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

Allahabad High Court Allahabad High Court, also known as High Court of Judicature at Allahabad is the high court based in Prayagraj that has jurisdiction over the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It was established on 17 March 1866, making it one of the oldest high ...

. He also became the Chief justice of the

Madras High Court The Madras High Court is a High Court in India. It has appellate jurisdiction over the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It is located in Chennai, and is the third oldest high court of India after the Calcutta High C ...

from 1871 to 1879.

Life

Morgan was born in

Llantrisant Llantrisant (; "Parish of the Three Saints") is a town in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales, lying on the River Ely and the Afon Clun. The three saints of the town's name are SS ...

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, the son of Walter Morgan, and educated at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

.''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 exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

, 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 Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

(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 Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administrat ...

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

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

. While

Swami Vivekananda Swami Vivekananda (; ; 12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born Narendranath Datta (), was an Indian Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the intro ...

's father

Vishwanath Datta Vishwanath Datta (1835 — 25 February 1884) was a Bengali Attorney at law, philanthropist and novelist. He was the father of Swami Vivekananda, Mahendranath Dutta and Bhupendranath Dutta. Early life Vishwanath was born in an aristocratic Hindu ...

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 Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

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. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...

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 Sir David Hunter-Blair, 3rd Baronet (1778–1857) was a Scottish plantation owner in Jamaica. He also held the office of King's Printer in Scotland. Life The second son of Sir James Hunter-Blair, 1st Baronet (1741–1787), he succeeded his unmarr ...

. 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 o ...

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