Sir William Morgan (12 September 1828 – 2 November 1883) was the

Premier of South Australia The premier of South Australia is the head of government in the state of South Australia, Australia. The Government of South Australia follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of South Australia acting as the legislature. The premier is ...

between 1878 and 1881.

Early life

William Morgan was born in

Wilshamstead Wilstead is a village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, just off the A6 Bedford to Luton road, about five miles south of Bedford town centre, and within the Borough of Bedford. The name of the village has been spelled in many differ ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...

, England, the son of George Morgan, a farmer, and his wife Sarah Morgan (''née'' Horne). Educated at

Bedford Modern School Bedford Modern School (often called BMS) is a Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference independent school in Bedford, England. The school has its origins in The Harpur Trust, born from the endowments left by Sir William Harpur in the six ...

, Morgan emigrated to

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, arriving in Port Adelaide on 13 February 1849 in the ''Glenelg''. Initially he worked on land near the

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest ...

, his life was saved by an

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

named Ranembe, whose name Morgan gave later to one of his sons. Then Morgan worked for Boord Brothers grocers; and at the beginning of 1852 he went to the

Victorian gold rush The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. It led to a period of extreme prosperity for the Australian colony, and an influx of population growth and financial capit ...

. He had modest success, returned to Adelaide, and with a brother he purchased the Boord's business, establishing William Morgan & Co. and made it a successful enterprise. In 1865 he became a founder of the

Bank of Adelaide The Bank of Adelaide was founded in 1865 in Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It was incorporated by an act of the Parliament of South Australia. The original directors of the company were Henry Ayers, Thomas Greaves Waterhouse, Robert ...

. He founded, with Charles Hawkes Todd Connor and

William Dening Glyde William Dening Glyde (c. 1826 – 4 January 1901) was a wheat merchant and politician in the colony of South Australia. Glyde was born the son of Elijah Glyde, a gentleman farmer of Waylord, Somerset and his wife Sarah, née Dening or Denning. ...

the firm of Morgan, Connor & Glyde, wheat and flour merchants of 43 King William Street. Glyde's brother

Samuel Dening Glyde Samuel Dening Glyde (18 August 1842 – 27 January 1898) was a politician in the colony of South Australia. Glyde was born in Wayford, Somerset in 1842. He migrated to Victoria, Australia at age 18 but moved on to New Zealand. He lived in Prebbl ...

joined the company and soon became a partner. In 1882 they joined a consortium, the Adelaide Milling and Mercantile Company, with John Hart & Co., W. Duffield & Co., James Cowan & Co. and Harrold Brothers; Morgan was their foundation Chairman.

Political career

Morgan was elected to the

South Australian Legislative Council The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the South Australian House of Assembly, ...

in August 1867, and was chief secretary in the second

James Boucaut Sir James Penn Boucaut (;) (29 October 1831 – 1 February 1916) was a South Australian politician and Australian judge. He was a member of the South Australian House of Assembly on four occasions: from 1861 to 1862 for City of Adelaide, from ...

government from June 1875 to March 1876. He was chief secretary again in the fourth Boucaut ministry from October 1877 to September 1878, and when Boucaut became a judge, Morgan reconstructed the ministry and on 27 September 1878 became premier and chief secretary. This ministry was in office for nearly three years but it did not have an easy passage. One important measure passed was that providing deep drainage for Adelaide, the first city in Australia to have a proper sewerage system. A

public trustee The public trustee is an office established pursuant to national (and, if applicable, state or territory) statute, to act as a trustee, usually when a sum is required to be deposited as security by legislation, if courts remove another trustee, o ...

act was passed, and there was some railway extension, but other bills were rejected by the council.

Late life

Pressure of private business, including bad investments in New Caledonia, resulted in Morgan's resignation on 24 June 1881, and the John Bray ministry came in. He was created K.C.M.G. in 1883. In May that year Morgan left Australia on a visit to England and he died suddenly on 2 November at Brighton, Sussex, aged 65. Morgan was a

self-made man "Self-made man" is a classic phrase coined on February 2, 1842 by Henry Clay in the United States Senate, to describe individuals whose success lay within the individuals themselves, not with outside conditions. Benjamin Franklin, one of the Foun ...

who had liberal opinions. He was an avid free-trader who held that protective duties taxed the people least able to bear the burden. He was an excellent speaker, able administrator and might have had a more important place in South Australian politics if he had lived longer.

Family

On 8 July 1854 Morgan married Harriett, daughter of Thomas Matthews of Hurd's Hill, Coromandel Valley; together they had nine children. Harriet survived him with two sons and two daughters, including: *Dr. Alexander Matheson Morgan MB (11 February 1867 – 18 October 1934) was a noted ornithologist. He married Myrtle Dutton Green, daughter of

George Dutton Green George Dutton Green (1 May 1850 – 27 April 1911) was a land agent, auctioneer and politician in the colony of South Australia. He was generally referred to as "Dutton Green" and adopted it as his family name, occasionally hyphenated. He was b ...

, on 11 October 1905. :* William Matheson Morgan (9 November 1906 – 2 February 1972) mining engineer

References

, - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, William People educated at Bedford Modern School Premiers of South Australia Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George 1828 births 1883 deaths 19th-century Australian politicians English emigrants to colonial Australia 19th-century Australian businesspeople Members of the South Australian Legislative Council