Reverend Robert (Bob) Harman Morgan (28 October 1928 – 23 November 2011) was a

Church in Wales The Church in Wales ( cy, Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru) is an Anglicanism, Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses. The Archbishop of Wales does not have a fixed archiepiscopal see, but serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishop ...

vicar and Labour Party politician, who became leader of

South Glamorgan County Council South Glamorgan County Council ( cy, Cyngor Sir De Morgannwg) was the local government authority that administered the county of South Glamorgan, Wales from its creation in 1974 until its abolition in 1996. History Local government in England and ...

. He was the father of Labour politician

Eluned Morgan Eluned Morgan may refer to: *Eluned Morgan (author) (1870–1938), Welsh writer *Eluned Morgan, Baroness Morgan of Ely (born 1967), Welsh politician {{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Eluned ...

Early life and education

Morgan was born on 28 October 1928 and grew up in

Tremorfa Tremorfa (Welsh for ''Tre'' town + ''morfa'' coastal marsh) is a district and (since 2016) community of the city of Cardiff, Wales. It falls into the Splott ward of Cardiff. Transport Tremorfa is served by the Cardiff Bus 11 route (was 61 for ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, until the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

forced his family to evacuate to

Aberdare Aberdare ( ; cy, Aberdâr) is a town in the Cynon Valley area of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, at the confluence of the Rivers Dare (Dâr) and Cynon. Aberdare has a population of 39,550 (mid-2017 estimate). Aberdare is south-west of Merthyr Tyd ...

where he went to the local

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

. After the war he returned to Cardiff and, after spending National Service in the RAF, got a job as an insurance clerk. With ambitions to become a social worker he took two A-levels in six months, before graduating in Politics and Economics at

University College, Cardiff , latin_name = , image_name = Shield of the University of Cardiff.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University , motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord , mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord , established = 1 ...

. He went on to the theological college at

Mirfield Mirfield () is a town and civil parish in Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the A644 road between Brighouse and Dewsbury. At the 2011 census it had a population of 19,563. Mirfield f ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

before being ordained in 1957 to a curacy at

St Augustine's Church, Penarth St Augustine's Church ( cy, Eglwys Sant Awstin) is a Grade I-listed Gothic Revival nineteenth-century parish church in Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. History Written records indicate there has been a church on this site since 1242. In 118 ...

where he served until 1961. He married his wife, Elaine, in 1963.

Career

In 1961 Morgan became curate on the large Cardiff housing estate of

Ely Ely or ELY may refer to: Places Ireland * Éile, a medieval kingdom commonly anglicised Ely * Ely Place, Dublin, a street United Kingdom * Ely, Cambridgeshire, a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England ** Ely Cathedral Ely Cathedral, formal ...

. He became vicar of the Ely parish (which had been formed by the Mirfield Community of the Resurrection) in 1967. He raised £10,000 to repair the Church of the Resurrection and established himself as a central figure in the area. The Church of the Resurrection became a community centre and refuge for the locals. It held a weekly disco in the church hall. In 1974, after being encouraged by a church warden to enter into politics, Morgan was elected to

Cardiff City Council Cardiff City Council was the local government district authority that administered the city of Cardiff, capital of Wales, from 1974 until 1996. The district council replaced the pre-1974 county borough council. It was succeeded in 1996 by Car ...

and

for the Ely ward. In 1977 he became leader of

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

group on South Glamorgan Council and subsequently leader of the council when Labour regained control in 1982. He led the regeneration of Cardiff's impoverished ex-industrial areas. He was replaced by Jack Brooks as leader in 1989, became chairman of the council in 1992, before retiring from politics the following year. Morgan was awarded the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(OBE) in the 1994

New Years Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...

, for "services to the community in South Glamorgan". He became an honorary

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

Llandaff Cathedral Llandaff Cathedral ( cy, Eglwys Gadeiriol Llandaf) is an Anglican cathedral and parish church in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales. It is the seat of the Bishop of Llandaff, head of the Church in Wales Diocese of Llandaff. It is dedicated to Saint Peter ...

in the same year.

Retirement and death

Morgan retired to live in

St Davids St Davids or St David's ( cy, Tyddewi, , "David's house”) is a city and a community (named St Davids and the Cathedral Close) with a cathedral in Pembrokeshire, Wales, lying on the River Alun. It is the resting place of Saint David, W ...

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; cy, Sir Benfro ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the rest by sea. The count ...

. He died on 23 November 2011 at

Morriston Hospital Morriston Hospital ( cy, Ysbyty Treforys) is a 750-bed hospital located in Cwmrhydyceirw near Morriston in Swansea, Wales. It is managed by Swansea Bay University Health Board. Alongside its role as a district general hospital, Morriston is a t ...

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

. In tribute, former

First Minister of Wales , insignia = First Minister of Wales logo.png , insigniasize = 120px , insigniacaption = Logo , flag = Flag of Wales.svg , flagsize = 120px , flagborder = yes , flagcaption = Flag of Wales , image = File:Mark Drakeford (cropped).jpg , ...

Rhodri Morgan Hywel Rhodri Morgan (29 September 1939 – 17 May 2017) was a Welsh Labour politician who was the First Minister of Wales and the Leader of Welsh Labour from 2000 to 2009. He was also the Assembly Member for Cardiff West from 1999 to 2011 and t ...

said ""He was a massive figure in Ely and in South Glamorgan politics, and he married religion and politics remarkably effectively in that he never saw any distinction between being a very committed Christian vicar of a very deprived parish... and being a leader and member of the Labour group on South Glamorgan county council." In 2016 a memorial glass screen was unveiled at the Church of Resurrection, with lines from the

Magnificat The Magnificat (Latin for "

y soul Y, or y, is the twenty-fifth and penultimate letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. According to some authorities, it is the sixth (or sevent ...

magnifies

he Lord He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

) is a canticle, also known as the Song of Mary, the Canticle of Mary and, in the Eastern Christianity, Byzantine tradition, the Ode of the Theotokos (). It is traditionally incorporated ...

in English and Welsh.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Bob 1928 births 2011 deaths Alumni of Cardiff University 20th-century Welsh Anglican priests Councillors in Cardiff Politicians from Cardiff Members of South Glamorgan County Council Officers of the Order of the British Empire Welsh Labour councillors Leaders of local authorities of Wales