Club contact: Andrew Grant
andygrantrwg@yahoo.co.uk
April 2024 – update
An excellent meeting with a talk by Roger James
Captain Henry Morgan the Pirate
Henry Morgan (1635 –1688) was a Welsh Privateer, Plantation owner, and, later, Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica. From his base in Port Royal, Jamaica, he raided settlements and shipping on the Spanish Main, becoming wealthy as he did so. With the prize money from the raids, he purchased three large sugar plantations on the island.
Much of Morgan’s early life is unknown. He was born in an area of Monmouthshire that is now part of the city of Cardiff (Llanrumney Hall and Tredegar House). It is not known how he made his way to the West Indies, or how the Welshman began his career as a Privateer, but he was an Ensign in Cromell’s army in Jamaica in 1655 and by 1660 was in command of 30 pirate vessels. He was probably a member of a group of raiders led by Sir Christopher Myngs in the early 1660s during the Anglo-Spanish War.
Morgan became a close friend of Sir Thomas Modyford, the Governor of Jamaica. When diplomatic relations between the England and Spain worsened in 1667, Modyford gave Morgan a letter of marque, a licence to attack and seize Spanish vessels. Morgan subsequently conducted successful and highly lucrative raids on Puerto del Príncipe and Porto Bello. In 1668, he sailed for Maracaibo and Gibraltar on Lake Maracaibo in modern-day Venezuela; he plundered both cities before destroying a large Spanish squadron as he escaped. In 1671, Morgan attacked Panama City, landing on the Caribbean coast and traversing the isthmus before he attacked the city on the Pacific coast. This occurred after the signing of a peace treaty with England, and to appease the Spanish, Morgan was arrested and summoned to London in 1672, but the Welshman was popularly celebrated as a hero, and soon recovered the favour of the government and King Charles II and was knighted in 1674.
Although a designated Privateer he acted very cruelly for example when he captured Porto Bello in 1668 he sought a treasure of 100,000 pesos and abused the civilians until they paid. Also a lot of the ships attacked by him were being used to carry slaves from Africa and instead of releasing them he continued their voyage and sold them at the slave markets. He eventually bought a large plantation in Jamaica and used many of the slaves himself in gathering the sugar cane.
Morgan died in 1688 aged 53 and left a will which gave £60 per annum to Thomas Morgan who lived in Tredegar House, Newport. In 1692 Port Royal which he had loved so dearly, was hit by an Earthquake and a Tsunami which caused quick-sands resulting in the death of 2000 people and destroying a third of the town.
Please contact me for any further information at the e-mail address above or on 02920252422.
Although our membership is growing, we still have room for new people and I would be glad to hear from any interested parties. We meet on the second Thursday of each month at the Llanishen Golf Club in Cardiff at 10am for coffee before starting the meeting proper at 10.30am. Lunch is available at the club and the great majority of the members stay for this excellent value meal.
Please note the e-mail address above is not hyperlinked so please enter my address manually.
Andrew Grant (Secretary)