Background
Morris (one of the eight children of George Henry Morris and his wife Jessie Murphy) was raised in poor circumstances in Grace Street, Ancoats, Manchester.
In 1935 the Morris family left Ancoats and moved to a new housing estate that had been built on farmland in the Parish of Newton Heath. Here the family's lives improved. He was educated at Brookdale Park School Newton Heath, Manchester along with his fellow pupil Harold Evans, who, as editor of The Sunday Times, wrote a leader saying that: "As time ticked away to the 1970 general election, Alf Morris's Bill was the only piece of legislation worth saving." He received evening school tuition. He worked from the age of 14 as a clerk in the local Wilson's Brewery.
Morris did his national service in the army, mainly in the Middle East, from 1946–48. He then studied at Ruskin College, Oxford (1949–1950), St Catherine's College, Oxford (BA modern history 1953) and the Department of Education, Manchester University.
Morris worked as a Manchester schoolteacher and university extension lecturer in social history (1954–1956) and as an Industrial relations officer to the Electrical Supply Industry (1956–1964).
Read more about this topic: Alf Morris
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