campbel won the seat by only 194 votes. Morgan finally won the seat at the 1929 general election. However, the Labour Party split at the 1931 general election over fiscal policy; Prime Minister

Ramsay MacDonald James Ramsay MacDonald (; 12 October 18669 November 1937) was a British statesman and politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The first two of his governments belonged to the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, where he led ...

had left the party to form a National Government with the support of the Conservative Party and some Liberals, and Labour's national share of the vote fell from 37% to 31%. In most seats, Liberal and Conservative candidates agreed a single candidate would stand against Labour. As a result Labour retained only 52 of the 287 constituencies it had won in 1929, and Morgan's Camberwell seat was one of the seats lost. He did not stand for

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

again until 1940, when the Labour MP William Kelly resigned his

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

seat. At the by-election in July 1940, Morgan was elected unopposed. He was then re-elected in

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...

with only a 10% majority. At the 1950 general election he moved to the safer

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

seat, which he won with a comfortable 19% majority. He won re-election in

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

and retired from Parliament at the 1955 general election. In the periods he was not serving as a Member Parliament, Morgan returned to the practice of medicine. In 1936 he worked with Charles Brook and other members of the Labour-affiliated

Socialist Medical Association The Socialist Health Association (SHA, called the Socialist Medical Association before May 1981) is a socialist medical association based in the United Kingdom. It is affiliated to the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party as a Socialist society (Lab ...

to found the

Spanish Medical Aid Committee The International Brigades () were soldiers recruited and organized by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The International Brigades existed for two ...

to provide supplies and a uniformed medical unit to the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War. He served as a member of the

Confederation of Health Service Employees The Confederation of Health Service Employees (COHSE) was a United Kingdom trade union representing workers primarily in the National Health Service. History The union was founded in 1946 with the merger of the Mental Hospital and Institutional ...

(COHSE) union National Executive Committee and COHSE's Medical Guild from 1946 to 1951. Morgan died in 1956, aged 70.

References

Sources

* *

External links

*
Documents on Morgan's involvement in the Spanish Civil War from "Trabajadores: The Spanish Civil War through the eyes of organised labour"
a digitised collection of more than 13,000 pages of documents from the archives of the British

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union center, national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions that collectively represent most unionised workers in England and Wales. There are 48 affiliated unions with a total of ...

held in the

Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick The Modern Records Centre (MRC) is the specialist archive service of the University of Warwick in Coventry, England, located adjacent to the Central Campus Library. It was established in October 1973 and holds the world's largest archive collect ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Hyacinth 1885 births 1956 deaths British people of Irish descent Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies People from Camberwell Politicians from Rochdale UK MPs 1929–1931 UK MPs 1935–1945 UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Rochdale Members of the Fabian Society