Page:Dictionary of National Biography, Second Supplement, volume 2.djvu/672

 Pembrokeshire, 1886). In 1892 Morris and another liberal submitted to arbitration their respective claims to be the official liberal candidate for Carmarthen Boroughs, but the award went against Morris (Western Mail, 14 April 1892). He was not a popular speaker, and suffered from a shyness often mistaken for hauteur.

He died at Penbryn on 12 Nov. 1907, and was buried at Llangunnor. By his will he left to the Aberystwyth College, for the Welsh national library (in the promotion of which he had been interested), the autograph letters of the Morris brothers, 1728-65 (edited by J. H. Davies, 2 vols. Oxford, 1906-9), and certain books. He married in 1868 Florence Julia, widow of Franklin C. Pollard, and by her, who survived him, he had two daughters and one son, Arthur Lewis, a naval constructor at Elswick. He did not announce his marriage till 1902. His portrait, painted in 1906 by Mr. Carey Morris (of Llandilo), is at Penbryn. A bust by Sir William Goscombe John, R.A., was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1899.

 MORRIS, MICHAEL,  (1826–1901), lord chief justice of Ireland and member of the judicial committee of the privy council in England, belonged to an ancient Roman catholic family which formed one of 'the fourteen tribes of Galway' and acquired the estate of Spiddal, co. Galway, by marriage in 1684. Michael Morris was elder son of Martin Morris, J.P. (1784–1862), who was high sheriff of co. Galway in 1841, being the first Roman catholic to hold that office since 1690. His mother, Julia, daughter of Dr. Charles Blake, of Galway, died of cholera in 1837. His younger brother, George (b. 1833), high sheriff of CO. Galway (1860-1) and M.P. for Galway city (1867-8 and 1874-80), was an official of the Irish local government board (1880-98), being made a K.C.B. on his retirement.

Born at Spiddal on 14 Nov. 1826, Michael Morris, after education at Erasmus Smith School, in Galway, entered Trinity College, Dublin, as an exhibitioner in 1842. His religion disqualified him from competing for a scholarship. In 1846 he graduated brilliantly as first senior moderator in ethics and logic and won a gold medal. At Trinity his chief recreation was racquet-playing, and he acquired a skill which he retained to an advanced age. After a year's foreign travel he was called to the Irish Bar in Trinity term 1849, joining the Connaught circuit. His rise in his profession was rapid, his abounding commonsense, his wit, and strong Galway brogue, which never diminished, attracted clients. Following his father's example, he was high sheriff of his county for 1849-50. From 1857 to 1865 he held the post of recorder of Galway. In February 1863 he took silk.

In July 1865 Morris was returned to parliament as member for Galway. He issued no address and identified himself with no party, yet 90 per cent, of the electors voted for him owing to the local popularity of himself and his family. He at once made his mark in the House of Commons, where he sat with the conservative party. Although of independent temperament and impatient of party ties he was distrustful of democracy, was devoted to the union and hostile to the cry of home rule. In July 1866 he was appointed solicitor-general for Ireland by Lord Derby, and was the first Roman catholic to hold that office in a conservative government. He was re-elected unopposed by his constituents. In November he was promoted to the attorney-generalship. In 1866 he was sworn of the Irish privy council; and his intimate knowledge of local affairs enabled him to do useful work on the judicial committee.

In 1867 Morris was raised to the Irish bench as puisne judge of the court of common pleas. He was succeeded in the representation of Galway by his brother George. He became chief of his court in 1876, and lord chief justice of Ireland in 1887. On the bench his good-humour and 