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Captain Alfred Bishop MORTON, 1897
BiographyThe following biography is from "REMEMBRANCE - Auckland Grammar School Great War Roll of Honour"
by Andrew Connolly and Peter Stanes
CAPTAIN ALFRED BISHOP MORTON, 1897
New Zealand Staff Corps, 10/512
Died 3rd May, 1915
Alfred Bishop Morton was born in Devonport, Auckland on 18th February 1882. His parents were William Edmund Morton and Elizabeth Ayerst Bishop.
His grandfather, Henry Mitten Morton, was a master printer, who was born in Shepton Mallet, Somerset, England, in July 1818, to Richard Mitten and Elizabeth Morton. He married Caroline Elizabeth Bampton in mid-1844 in East London. Caroline, who was born in May 1820 in Cripplegate, London, was a daughter of James Berter Bampton, a coal merchant, and Henrietta Bruce. Henry and Caroline settled into life in Islington, London, with Henry working as a printer-compositor. By 1861, they were living in St. Pancras, Marylebone and had one daughter and seven sons, of whom William Edmund Morton, born in Clerkenwell, London, in mid-1848, was the second oldest child. Looking for better opportunities, Henry decided to take the family to New Zealand. They arrived in Auckland from London in September 1863 on board the sailing ship Tyburnia (96 days), as part of the Albertland settlers. However, they decided not to take up their land and, instead, remained in Auckland, where Henry and his son, William, both joined the Daily Southern Cross newspaper. They assisted in producing the first issue of the Auckland Weekly News in their first year. Initially, the family lived in Conquest Place, Parnell, until 1880, with a brief time in Pitt Terrace (now Poynton Terrace) in the city. In late 1880, they moved to the corner of Buchanan and Clarence (now Flagstaff Terrace) Streets in Devonport, where Henry died in April 1881 and Caroline in July 1902.
William Edmund Morton grew up in London. Aged 12 years, he went to work as a reader’s boy at Messrs. Eyre and Spottiswode, Queen’s Printers, in Fleet Street. He then moved to another publishing firm, Messrs. Smith and Elders, in Newgate Street. He read the manuscripts of most of the famous authors of the day, including Dickens and Thackeray, and learnt typesetting, at which he became an expert. Some years after arriving in New Zealand, William entered business life, working with two brothers, Henry Bruce and Edward Morton, in the firm of H. B. Morton and Co., general merchants and importers. In 1878, William was living in Pitt Street, in the city, and, in May 1879, he married Elizabeth Ayerst Bishop in Remuera.
Elizabeth Bishop was the second youngest daughter of John Bishop, a farmer, who was born in late 1817 in Rolvenden, Kent, to Nicholas Bishop and Catherine Sophia Manwaring. John grew up in Rolvenden and, in the last quarter of 1839, married a local girl, Hannah Maria Edwards, who was born in early 1805 to William and Hannah Edwards. They remained in Rolvenden, living on a 195 acre farm in Forsham Castle house and had one son, John, in 1839, before Hannah died in September 1844. About 1854, John was remarried to Kate, born in 1829, whose maiden name may have been Ayerst, and they were to have a son and three daughters in Rolvenden. The Bishop family also decided to emigrate to New Zealand. They arrived in Auckland from London in May 1860 on board the sailing ship Avon (114 days). The family must have been quite wealthy, because, unlike the vast majority of emigrants who travelled in steerage, they travelled in the chief cabin, except for John, now 21 years old, who had to travel in the second cabin with other single men. They moved to New Plymouth and settled on a farm in Devon Road, and, by 1880, they had come to Auckland and were farming in Howick, while owning 160 acres in the Waitakeres. By this time, John and Kate had had a further daughter and two sons, all born in New Zealand, and, some time before 1890, they retired to Orakei Road in Remuera, where John died in August 1902 and Kate in January 1908. Elizabeth Ayerst Bishop was born in 1857 and baptised in December of that year, the last child of John and Kate to be born in England.
William and Elizabeth Morton settled after their marriage in “Melrose”, Devonport, afterwards moving to farm at Red Hill, Papakura, through much of the 1890s. About the turn of the century, they came into Auckland and lived for at least seven years at 82 Grafton Road, before moving to Glasgow Terrace in Newmarket. Their final move was in 1913 to 15 Momona Road in Greenlane, and it was here that both William and Elizabeth died, in September 1935 and February 1931 respectively. William and Elizabeth had five children, Alfred being the second eldest child of four boys. He was one of two boys1 to attend Grammar.
Alfred Bishop Morton was a Cadet at Grammar and, on leaving the School, he initially worked as a clerk in the family firm of H.B. Morton & Co. in Customs Street, while living in Grafton Road. On 20th November 1898, he joined, as a volunteer, the Auckland College Rifles before attesting on 3rd January 1901 as a Private soldier (Service Number 3258) to serve in the Boer War. He sailed with the 6th N.Z. Contingent and saw action in the Cape Colony and Orange Free State. He returned to New Zealand on 20th May 1902. On 1st March 1903, he joined A battery of the N.Z. Field Artillery and he was promoted on 14th June 1907 from Sergeant Major to Lieutenant. On 17th March 1911, he transferred to the permanent staff of the New Zealand Defence Force, being assigned to the Staff Office Corps on 6th July 1911. He spent two years in Paeroa as an officer for the Defence Department, before being transferred back to Auckland. On the occasion of the visit of General Sir Ian Hamilton to Auckland on 13th May 1914, he mobilised, with great success, a parade of some three thousand senior cadets, and was especially congratulated by both General Hamilton and Lord Liverpool, Governor of New Zealand at the time. He was awarded both the Long Service and Good Conduct Medals.
Morton left New Zealand in the Main Body of the N.Z.E.F. in October 1914, arriving at Suez on 3rd December. In Egypt, he was closely involved in the administration of the N.Z.E.F. He wrote “I watched the Brigade march into camp one day last week after a hard day in the desert and it was a fine sight. The men looked a picture of health and readiness for action.” He embarked from Alexandria for the Dardanelles on 12th April 1915, and landed on the peninsular as a Staff Officer with the NZ Brigade Headquarters, having already cemented a strong reputation as one of the most effective officers on the Staff. A week after landing, Morton obtained permission to enter the front line and it was whilst leading a company of the Otago Regiment in fierce fighting at Quinn’s Post that he was fatally wounded. There were initial doubts as to his fate, but a Military Court of Enquiry established he had died of wounds on 3rd May 1915. Alfred Morton was 33 years of age; he has no known grave and is commemorated on the Lone Pine Memorial.
Private Francis Henry Morton (1895), N.Z. Training Camp, 87148, at time of Armistice; died 1951.
Captain Alfred Bishop Morton, N.Z.S.C., second son of Mr. William E. Morton, Greenlane, reported missing on Gallipoli on May 3, 1915, was one of the keenest and most popular of Auckland’s younger officers. He entered the School in 1897, and gained his first military training as a member of the Grammar School Cadets, later on joining the Auckland College Rifles. At the age of 18 he volunteered for service in South Africa, and as a private took part in the fighting in the Transvaal, Orange River Colony, on the Natal border, and in Cape Colony, gaining the Queen’s Medal with five clasps. On returning to Auckland in 1902, he entered commercial life, but his heart was always in military work, and he joined the “A” Battery Field Artillery, quickly passing through all ranks, from gunner to lieutenant. His great opportunity for entering a military career came when the territorial system was organised, and he was appointed to the position of Group Officer at Paeroa in 1911. In 1913, Captain Morton was transferred to Auckland as officer in charge of No. 1 Area Group. His duties included the organisation of the Senior Cadet force, and he brought to the work that unflagging zeal 69 GALLIPOLI and enthusiasm which characterised all his military life. When war broke out in 1914, Captain Morton was appointed Staff-Captain to the Infantry Brigade, and left with the Main Expeditionary Force. While in Egypt he was offered command of the Maori Battalion, with promotion in rank, but he refused it, preferring to remain with his comrades. He came safely through the Landing of April 25th, and during the following week rendered splendid service in a time of unparalleled stress and hardship. On the Sunday following the Landing, at his own request, he was permitted by General E. Johnstone, Officer in Charge of the N.Z. Infantry Brigade, to relinquish his staff duties, and to lead a company of the Otago men into the attack on Quinn’s Post. The story of that fearful disaster is now well known; the Turks, strongly entrenched, enfiladed the attacking party, and on Monday morning, May 3rd, they were practically wiped out. Captain Morton was last seen at dawn, rallying his men after a night of bloodshed and horror, and from that point all record of this brave officer ceases. The utmost search and inquiry, both on Gallipoli and later, failed to reveal any indication of how he came to his end.
CHRONICLE 1919, V.3, N.2 P7
Date of birth18-2-1882Date of death3-5-1915Year of entry1897CollectionsWW1 Roll of HonourPeople CollectionsPeopleCategoryPeople | Students | OtherRemembrance | WW1People | Old Boys | Armed Forces
by Andrew Connolly and Peter Stanes
CAPTAIN ALFRED BISHOP MORTON, 1897
New Zealand Staff Corps, 10/512
Died 3rd May, 1915
Alfred Bishop Morton was born in Devonport, Auckland on 18th February 1882. His parents were William Edmund Morton and Elizabeth Ayerst Bishop.
His grandfather, Henry Mitten Morton, was a master printer, who was born in Shepton Mallet, Somerset, England, in July 1818, to Richard Mitten and Elizabeth Morton. He married Caroline Elizabeth Bampton in mid-1844 in East London. Caroline, who was born in May 1820 in Cripplegate, London, was a daughter of James Berter Bampton, a coal merchant, and Henrietta Bruce. Henry and Caroline settled into life in Islington, London, with Henry working as a printer-compositor. By 1861, they were living in St. Pancras, Marylebone and had one daughter and seven sons, of whom William Edmund Morton, born in Clerkenwell, London, in mid-1848, was the second oldest child. Looking for better opportunities, Henry decided to take the family to New Zealand. They arrived in Auckland from London in September 1863 on board the sailing ship Tyburnia (96 days), as part of the Albertland settlers. However, they decided not to take up their land and, instead, remained in Auckland, where Henry and his son, William, both joined the Daily Southern Cross newspaper. They assisted in producing the first issue of the Auckland Weekly News in their first year. Initially, the family lived in Conquest Place, Parnell, until 1880, with a brief time in Pitt Terrace (now Poynton Terrace) in the city. In late 1880, they moved to the corner of Buchanan and Clarence (now Flagstaff Terrace) Streets in Devonport, where Henry died in April 1881 and Caroline in July 1902.
William Edmund Morton grew up in London. Aged 12 years, he went to work as a reader’s boy at Messrs. Eyre and Spottiswode, Queen’s Printers, in Fleet Street. He then moved to another publishing firm, Messrs. Smith and Elders, in Newgate Street. He read the manuscripts of most of the famous authors of the day, including Dickens and Thackeray, and learnt typesetting, at which he became an expert. Some years after arriving in New Zealand, William entered business life, working with two brothers, Henry Bruce and Edward Morton, in the firm of H. B. Morton and Co., general merchants and importers. In 1878, William was living in Pitt Street, in the city, and, in May 1879, he married Elizabeth Ayerst Bishop in Remuera.
Elizabeth Bishop was the second youngest daughter of John Bishop, a farmer, who was born in late 1817 in Rolvenden, Kent, to Nicholas Bishop and Catherine Sophia Manwaring. John grew up in Rolvenden and, in the last quarter of 1839, married a local girl, Hannah Maria Edwards, who was born in early 1805 to William and Hannah Edwards. They remained in Rolvenden, living on a 195 acre farm in Forsham Castle house and had one son, John, in 1839, before Hannah died in September 1844. About 1854, John was remarried to Kate, born in 1829, whose maiden name may have been Ayerst, and they were to have a son and three daughters in Rolvenden. The Bishop family also decided to emigrate to New Zealand. They arrived in Auckland from London in May 1860 on board the sailing ship Avon (114 days). The family must have been quite wealthy, because, unlike the vast majority of emigrants who travelled in steerage, they travelled in the chief cabin, except for John, now 21 years old, who had to travel in the second cabin with other single men. They moved to New Plymouth and settled on a farm in Devon Road, and, by 1880, they had come to Auckland and were farming in Howick, while owning 160 acres in the Waitakeres. By this time, John and Kate had had a further daughter and two sons, all born in New Zealand, and, some time before 1890, they retired to Orakei Road in Remuera, where John died in August 1902 and Kate in January 1908. Elizabeth Ayerst Bishop was born in 1857 and baptised in December of that year, the last child of John and Kate to be born in England.
William and Elizabeth Morton settled after their marriage in “Melrose”, Devonport, afterwards moving to farm at Red Hill, Papakura, through much of the 1890s. About the turn of the century, they came into Auckland and lived for at least seven years at 82 Grafton Road, before moving to Glasgow Terrace in Newmarket. Their final move was in 1913 to 15 Momona Road in Greenlane, and it was here that both William and Elizabeth died, in September 1935 and February 1931 respectively. William and Elizabeth had five children, Alfred being the second eldest child of four boys. He was one of two boys1 to attend Grammar.
Alfred Bishop Morton was a Cadet at Grammar and, on leaving the School, he initially worked as a clerk in the family firm of H.B. Morton & Co. in Customs Street, while living in Grafton Road. On 20th November 1898, he joined, as a volunteer, the Auckland College Rifles before attesting on 3rd January 1901 as a Private soldier (Service Number 3258) to serve in the Boer War. He sailed with the 6th N.Z. Contingent and saw action in the Cape Colony and Orange Free State. He returned to New Zealand on 20th May 1902. On 1st March 1903, he joined A battery of the N.Z. Field Artillery and he was promoted on 14th June 1907 from Sergeant Major to Lieutenant. On 17th March 1911, he transferred to the permanent staff of the New Zealand Defence Force, being assigned to the Staff Office Corps on 6th July 1911. He spent two years in Paeroa as an officer for the Defence Department, before being transferred back to Auckland. On the occasion of the visit of General Sir Ian Hamilton to Auckland on 13th May 1914, he mobilised, with great success, a parade of some three thousand senior cadets, and was especially congratulated by both General Hamilton and Lord Liverpool, Governor of New Zealand at the time. He was awarded both the Long Service and Good Conduct Medals.
Morton left New Zealand in the Main Body of the N.Z.E.F. in October 1914, arriving at Suez on 3rd December. In Egypt, he was closely involved in the administration of the N.Z.E.F. He wrote “I watched the Brigade march into camp one day last week after a hard day in the desert and it was a fine sight. The men looked a picture of health and readiness for action.” He embarked from Alexandria for the Dardanelles on 12th April 1915, and landed on the peninsular as a Staff Officer with the NZ Brigade Headquarters, having already cemented a strong reputation as one of the most effective officers on the Staff. A week after landing, Morton obtained permission to enter the front line and it was whilst leading a company of the Otago Regiment in fierce fighting at Quinn’s Post that he was fatally wounded. There were initial doubts as to his fate, but a Military Court of Enquiry established he had died of wounds on 3rd May 1915. Alfred Morton was 33 years of age; he has no known grave and is commemorated on the Lone Pine Memorial.
Private Francis Henry Morton (1895), N.Z. Training Camp, 87148, at time of Armistice; died 1951.
Captain Alfred Bishop Morton, N.Z.S.C., second son of Mr. William E. Morton, Greenlane, reported missing on Gallipoli on May 3, 1915, was one of the keenest and most popular of Auckland’s younger officers. He entered the School in 1897, and gained his first military training as a member of the Grammar School Cadets, later on joining the Auckland College Rifles. At the age of 18 he volunteered for service in South Africa, and as a private took part in the fighting in the Transvaal, Orange River Colony, on the Natal border, and in Cape Colony, gaining the Queen’s Medal with five clasps. On returning to Auckland in 1902, he entered commercial life, but his heart was always in military work, and he joined the “A” Battery Field Artillery, quickly passing through all ranks, from gunner to lieutenant. His great opportunity for entering a military career came when the territorial system was organised, and he was appointed to the position of Group Officer at Paeroa in 1911. In 1913, Captain Morton was transferred to Auckland as officer in charge of No. 1 Area Group. His duties included the organisation of the Senior Cadet force, and he brought to the work that unflagging zeal 69 GALLIPOLI and enthusiasm which characterised all his military life. When war broke out in 1914, Captain Morton was appointed Staff-Captain to the Infantry Brigade, and left with the Main Expeditionary Force. While in Egypt he was offered command of the Maori Battalion, with promotion in rank, but he refused it, preferring to remain with his comrades. He came safely through the Landing of April 25th, and during the following week rendered splendid service in a time of unparalleled stress and hardship. On the Sunday following the Landing, at his own request, he was permitted by General E. Johnstone, Officer in Charge of the N.Z. Infantry Brigade, to relinquish his staff duties, and to lead a company of the Otago men into the attack on Quinn’s Post. The story of that fearful disaster is now well known; the Turks, strongly entrenched, enfiladed the attacking party, and on Monday morning, May 3rd, they were practically wiped out. Captain Morton was last seen at dawn, rallying his men after a night of bloodshed and horror, and from that point all record of this brave officer ceases. The utmost search and inquiry, both on Gallipoli and later, failed to reveal any indication of how he came to his end.
CHRONICLE 1919, V.3, N.2 P7
Date of birth18-2-1882Date of death3-5-1915Year of entry1897CollectionsWW1 Roll of HonourPeople CollectionsPeopleCategoryPeople | Students | OtherRemembrance | WW1People | Old Boys | Armed ForcesGroup by
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Sort By1915Captain Alfred Bishop MORTON, 1897. Auckland Grammar School Archives, accessed 08/10/2024, https://ags.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/8671