Levi Lapper Morse (24 May 1853 – 10 September 1913) was an English

grocer A grocery store (American English, AE), grocery shop or grocer's shop (British English, BE) or simply grocery is a retail store that primarily retails a general range of food Product (business), products, which may be Fresh food, fresh or Food p ...

and

draper Draper was originally a term for a retailer or wholesaler of cloth that was mainly for clothing. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher. History Drapers were an important trade guild during the medieval period ...

and

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 ...

politician.

Family and education

Morse was the son of Charles Morse from

Stratton St Margaret Stratton St Margaret is a civil parish in the Borough of Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The parish covers north-eastern suburbs of Swindon including Stratton St Margaret itself, along with Upper Stratton, Lower Stratton and Kingsdown. Geograph ...

, near

Swindon Swindon () is a town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located at the northeastern edge of the South West England region, Swi ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

. He was educated at the High School, Swindon. He married Winifred, daughter of Isaac Humphries of

Broad Hinton Broad Hinton is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about southwest of Swindon. The parish includes the hamlets of Uffcott and The Weir. History There are several barrows in the parish, notably on Hackpen Hill.Crowley ''et al.' ...

, Wiltshire and they had two sons and four daughters. Their son

William Ewart Morse William Ewart Morse (23 November 1878 – 18 December 1952) was an English businessman and Liberal Party politician, briefly Member of Parliament for Bridgwater and later a member of Wiltshire County Council. Family and education Morse was the ...

was also a Liberal politician in Wiltshire and a Member of Parliament.''Who was Who'', OUP 2007

Career

Morse was a prominent Swindon shopkeeper He owned Morse's department store on Regent Street, Swindon the second most important of Swindon's stores for many years. Mostly known as a grocer and draper, he also owned a chain of other shops in the

south-west The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each ...

and a large

mail order Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as: * Sending an order form in the mail * Placing an order by telephone call ...

business.

Politics

Local politics

Morse served as an

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

Wiltshire County Council Wiltshire Council, known between 1889 and 2009 as Wiltshire County Council, is the local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Wiltshire in South West England, and has its headquarters at County Hall in Trowbridge. Since 2009 it has bee ...

and also served as a Justice of the Peace. He was

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of Swindon in 1901.

Parliament

Morse was elected Liberal MP for the Wilton or South Division of Wiltshire at the

1906 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1906. Asia * 1906 Persian legislative election Europe * 1906 Belgian general election * 1906 Croatian parliamentary election * Denmark ** 1906 Danish Folketing election ** 1906 Danish Landsting e ...

. He gained the seat from the sitting Conservative,

James Archibald Morrison Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor ...

by 4,272 votes to 3,458 a majority of 724 Morse did not seek re-election in 1910 because of ill-health.The Times, 11 September 1913 p9 In 1908 he was one of the members of the British group of the Inter-parliamentary Union who attended its conference in Berlin.

Religion

Morse was a devout member of the

Primitive Methodist Church The Primitive Methodist Church is a Christian denomination within the holiness movement. Originating in early 19th-century England as a Christian revival, revivalist movement within Methodism, it was heavily influenced by American evangelist Loren ...

and was a delegate to its centenary conference in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Ontario, Canada. He also became Vice-president of the Primitive Methodist conference in 1896.

Death

He died at his home, The Croft, Swindon on 10 September 1913 aged 60 years. Swindon solicitor A. Ernest Withy published notice of his estate in the London Gazette, 31 October 1913. He is buried in Radnor Street Cemetery, Swindon.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Morse, Levi Lapper 1853 births 1913 deaths Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of Wiltshire County Council UK MPs 1906–1910 Mayors of places in Wiltshire People from Swindon English Methodists