William Evan Charles Morgan

William Evan Charles Morgan (19 October 1903 – 1979) was an artist, etcher and engraver on both wood and metal. He signed his work William E.C. Morgan.

Early life Morgan was born in London on 19 October 1903, the only son of William Henry Morgan, the headmaster of a school in Bermondsey, and his wife, Emily. The family was originally from Cornwall.

Studies Morgan went to school at St Dunstan's College in Catford, London. Morgan spent some four years in Italy where he focussed on line engraving directly onto the plate In 1928 Morgan was awarded the Art Institute of Chicago’s Logan Medal of the Arts for his prints. His medal, dated 1928, is now in the Special Collections of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

The Great Depression in the early 1930s led to the end of the etching revival which meant that Morgan could no longer make a living from his prints, so he moved to the estate of a patron in Argyll in western Scotland, where he taught and painted. In 1935 he started engraving again, including an etching of Kinlochaline Castle, but his eyesight deteriorated and he was forced to give up etching and engraving and took up a teaching position at the Harrow School of Art in 1939.

During World War II, Morgan served as a camouflage officer. After the war he worked for the British Rural Industries Bureau, which had been established in 1921 to support rural crafts and small industries. He retired in 1968.

Personal life Morgan married Phyllis Annette Scarborough (b 31 August 1907) in 1928. They are believed to have had two children. After he retired he moved to Switzerland to be near his daughter, where he died in 1979.