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This page is part of a website
based on the life and achievements of eighteenth-century inventor Henry Cort. Please email site controller Eric Alexander
with any comments or queries. |
THOMAS MORGAN
Morgan is a ship's purser.
If he is the same Thomas Morgan who is servant to Cort's client
William Dixon on board the Guernsey from 1757 to 1761, his links with
Cort go back a long while.
In 1766 he is serving on the Launceston, with Cort as his
agent.
Details of his involvement in the Gosport iron business are
evident in a document, now in the National Archives of Scotland (GD51/2/10/2),
sent by James Watson to Henry
Dundas in May 1790.
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About the end or the Year 1771 or the beginning of the year 1772
Mr Attwick signified to Mr Cort his intention of retiring from business, if
he could meet with a proper person to take off his stock with an allowance as
a consideration for resigning the same. From
Watson-Dundas memorandum, 1790 |
Morgan, prompted by Cort, offers to buy into the business for
£5,000, which he needs to borrow. Cort
offers security. But by 1775 Morgan is
"unable to discharge his debt to Mr Cort". Adam Jellicoe and Oliver Toulmin are drawn into the web: in the 1781 settlement Morgan’s debt to Cort
is assigned to Adam Jellicoe.
At the PRO we find Morgan's will, made 4th December 1775 and
naming Henry Cort "of Crutched Ffryers London" as an executor.
The date is significant, indicating that Cort is not yet in
Gosport, despite other documents saying he has moved there in July 1775. One witness is Oliver Toulmin, Cort's
neighbour and fellow agent in Crutched Friars, confirming that Cort is still in
London.
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The Contract stood in the name of Morgan
only and the Navy Board at that time refused to admit the name of Mr Cort to
be joined therein, but he took an Assignment of the Contract from Mr Morgan. From
Watson-Dundas memorandum, 1790 |
On 1st October 1777 Morgan becomes purser
on board the Russell. In May
1779 she sets off across the Atlantic, and is soon involved in operations
against Charlestown.
Later he transfers to the Alfred, which takes part in
actions at Chesapeake, St Kitts and The Saints near Guadeloupe.
Again a transfer, this time to the captured French flagship Ville
de Paris. In July 1782 she starts
back across the Atlantic.
The convoy runs into terrible weather
and most of the men-of-war fail to make it home. The fate of the Ville de Paris is
unknown, but Morgan arrives safely and lives another three years.
In executing the will, Cort discovers that a life insurance
policy is void, because Morgan has not kept up with payments of the premium.
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Related pages |
henrycort.net
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