Sir Henry Morgan (Welsh: Harri Morgan; c. 1635 – 25 August 1688) was a Welsh privateer, plantation owner and, later, the lieutenant governor of Jamaica. From his base in Port Royal, Jamaica, he and those under his command raided settlements and shipping on the Spanish Main, from which he profited. With the prize money and plunder from these raids, Morgan purchased three large sugar plantations in Jamaica.
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. It is not known how he reached the West Indies or how he began his career as a privateer. He was probably a member of a group of raiders led by Sir Christopher Myngs in the late 1650s during the Anglo-Spanish War. Morgan became a close friend of Sir Thomas Modyford, the Governor of Jamaica; as diplomatic relations between the Kingdom of England and Spain worsened in 1667, Modyford gave Morgan a letter of marque, or licence, to attack and seize Spanish vessels. Morgan subsequently led raids on Puerto del Príncipe (now Camagüey in modern Cuba) and Porto Bello (now Portobelo in modern Panamá). In 1668, he sailed to Maracaibo, Venezuela, and Gibraltar, on Lake Maracaibo; he plundered both cities before destroying a Spanish squadron during his escape.
In 1671, Morgan and his men attacked Panama City, landing on the Caribbean coast and crossing the isthmus and its jungles before attacking the city, located on the Pacific coast. This took place after the signing of a peace treaty. To appease the Spanish, Morgan was arrested and summoned to London in 1672; despite this, he was received favourably in England and soon regained the favour of the government and King Charles II.
Morgan was appointed a Knight Bachelor in November 1674 and returned to the Colony of Jamaica shortly afterwards to serve as the territory's lieutenant governor. He served on the Assembly of Jamaica until 1683; on three occasions, he acted as governor in the absence of the post-holder. His reputation was later affected by a memoir by Alexandre Exquemelin, a former Flemish shipmate of Morgan, which accused him of torture and other offences, including during the raid on Panama City. Morgan won a libel suit against the book's English publishers, but Exquemelin's account influenced later portrayals of him. After his death in 1688, Morgan became the inspiration for pirate-themed works of fiction across a range of genres.
Born Harri Morgan around 1635 in Wales, either in Llanrumney or Pencarn (both in Monmouthshire, between Cardiff and Newport). The historian David Williams, writing in the Dictionary of Welsh Biography, observes that attempts to identify his parents and antecedents "have all proved unsatisfactory", although his will referred to distant relations. Several sources state Morgan's father was Robert Morgan, a farmer. Nuala Zahedieh, writing for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, states that details of Morgan's early life and career are uncertain, although in later life he stated that he had left school early and was "much more used to the pike than the book".
It is unknown how Morgan made his way to the Caribbean. He may have travelled to the Caribbean as part of the army of Robert Venables, sent by Oliver Cromwell as part of the Caribbean expedition against the Spanish in the West Indies in 1654, or he may have served as an apprentice to a maker of cutlery for three years in exchange for the cost of his emigration. Richard Browne, who served as surgeon under Morgan in 1670 stated that Morgan had travelled either as a "private gentleman" soon after the 1655 capture of Jamaica by the English, or he may have been abducted in Bristol and transported to Barbados, where he was sold as a servant. In the 17th century the Caribbean offered an opportunity for young men to become rich quickly, although significant investment was needed to obtain high returns from the sugar export economy. Other opportunities for financial gain were through trade or plunder of the Spanish Empire. Much of the plunder was from privateering, whereby individuals and ships were commissioned by government to attack the country's enemies.
It is probable that in the early 1660s Morgan was active with a group of privateers led by Sir Christopher Myngs attacking Spanish cities and settlements in the Caribbean and Central America when England was at war with Spain. It is likely that in 1663 Morgan captained one of the ships in Myngs' fleet, and took part in the attack on Santiago de Cuba and the Sack of Campeche on the Yucatán Peninsula.
Sir Thomas Modyford had been appointed the Governor of Jamaica in February 1664 with instructions to limit the activities of the privateers; he made a proclamation against their activities on 11 June 1664, but economic practicalities led to his reversing the policy by the end of the month. About 1,500 privateers used Jamaica as a base for their activity and brought much revenue to the island. As the planting community of 5,000 was still new and developing, the revenue from the privateers was needed to avoid economic collapse. A privateer was granted a letter of marque which gave him a licence to attack and seize vessels, normally of a specified country, or with conditions attached. A portion of all spoils obtained by the privateers was given to the sovereign or the issuing ambassador.
In August 1665 Morgan, along with fellow captains John Morris and Jacob Fackman, returned to Port Royal with a large cargo of valuables. Modyford was impressed enough with the spoils to report back to the government that "Central America was the properest [sic] place for an attack on the Spanish Indies". Morgan's activities over the following two years are not documented, but in early 1666 he was married in Port Royal to his cousin, Mary Morgan, the daughter of Edward, the island's Deputy Governor; the marriage gave Henry access to the upper levels of Jamaican society. The couple had no children.
Hostilities between the English and Dutch in 1664 led to a change in government policy: colonial governors were now authorised to issue letters of marque against the Dutch. Many of the privateers, including Morgan, did not take up the letters, although an expedition to conquer the Dutch island of Sint Eustatius led to the death of Morgan's father-in-law, who was leading a 600-man force.
Sources differ about Morgan's activities in 1666. H. R. Allen, in his biography of Morgan, considers the privateer was the second-in-command to Captain Edward Mansvelt. Mansvelt had been issued a letter of marque for the invasion of Curaçao, although he did not attack Willemstad, the main city, either after he decided that it was too well defended or that there was insufficient plunder. Alternatively, Jan Rogoziński and Stephan Talty, in their histories of Morgan and piracy, record that during the year, Morgan oversaw the Port Royal militia and the defence of Jamaica; Fort Charles at Port Royal was partly constructed under his leadership. It was around this time that Morgan purchased his first plantation on Jamaica.
In 1667 diplomatic relations between the kingdoms of England and Spain were worsening, and rumours began to circulate in Jamaica about a possible Spanish invasion. Modyford authorised privateers to take action against the Spanish, and issued a letter of marque to Morgan "to draw together the English privateers and take prisoners of the Spanish nation, whereby he might inform of the intention of that enemy to attack Jamaica, of which I have frequent and strong advice". He was given the rank of admiral and, in January 1668, assembled 10 ships and 500 men for the task; he was subsequently joined by 2 more ships and 200 men from Tortuga (now part of Haiti).
Morgan's letter of marque gave him permission to attack Spanish ships at sea; there was no permission for attacks on land. Any plunder obtained from the attacks would be split between the government and the owners of the ships rented by the privateers. If the privateers stepped outside their official remit and raided a city, any resultant plunder would be retained by the privateers. Rogoziński observes that "attacks on cities were illegal piracy – but extremely profitable", although Zahedieh records that if Morgan was able to provide evidence of a potential Spanish attack, the attacks on cities were justifiable under the terms of his commission. Morgan's initial plan was to attack Havana, but, on discovering it was heavily defended, changed the target to Puerto del Príncipe (now Camagüey), a town 50 miles (80 km) inland. Morgan and his men took the town, but the treasure obtained was less than hoped for. According to Alexandre Exquemelin, who sailed with Morgan, "It caused a general resentment and grief, to see such a small booty". When Morgan reported the taking of Puerto Principe to Modyford, he informed the governor that they had evidence that the Spanish were planning an attack on British territory: "we found seventy men had been pressed to go against Jamaica ... and considerable forces were expected from Vera Cruz and Campeachy ... and from Porto Bello and Cartagena to rendezvous at St Jago of Cuba [Santiago]".