Roger Hugh Vaughan Charles Morgan (8 July 1926 – 10 June 2018) was an English librarian who spent four decades in the Houses of Parliament. He is credited with modernising the

House of Lords Library The House of Lords Library is the library and information resource of the House of Lords, the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It provides Members of the House and their staff with books, Parliamentary material and referen ...

as head librarian from 1977–91.

Early life and education

Morgan was born in Chelsea, London, the son of novelists Charles Langbridge Morgan and Hilda Vaughan. His paternal grandfather was engineer Sir Charles Langbridge Morgan. He was the younger brother of Shirley Paget, Marchioness of Anglesey (1924–2017). He and his sister grew up in Notting Hill until the Second World War, when, fearing a Nazi invasion after the Battle of Dunkirk, they moved with their mother to America. He spent two years at

Phillips Academy ("Not for Self") la, Finis Origine Pendet ("The End Depends Upon the Beginning") Youth From Every Quarter Knowledge and Goodness , address = 180 Main Street , city = Andover , state = Ma ...

in Andover, before returning home in 1942 to finish his schooling at Eton. From 1944–47, Morgan was a member of the Grenadier Guards, rising to the rank of captain and serving in postwar Germany. He read history at

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the mi ...

, earning an MA.

Career

After leaving Oxford, Morgan worked as a photographer for society magazine '' Tatler'' while studying for the bar exam. In 1951, he began what he thought was a temporary job working in the

House of Commons Library The House of Commons Library is the library and information resource of the lower house of the British Parliament. It was established in 1818, although its original 1828 construction was destroyed during the burning of Parliament in 1834. Th ...

Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parli ...

. He spent 12 years there before moving to the

, which was badly in need of updating. He took over as head librarian following a report by a working group, led by David Eccles, 1st Viscount Eccles, that recommended creating a research service, hiring qualified librarians for the first time, acquiring updated books, and "dipping a toe in information technology." Between 1977 and his retirement, Morgan transformed the Lords library at a time when the composition of the House of Lords was evolving. He oversaw its modernisation "from a parliamentary backwater" and "gentleman"s reading library" into a "hi-tech source of information for the increasing number of expert, working life peers." Morgan recruited a research staff and began the massive project of transferring the library's index of some 120,000 books from cars to microfiche. He continued to improve the library as technology advanced. In 1978, the library was equipped with its first two computer terminals and a Prestel machine. When he retired in 1991, the library's entire catalogue was online and had started subscribing to online databases. Morgan was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the

1991 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1991 were appointments by Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by people of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. They were published on 28 December 1990 for the United Kingdom, N ...

Personal life

From 1951–65, Morgan was married to Catherine Harriet Waterfield, with whom he had a son and daughter, James and Lucie, and two sons, Luke and Piers, who predeceased him. He married secondly American Susan Vogel Marrian in 1965,''England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005'' and had another son, Tobias. He suffered three strokes before dying in 2018, aged 91.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Roger Hugh Vaughan Charles 1926 births 2018 deaths Commanders of the Order of the British Empire People from Chelsea, London English librarians Phillips Academy alumni People educated at Eton College Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford House of Lords British Army personnel of World War II Grenadier Guards officers

Early life and education

Career

Personal life

See also

References