George Alfred Morris (15 July 1892 – 18 May 1967) was a member of the

Queensland Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly h ...

. He was the only member of the

Protestant Labor Party The Protestant Labour Party, alternatively spelt Protestant Labor, was a minor Australian political party that operated mainly in New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia in the 1920s and 1930s. It was formed by Walter Skelton in July ...

to hold a seat in the Queensland Parliament.

Biography

Morris was born in Sydney,

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, the son of William Boyd Morris and his wife Emily Jane (née Finney). He was educated at

Glebe Glebe (; also known as church furlong, rectory manor or parson's close(s))McGurk 1970, p. 17 is an area of land within an ecclesiastical parish used to support a parish priest. The land may be owned by the church, or its profits may be reserved ...

Public School, Sydney and after leaving school he enlisted with the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

and was stationed at the Haslar Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, England, and from 1915-1918 was on

HMAS Australia Two ships of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) have been named HMAS ''Australia''. A third ship was to receive the name, but her transfer from the Royal Navy to the Royal Australian Navy was cancelled: * The first , an launched in 1911, shortly aft ...

as a sick-berth attendant. He left the navy in 1923 was in show business from 1928 to 1938. He rejoined the navy when

World War II 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 opposing ...

broke out, being based at the Flinders Naval Hospital & Balmoral Depot,

Rushcutters Bay Rushcutters Bay is a harbourside eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 3 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Sydney. The suburb of Rushcutters ...

, and at Leeuwin in Western Australia. By the time he was discharged in 1944 Morris was based at

HMAS Moreton HMAS ''Moreton'' is a Royal Australian Navy (RAN) base located in , Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, responsible for providing administrative support to RAN personnel and visiting warships. It was originally established as a naval base locate ...

.MORRIS, GEORGE ALFRED
— World War II Nominal Roll. Retrieved 6 April 2016. From 1948 to 1964 he was the secretary of the Queensland Taxi Cab Owner-Drivers' Association. Morris captained the first Victorian

Rugby Union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

team to play South Africa and was a welterweight boxing champion. He was a member of the

ANZAC The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) was a First World War army corps of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. It was formed in Egypt in December 1914, and operated during the Gallipoli campaign. General William Birdwood comm ...

club, and of the Ashgrove Returned Sailors, Soldiers and Airmen's Imperial League of Australia (RSSAILA). He captained the Queensland Diggers XI in 1937 and was a life member of the Newmarket Bowling Club. On 16 July 1915 Morris married Gladys Winifred Clark (died 1971)Family history research
— Queensland Government births, deaths, marriages, and divorces. Retrieved 26 March 2016. in England and they had two sons and one daughter. He died May 1967 at Greenslopes and was cremated at the

Albany Creek Crematorium Albany, derived from the Gaelic for Scotland, most commonly refers to: *Albany, New York, the capital of the State of New York and largest city of this name *Albany, Western Australia, port city in the Great Southern Albany may also refer to: ...

.George Alfred Morris ( - 1967)
— Heaven Address. Retrieved 6 April 2016.

Public career

Morris was a member of the Protestant Labor Party, a party formed in the 1920s to counter the perceived

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

dominance of the

Labor 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 la ...

. At the Queensland state election of 1938, he contested the seat of Kelvin Grove and defeated the sitting member,

Frank Waters Frank Waters (July 25, 1902 – June 3, 1995) was an American writer. He is known for his novels and historical works about the American Southwest. The Frank Waters Foundation, founded in his name, strives to foster literary and artistic achie ...

. When World War II broke out, he received a leave of absence from parliament to rejoin the Navy. By the time the Queensland state election of 1941 came around, Morris was an independent with the Protestant Labor Party all but wound up. He was defeated at that election by the

candidate,

John Turner John Napier Wyndham Turner (June 7, 1929September 19, 2020) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 17th prime minister of Canada from June to September 1984. He served as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and leader of t ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, George Alfred Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly 1892 births 1967 deaths 20th-century Australian politicians