John Morley

The Right Honourable The Viscount Morley of Blackburn OM PC FRS
Lord Morley of Blackburn
Chief Secretary for Ireland
In office 6 February 1886 – 20 July 1886
Monarch	Queen Victoria
Prime Minister	William Ewart Gladstone
Preceded by	W. H. Smith
Succeeded by	Sir Michael Hicks Beach, Bt
In office 22 August 1892 – 21 June 1895
Monarch	Queen Victoria
Prime Minister	William Ewart Gladstone The Earl of Rosebery
Preceded by	William Jackson
Succeeded by	Gerald Balfour
Secretary of State for India
In office 10 December 1905 – 3 November 1910
Monarch	Edward VII George V
Prime Minister	Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman H. H. Asquith
Preceded by	Hon. St John Brodrick
Succeeded by	The Earl of Crewe
In office 7 March 1911 – 25 May 1911
Monarch	George V
Prime Minister	H. H. Asquith
Preceded by	The Earl of Crewe
Succeeded by	The Earl of Crewe
Lord President of the Council
In office 7 November 1910 – 5 August 1914
Monarch	George V
Prime Minister	H. H. Asquith
Preceded by	The Earl Beauchamp
Succeeded by	The Earl Beauchamp
Personal details
Born	(1838-12-24)24 December 1838 Blackburn, Lancashire, England
Died	23 September 1923(1923-09-23) (aged 84)
Political party	Liberal Party
Spouse(s)	Rose Mary (d. 1923)
Alma mater	Lincoln College, Oxford

John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn, OM, PC, FRS (24 December 1838 – 23 September 1923) was a British Liberal statesman, writer and newspaper editor.

Initially a journalist, he was elected a Member of Parliament in 1883. He was Chief Secretary for Ireland in 1886 and between 1892 and 1895, Secretary of State for India between 1905 and 1910 and again in 1911 and Lord President of the Council between 1910 and 1914. Morley was a distinguished political commentator, and biographer of his hero, William Gladstone. Morley is best known for his writings and for his "reputation as the last of the great nineteenth-century Liberals". He opposed imperialism and the Boer War. His opposition to British entry into the First World War as an ally of Russia led him to leave government in August 1914.

Morley was born in Blackburn, Lancashire, the son of Jonathan Morley, a surgeon, and of Priscilla Mary (née Donkin). He was educated at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Blackburn, Hoole's Academy, University College School, Cheltenham College, and Lincoln College, Oxford. While at Oxford, he quarrelled with his father over religion, and had to leave the University early without an honours degree; his father had wanted him to become a clergyman. He wrote, in obvious allusion to this rift, On Compromise (1874).