Sir John Henry Morris-Jones (2 November 1884 – 9 July 1972) was a Welsh doctor, soldier and Liberal Party, later Liberal National politician.
Early life, education and family Morris-Jones was born in the Caernarfonshire village of Waenfawr, the son of Captain Morris Jones and his wife Ann. He was educated at Menai Bridge Grammar School, Anglesey and St Mungo's College of Medicine in Glasgow. In 1931 he married Leila Paget-Marsland, a widow. They never had children.Who was Who, OUP 2007
Medical career Morris-Jones qualified as a doctor (LRFPS) in 1906 from Glasgow, gaining a further licence for surgery (LRCP&S) from Edinburgh, and was for twenty years a general practitioner in Colwyn Bay in North Wales. During the First World War, Morris-Jones served in the 2nd Battalion of the Worcestershire Regiment as a medical officer in France, during which time he was awarded the Military Cross. He was later granted the rank of honorary captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps. In 1915 he co-authored an article in the British Medical Journal with Hugh Lett, Surgical Experiences at Wimereux, France about his work at the Number 5, British Red Cross Hospital, also known as Lady Hadfield's Hospital. He later served as chairman of his division of the British Medical Association and of the Colwyn Bay Medical Society.The Times, (Obituary) 11.7.72
Politics Morris-Jones took an active part in the public life of the town of Colwyn Bay and the County of Denbigh. He was elected a member of Colwyn Bay Urban District Council, later becoming its chairman. He was High Sheriff Designate of the county, 1929–30, and also served as a member of the County Council. In 1956 he received the honorary freedom of Colwyn Bay. He was also appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Denbighshire and was a Justice of the Peace.
At the 1929 general election, Morris-Jones was nominated by the Llangollen Liberal Association to be the candidate for DenbighThe Times, 1.4.29 and on 4 April he was selected by the local party to stand in succession to the sitting Member of Parliament (MP) Ellis William Davies who was resigning on grounds of ill-health.The Times, 5.4.29 Morris-Jones had a straight fight against the 32-year-old Conservative, Captain Alan Crosland Graham of Clwyd Hall, Ruthin, the political private secretary to Lord Balfour.The Times, 9.4.29 The Liberal party improved its position nationally in 1929, going up from 40 to 59 seats and increasing its share of the vote by nearly 6%. However it did not make the breakthrough it had hoped for against the background of its ambitious and innovative policy programme of social, industrial and economic reform under the leadership of a reinvigorated Lloyd George. In this climate, and without a Labour opponent in Denbigh, Morris-Jones was able to increase the Liberal majority from 1,421 to 8,189.The Times, 17.10.31
Parliamentary interests While in Parliament, Morris-Jones took a particular interest in public health and agriculture both nationally and as they affected Denbighshire. He was an honorary Treasurer of the Parliamentary Medical Group from time of election in 1929 and was later appointed as a member of the Committee of Trustees set up under the MPs Pensions Act.The Times, 11.7.72 In 1938 he was a member of a Parliamentary delegation participating in events to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the founding of Australia. While there he took part in discussions about the development of the Empire, measures to stimulate immigration to Australia and the promoting of Australian trade with the USA.The Times, 3.2.38 More grimly, he was a member of a Parliamentary Delegation to Buchenwald concentration camp soon after its liberation in April 1945.
National Liberal In 1931 an economic crisis led to the formation of a National Government led by Labour prime minister Ramsay MacDonald and initially supported by the Conservative and Liberal parties. However the Liberals were increasingly divided over the issue of the National Government, particularly over the issue of Free Trade. The official party led by Sir Herbert Samuel although agreeing to go into the 1931 general election supporting the government became more and more worried about the government's stance on Free Trade and worried about the predominance of the Conservatives in the coalition. However a group of Liberal MPs led by Sir John Simon who were concerned to ensure the National Government had a wide cross-party base formed the Liberal National Party to more openly support MacDonald's administration. Morris-Jones, who had been appalled at the economic record of the second Labour Government, joined this groupDavid Dutton, Liberal Civil War: Denbigh, Oldham and the 1935 General Election; Journal of Liberal History, Issue 56, Autumn 2006, pp 8–16 and thereafter sat in the House of Commons as a Liberal National. At the 1931 general election, Morris-Jones was not opposed in Denbigh either by a Free Trade Liberal or Conservative candidate. Although bitterly opposed to MacDonald's government, Labour did not stand a candidate either, presumably for tactical reasons. So on Friday 16 October Morris-Jones retained his Parliamentary seat as one of 65 MPs returned unopposed.
Liberal schism After the 1931 general election there was a period of uncertainty in Liberal Associations about the development of separate parties in local areas and Liberals of the official and National persuasion were often regarded by local members as legitimate representatives of Liberalism, despite their formal designations. There was a belief in both camps that the split was nominal and temporary. As late as 1934 the Liberal Magazine was asserting that 'the Liberal Nationals are bound in the course of time to reunite with the normal Liberal Party'.Dutton, Journal of Liberal History, Issue 56 p.8 This was not the case everywhere however and in Denbigh Morris-Jones faced criticism and some hostility from Liberals not willing to accept his defection to the Liberal Nationals. This became more pressing after the withdrawal of the official party under Samuel from the government when Liberals argued that it had become increasingly clear that the coalition was a National Government in name only and really a Conservative administration, dominated by the massive Conservative strength in Parliament.
Government office In 1932, Morris-Jones was appointed an Assistant Government Whip and he held that post until 1935. From 1935 to 1937 he was a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury. He was knighted in the prime minister's list of the New Year's Honours in January 1937. In May 1937 when Neville Chamberlain succeeded Stanley Baldwin as prime minister, Morris-Jones was offered the position of Chief Whip to the Liberal National group after the formation of the new government but preferred 'for personal reasons' to return to the backbenches.The Times, 29.5.37
1935 General Election As the prospect of another general election approached the Liberal Party policy of not opposing sitting Liberal National MPs came increasingly under threat, although many local parties did not have the resources to put up independent Liberal candidates against incumbent Liberal Nationals. However, in Denbighshire there was a willingness to challenge Morris-Jones, who was seen more and more as a surrogate Tory. At a meeting of the Liberal Association there on 24 October 1935, as the prospect of a general election loomed, it was agreed to adopt John Cledwyn Davies, the Director of Education for Denbighshire and the Lloyd George coalition Liberal MP for Denbigh from 1922 to 1923. Morris-Jones refused to stand down and the two members of the liberal family fought each other in the general election in November. The Conservatives supported Morris-Jones and the intervention of a Labour candidate helped take votes away from Davies. Across the country the Liberal National vote remained steady and Morris-Jones held the seat with a majority of over 5,000.Dutton, Journal of Liberal History, Issue 56, p12
Independent MP For brief period during the Second World War, commencing in February 1942, Morris-Jones decided to leave the Liberal Nationals. One of his reasons for resigning from the Liberal Nationals may have been a desire to have the freedom to criticise the government over its prosecution of the war, including the need to place war production under the direction of a single minister which Morris-Jones had urged in 1941.The Times, 26.7.41 In July 1942 he was signatory to a motion which while praising the armed forces indicated a lack of confidence in the government's conduct of the war.The Times, 1.7.42 It was later recorded that he had rejoined the official Liberals along with two other MPs, Leslie Hore-Belisha and Edgar Granville.Roy Douglas, The History of the Liberal Party: 1895–1970; Sidgwick & Jackson, 1971 p244 However at the time Morris-Jones described himself as having become an IndependentThe Times, 12.8.42 although his closeness to the official party was evident in his voting record and associations.The Times, 20.2.43 Perhaps he was already thinking about post-war political alignments and wished to keep his options open. He must have been aware of the feeling that, as in the earlier split in the party between 1916 and 1923, Liberals of whatever stripe had a common Liberalism to bind them. In the end the political and electoral realities overcame the sense of Liberal family and Morris-Jones rejoined the Liberal Nationals in March 1943, presumably sensing or calculating it would be the safest way to enable him to continue as an MP.The Times, 23.11.43
Welsh political and public life In 1937 Morris-Jones was Honorary Treasurer and Honorary Secretary of the Reception Committee co-ordinating the Royal Visit to North Wales. As part of the coronation celebrations the King and Queen were to visit North Wales in July 1937. They were to open an extension to the National Library of Wales at Aberystwyth and make a ceremonial visit to Caernarfon Castle. At this time Lloyd George was Constable of the Caernarfon Castle and Morris-Jones was involved in discussion and debate with him and others about the arrangements for the visit and some bad-tempered exchanges took place over the choice of music for the royal programme which Lloyd George felt was not up to the dignity of the occasion.Colin Cross (ed.) Life with Lloyd George: The Diary of A J Sylvester, 1931–45; MacMillan, 1975 pp179-181
In 1941–2, Morris-Jones served as Chairman of the Welsh Parliamentary Party. Liberal MPs from Wales had always regarded themselves as separate Parliamentary entity, certainly from as early as 1886. They saw their role as promoting distinctly Welsh causes and being the party of Welsh nationalism.Alan Butt Philip, The Welsh Question: Nationalism in Welsh Politics, 1945–1970; University of Wales Press, 1975 and K O Morgan, Wales in British Politics 1868–1922, University of Wales Press, 1963 This role diminished with the decline of Liberalism in Wales during the 20th century and establishment of Plaid Cymru in 1925 but there remained a sentiment at Westminster that Welsh parliamentarians should meet together in the interests of their country and the Welsh Parliamentary Party which Morris-Jones chaired was therefore an informal group of Welsh MPs from all parties which met occasionally from the mid-1930s to discuss issues affecting Wales and its relationship with Whitehall and Westminster.