| Morgan Williams MP | |
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| Morgan Williams in 1935 | |
| Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Kaiapoi |
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| In office 1935 – 1946 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | 1878 Wales |
| Died | 1970 (aged 91–92) |
| Relations | Morgan Williams (grandson) |
Charles Morgan Williams MBE (1878–1970), known as Morgan Williams, was a Mayor and Member of Parliament for Kaiapoi in Canterbury, New Zealand.
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C. Morgan Williams was born in Wales in 1878 and came to New Zealand in 1902. He worked as a farm labourer in the Kaiapoi district until 1906, when he bought and leased land in the Tram Road area and grew potatoes. On the peat land he developed an extensive drainage system to allow dairy farming and founded the Maesgwyn herd of pedigree Ayrshire cattle. Williams purchased the property known as "Waverley" from Richard Evans in 1925. He also established the grain and produce business of C. Morgan Williams and Son in Charles Street, Kaiapoi.
Morgan Williams was closely associated with afforestation at Kaiapoi for over fifty years. He undertook block plantings on Council Reserves, and at Ohoka, Clarkville and Mandeville. In 1939 he was appointed by the Kaiapoi Borough Council as honorary supervisor of forests. At a public meeting in 1955, Williams received a presentation from the Mayor Norman Kirk, in recognition of his service to the borough and his care of 245 acres of forest reserves.
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| Years | Term | Electorate | Party | |
| 1935–1938 | 25th | Kaiapoi | Labour | |
| 1938–1943 | 26th | Kaiapoi | Labour | |
| 1943–1946 | 27th | Kaiapoi | Labour | |
Morgan Williams local body activities began with his election to the Kaiapoi Borough Council in 1927, he was elected Mayor in 1947 and served a term.
He represented the Canterbury electorate of Kaiapoi from 1935 to 1946, when he was defeated standing for St Albans. He was awarded the M.B.E. in 1956, but for the rest of his life, he did not wear the medal as he considered it a community, and not a personal commendation. Williams was a Chairman of the Dairy Produce Marketing Commission (Logan, p. 152).
Morgan Williams died in 1970. By his personal request, the funeral service was conducted by a former Minister of Finance, and parliamentary colleague, the Hon. Sir Arnold Nordmeyer.
Barry Gustafson has described C. Morgan Williams as "undoubtedly intelligent and able" (Savage, p. 301). Ormond Wilson, in his "An Outsider Looks Back: Reflections on Experience" details Morgan Williams clash with Walter Nash on the Universal Family Benefit ("the well-to-do already had theirs-tax rebates"), and Bob Semple on freedom of speech laws with Semple boasting would "not allow Communist literature in Public Work Camps" (Wilson, Port Nicholson Press, 1982, p. 71).
A son, Charles Thomas Williams, was also involved in local body affairs in Kaiapoi. Charles Williams was first elected to the Council in 1937, serving at different times for more than twenty years altogether. He was Deputy Mayor under Norm Kirk from 1953 to 1957 and assumed the Mayoralty when Kirk entered Parliament.
A grandson, also called Morgan Williams, was a Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment.
(Morgan Williams Papers, Alexander Turnbull Library, MS 998, Wellington).
(Quoted in Mary Logan, Nordy: Arnold Nordmeyer, Wellington, Steele Roberts 2008, p. 155).
Morgan Williams wrote a book on his life, which is held at the Canterbury Museum Research Centre. It is a fascinating account of his early struggles and personal and political philosophy.
| Parliament of New Zealand | ||
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| Preceded by Richard Hawke |
Member of Parliament for Kaiapoi 1935–1946 |
Constituency abolished |