Sidney Pelham Morter was born in Stratford, Essex [now London], England on 5 March 1869 and was articled to Leonard & S. Chatfield Clarke from 1886 to 1891. He then worked as an assistant in the War Office Architects' Department at Shorncliffe Camp, near Cheriton in Kent for three years; to Thomas William Hudson (1865-?) in Manchester for 18 months; to Edmund Kirby (1838-1920) for 18 months; and to Sinnott, Sinnott & Powell in Liverpool for a further 18 months.
Morter commenced practice as an architect in Liverpool in 1899. He was in partnership with William Glen Dobie (1866-c.1956) as Morter & Dobie. They were joined by Thomas Myddleton Shallcross (1862-1919) and the practice was renamed Morter, Shallcross & Dobie. In 1909 Morter, Shallcross & Dobie entered a competition to design new County Hall Offices and Committee Rooms, etc. in Reading, Berkshire Their designs are illustrated in British Competitions in Architecture vol. 3, no. 29, March 1910 (pp. 152-155). By 1919 the name of the firm had reverted to Morter & Dobie.
Morter was elected a Licentiate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (LRIBA) in 1911. His address was given as Phoenix Villa, Chatsworth Road, Forest Gate, Essex in 1871; 41 Pennington Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent in 1881; 9 Chatsworth Road, West Ham, Essex in 1891; 60 Devonshire Road, Toxteth Park, Lancashire in 1901; The Rowans, Birkenhead Road, Hoylake, Cheshire in 1911 and 1933; and The Temple, 24 Dale Street, Liverpool in 1914 and 1926. He died in Liverpool on 11 February 1933.
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 2: L-Z. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001
‘Obituary’. Royal Institute of British Architects Journal vol. 40, 29 April 1933 p. 515