Sir Walter Morgan (1821–1903) was a Welsh judge who is the first Chief Justice of the

Allahabad High Court Allahabad High Court, officially known as High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, is the high court based in the city of Prayagraj, formerly known as Allahabad, that has jurisdiction over the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It was established o ...

. He also became the Chief justice of

Madras High Court The High Court of Judicature at Madras is a High Courts of India, High Court located in Chennai, India. It has appellate jurisdiction over the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry. It is one of ...

from 1871 to 1879.

Life

Morgan was born in

Llantrisant Llantrisant (; "Parish of the Three Saints") is a town and community in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It lies within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, on the River Ely and the Afon Clun. The three saints of the t ...

Glamorgan Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...

, Wales, the son of Walter Morgan, and educated at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

.''Calcutta Review'', vol. 118-119, University of Calcutta, 1904, pg 294 He entered the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

, and was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

22 November 1844. His early years in the profession were uninspiring, and his progress slow, leading him to consider other employment, until he conceived of going to India. Morgan served as a puisne judge at Calcutta (where, with his mastery of equity law, he was considered 'one of the most well-informed legal men' there) before being promoted to Chief Justice at

Allahabad Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

, where he served from 1866 to 1871, having also been

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

. While

Swami Vivekananda Swami Vivekananda () (12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born Narendranath Datta, was an Indian Hindus, Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. Vivekananda was a major figu ...

's father

Vishwanath Datta Vishwanath Datta (1835 — 23 February 1884) was a Bengali lawyer, philanthropist and novelist. He was the father of Swami Vivekananda, Mahendranath Dutta and Bhupendranath Dutta. Early life Vishwanath was born to an aristocratic Hindu family ...

applied to be enrolled as an attorney-at-law, Morgan approved the prayer. His reputation continued to increase during this period, which stood him in good stead to take the position of Chief Justice at Calcutta, Bombay or Madras.''The Lawyer'', vol. 2, 1970, p. 90 With no opening at Calcutta or Bombay, Morgan was appointed Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, where he remained until 7 February 1879. Although Morgan was respected during his time at Madras, he was not a loved figure to either the Bar or the public; some were critical of him, and he was perceived as 'chill' and 'colourless'. Morgan died in 1903, having lived at

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...

Family

Morgan's eldest son, Walter, married Caroline, daughter of John Hunter-Blair of the Madras Civil Service, and granddaughter of Sir David Hunter-Blair, 3rd Baronet. Fifth son Harington Morgan (d. 1914), a barrister of the

and judge in the Civil Courts of Justice in Sudan, married Lilian Elizabeth Lutley (daughter of

Philip Lutley Sclater Philip Lutley Sclater (4 November 1829 – 27 June 1913) was an English lawyer and zoologist. In zoology, he was an expert ornithologist, and identified the main zoogeographic regions of the world. He was Secretary of the Zoological Society ...

and Jane Anne Eliza, daughter of Sir David Hunter-Blair, 3rd Baronet); Lilian was therefore a first cousin of Caroline Hunter-Blair, mentioned above.''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage'' 1999, volume 1, pg 209

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Walter 1821 births 1903 deaths 19th-century Welsh lawyers Knights Bachelor Chief justices of the Madras High Court 19th-century Indian judges British India judges 19th-century Indian lawyers Alumni of King's College London