Reminiscences of Rotherham
by G. Gummer, J.P.
« « prevman to admire. Full of energy, zeal, and love for the town, his efforts were generally on the side that made for its advancement and progress. Gifted with a facility of speech which often ran to verbosity, he found it difficult to impose restraint upon his flow of sentiment. As a result of this, his speeches were anything but concise expressions, and even for those days when long speeches and laboured perorations were in vogue, his were considered lengthened dissertations upon whatever subject happened to be before the meeting. How few of us are able to recognise the difference between concise observation and that ornamental twaddle, which only serves to annoy and irritate an appreciative audience. Several good stories told of him illustrate these traits in his character.
At a crowded meeting where he was the chief speaker, a man leaving the meeting, when asked,'has he finished', replied 'he finished half an hour ago, but he cant stop' . Although he occupied the civic chair, he did not let this interfere with his business. He made his usual visits as the commercial representative of his firm. On one occasion whilst staying at the Griffin Hotel in Leeds. one of his customers called and sent the boots in quest of the alderman. After calling out at the commercial room door or two occasions. 'Is Mr. Morgan here?' and failing to get any response, the boots made a third visit, and in a louder voice than before, repeated the call, 'Is Mr. Morgan here ' .The alderman, who had been in the room when the previous calls were made, rising from the depths of an arm chair, in a loud sonorous voice replied, If it is Alderman Morgan, the Mayor of Rotherham, you want, yes, I am here.'
During his year of office he received an invitation to be present at a distribution of prizes at the School of Art. Standing on his dignity he declined, and called the attention of the honorary secretary (Mr.G. B. Willis) to having omitted to address the circular inviting him to the gathering in a way becoming the dignity of his position, and begged to remind him the Mayor was the chief officer of the borough, and therefore as they had invited another gentleman to present the prizes, and the president to take the chair, he (the Mayor of Rotherham), could not be present to take the position of a townsman only. As the Mayor, had been invited in his private capacity, this incident caused a good deal of amusement in the town.
When the Duchess of Teck and Princess Mary (now Queen of England) visited the Elsecar Exhibition in 1886, they used the Rotherham Great Central Station because it was the most convenient for Wentworth Woodhouse, the mansion of their noble host. Earl Fitzwilliam. On their arrival a line of the local Volunteers was drawn up as a guard of honour, and when the Duchess appeared in front of the station, the harmony and enthusiasm of the proceedings were marred by Mr. Morgan, then a conncillor. forcing his way through the line and approaching the carriage in which their Royalties had taken their seats. The police sought to prevent this excess of loyalty and seized Mr. Morgan. who struck out right and left, and was not quietened down for some time. In the mean time the crowd were hurling remarks of uncomplimentary character as to the councillor’s conduct. Subsequently, proceedings were instituted by the police, and when the case came before the Court a fine was imposed. Lord Rossmere in his book, Things I can Tell describes the Duchess of Teck as a charming lady of genial personality, handsome, full of tact and possessed of a keen sense of humour. I have in my possession a letter written by the Duchess to my father (who was Mayor at the time), in which reference is made to this unfortunate episode, and which fully bears out Lord Rossmere’s description. The following is a copy:
London, 27, Berkeley Square,
June 22nd, 1886.
Dear Mr. Mayor,
Princess Mary and I most earnestly hope that you will not take proceedings against Mr. Morgan. We cannot believe that there was any intention on his part to worry next »