Edward Morgan spent his early years at Strathgarvie station on the Darling Downs, moving to Adelaide with his family following the failure of his family's business. He was educated at Queen's School, North Adelaide, St Peter's College, and graduated from the University of Adelaide in 1920 with a LL.B. He was admitted to the Bar in 1921.
After several years in private practice, he was appointed as a stipendiary magistrate, later becoming president of the Industrial Court of South Australia. He was appointed to the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration, to the Commonwealth Industrial Court, and in 1958 to the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory.
He was founding secretary of the Friends of the Public Library in South Australia, a foundation board-member of the National Gallery of South Australia, a former President of the National Trust of South Australia and a trustee of the Australian Cancer Society. In 1970 the Art Gallery of South Australia named its gallery of applied arts after Morgan.
Morgan also wrote The Adelaide Club : 1863-1963 (1963) and co-authored two books on Adelaide architecture. The Barr Smith Library, University of Adelaide holds a typewritten copy of Morgan's 'Lyrical Poems' that won the Bundey Prize for English Verse in 1921.
He was the father of grazier and novelist Jim Morgan (q.v.).
