Richard Morgan (Tudor judge)

Sir Richard Morgan SL PC (died May 1556) was a Welsh lawyer, judge and politician of the mid-Tudor period.

Richard had a younger brother, John Philip Morgan, who was also a Member of Parliament in the reign of Mary.

Hitherto, the feudal lordships established by the Normans still had a reality, especially in Monmouthshire, where the authority of the Council of Wales and the Marches, based at Ludlow in Shropshire, was often ignored.

Lisle's subsequent arrest and imprisonment, on suspicion of treason, led to his voluminous correspondence being seized, fortuitously preserving records of his dealings with Morgan.

He was sent to Fleet Prison on 24 March 1551 for hearing Mass at the chapel of Princess Mary He submitted to the Privy Council and was released on 4 May[1] with a warning.

Nevertheless, he was an active parliamentarian throughout Edward's reign and his legal acumen ensured he was entrusted with important investigative work and drafting.

After the death of Edward VI Morgan joined Mary and her supporters at Kenninghall Castle in Norfolk, in a successful act of resistance to the installation of Lady Jane Grey as queen by the Protestant faction of John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland.

Gloucester's indenture or electoral return was dated 6 January and placed Morgan first in order of precedence over Thomas Bell, the former mayor.

The Duchy of Lancaster owned the manor and borough of Monmouth and exercised great influence over the election, although the burgesses entitled to vote were numerous.

[1] However, Thomas Lane, the previous recorder died on 2 December 1544 – the day after the parliament was summoned and a month before the elections.

Gloucester was the larger and more prestigious constituency, having prospered and become more sophisticated under the leadership of Bell, an immensely wealthy Milliner.

Morgan was returned to the first parliament of Edward VI's reign, this time second in order of precedence to Bell, who had recently been knighted.

[1] This was an important part of the monarchy's legislative programme, proposing to release fee farms for three years: Gloucester's had been fixed at £60 in 1489.

On their way to parliament, Brandling and his retinue were attacked at Topcliffe in Yorkshire by Sir John Widdrington's men, assisted by Ralph Ellerker.

Ward had taken out an action for breach of privilege on his own account, obtaining a writ from Chancery without consulting the House of Commons.

[10] Morgan was one of those deputed to the redraft the Treason Act 1551 to make it illegal to say that the king "is an heretic, schismatic, infidel or usurper of the crown."

In the final months of Edward VI's reign, Morgan was commissioned by Parliament, along with his fellow Catholic, Robert Broke, to investigate the Maidstone election scandal.

[11] The issue was complicated by the developing succession crisis, in which John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, apparently with the king's support, manoeuvred for Lady Jane Grey, his own daughter-in-law, to be nominated Edward's successor.

Maidstone was in the Protestant heartland of Kent: Thomas Wyatt was lord of the manor and the returning officer was Sir John Guildford, the High Sheriff of Kent who was a cousin of Dudley's wife One of the MPs elected was a relative of both Dudley and Jane Grey.

"[12] The result of the investigation is not known but can be guessed, as Maidstone's right to representation was not established until 1558, after Queen Elizabeth succeeded her Catholic sister, Mary.

His first will, dated 18 July 1552, was made three months after the passing of the second Act of Uniformity of Edward VI's reign, which prohibited attendance at services not covered by the Book of Common Prayer.

Foxe reports: The story was repeated, almost verbatim, in Holinshed's Chronicles[15] and became the accepted explanation of his sudden fall from power and influence.

Probably Morgan was suspended because of a condition that was believed to affect his judgement or ability to practise as a judge, but the idea that he was driven mad by remorse is likely to be largely invention.

Richard Morgan died most likely in late May 1556 and was buried on 2 June at St Magnus-the-Martyr, his local parish church in the City of London.