1217 Alpheus Morton

Constituency  : Peterborough  1889-95, Sutherland  1906-18

Alpheus  recaptured  Peterborough  for  the  main  party  after  the  death  of  the  Liberal  Unionist   John  Wentworth-Fitzwilliam.  His  victory  took  most  people  by  surprise  and  he  interpreted  as  a  measure  of  support  for  conciliation  in  Ireland.

Alpheus  was  educated  privately  in  Canada. He  became  an  architect  and  surveyor. He  was  a member  of  the  City  of  London  Corporation  from  1882  until  his  death  41  years  later. He contested  Hythe in  1885  and  Christchurch  in  1886.

Alpheus   raised  the  issue  of  the  appointment  of  magistrates  in  1893, denouncing  their  selection  by  "class  cliques".

In  1895  Alpheus  was  defeated  by  the  Liberal  Unionist  Robert  Purvis. He  wanted  to  contest  it  again  in  1900  but  the  local  Liberal  Association  adopted  Halley  Stewart  instead. He  contested  Bath  in  1900  but  came  fourth  as  the  Tories  claimed  both  seats.

Alpheus  was  mainly  responsible  for  the  public  park  at  Finsbury  Crircus.

In  1906  Alpheus  ejected  the  Liberal  Unionist  Frederick  Leveson-Gower  at  Sutherland.

In  1911  Alpheus  spoke  against  the  new  Official  Secrets  Bill  which  placed  the  onus  on  trespassers  at  prohibited  places  to  explain  themselves  saying  "It  upsets  Magna  Carta  altogether  ".

In  1918  Alpheus  was  knighted. He  stood  down  in  1918. He  died  in  1923  aged  83.