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David Morgan (Jacobite)
Svejk74: /* 1745 Rising */
'''David Morgan''' of Penygraig (c.1695 - 30 July 1746) was a [[Wales|Welsh]] lawyer and [[Jacobitism|Jacobite]], or supporter of the claim of the exiled [[House of Stuart]] to the British throne.
Morgan was notable as one of only a handful of Welshmen to join the [[Jacobite rising of 1745]], during which he served with the [[Manchester Regiment (Jacobite)|Manchester Regiment]]. Unwilling to retreat to Scotland with the rest of the [[Jacobite Army (1745)|Jacobite Army]], he was arrested by the government near [[Stone, Staffordshire]], tried and executed in July 1746.
==Life==
Morgan was born about 1695 in [[Glamorganshire]]. <ref name=williams>Williams, D (1959) "[http://bit.ly/2PkH9Ps Morgan, David Thomas], ''Dictionary of Welsh Biography''</ref> His family were of the small gentry class but were considered fairly well-connected; his father, Thomas Morgan, was the second son of a rural landowner William Morgan of Coed-y-Gorres and his mother Dorothy was the granddaughter of a baronet, Sir Edmund Stradling. <ref name=williams/> On his mother's side Morgan was the first cousin of Admiral [[Thomas Mathews]].<ref name=llewellin331>Llewellin, William. "David Morgan, the Welsh Jacobite" in ''The Cambrian Journal'', 1861, p.331</ref>
Morgan's early life is obscure; he trained in law but although he was said to have been well known at Westminster he seems to have spent much of his time at his father's estate of Penygraig, near present-day [[Edwardsville, Merthyr Tydfil]].<ref name=llewellin331/> While some of his surviving poetry suggests he practised actively as a barrister, he later claimed to have "never pretended to much knowledge that way". <ref name=williams/> He may have spent some time as an army officer; at his trial he said that he had "served the crown of England in two campaigns with some reputation". Much of his income seems to have come from valuable leasehold property in [[Shoreditch]] that he acquired through his marriage. <ref name=llewellin332>Llewellin (1861) p.332</ref>
During the early part of the 18th century a number of Welsh gentry continued to support the claims of the exiled Stuarts. The most senior Welsh Jacobite was the powerful Tory landowner and MP [[Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 3rd Baronet]]; Wynn had indicated his support for a Stuart restoration on condition it was backed by French military support. His political club, the 'Cycle of the White Rose', was a focus for Jacobite activity in North Wales; a comparable role in South Wales was filled by the 'Sea Serjeants', led by [[Sir John Philipps, 6th Baronet|Sir John Philipps]]. Morgan himself was a friend of both Wynn and Philipps: he was closely associated with the circle of the [[Charles Somerset, 4th Duke of Beaufort|Duke of Beaufort]], another Tory with Jacobite sympathies, and was a prominent member of the "Independent Electors of Westminster", a pro-Jacobite London club. <ref name=williams/>
==1745 Rising==
At the time Stuart heir [[Charles Edward Stuart]] landed in Scotland in late July 1745, he was partly relying on French intelligence from 1743 that had suggested he would find strong support in Wales.<ref name=jenkins173>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref> While there is evidence of some latent support during 1745, the majority of the Welsh Tory gentry were horrified by the turn events had taken, which seemed to presage a bloody civil war rather than a Stuart restoration on the terms they had hoped for.<ref name=jenkins174>Jenkins (2002) p.174 </ref> Viewing the Rising primarily as a Scottish internal conflict, they felt Charles had aligned himself with "alien and barbarous Highlanders, rather than [...] a British political faction".<ref name=jenkins174/> While Wynn was subjected to intense government scrutiny, he did no more than send the Jacobites equivocal verbal messages of support; in the event Morgan, along with the Catholic William Vaughan of Courtfield and his brother Richard, was one of the few Welshmen of the property owning class to join the Rising.
Morgan's own motives for joining appear to have been at least partly ideological.<ref name=jenkins173/> His surviving poetry and other writings focus on core High Tory themes such as indefeasible dynastic right, a 'country' attack on taxation and on the standing army, while like a number of other active Jacobites he was a [[Nonjuring schism|nonjuring Anglican]] who rejected Calvinist and Lutheran interpretations of Protestantism.<ref name=jenkins173/>
By tradition Morgan is supposed to have heard the news of Charles's landing through members of Philipps' 'Sea Serjeants'. He travelled to northern England and along with Vaughan and [[Francis Towneley]], a Lancashire Catholic, he met the advancing Jacobite army near Preston on 26 November. At Manchester, around 200 English Jacobite volunteers were formed into the Manchester Regiment; while Morgan's Anglicanism and links with Beaufort made him a politically expedient candidate for colonel, the position was given to Towneley.<ref name=monod331>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref> Morgan was instead commissioned captain and was given responsibility for selection of the regiment's junior officers.<ref name=oates131>Oates, J. "The Manchester Regiment of 1745" in ''Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research'', Vol. 88, No. 354 (Summer 2010), pp.131-2</ref>
Few additional recruits joined on the march towards London and at Derby on 5 December the Jacobite Council of War voted overwhelmingly to consolidate their position in Scotland. They debated and rejected the option of heading for Wales: a further message had been sent to Wynn as it was felt that the propaganda value of him joining would be high even if he brought no recruits, but the messenger was intercepted. <ref name=thomas145>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref>
Morgan was unhappy with the decision: he apparently told Vaughan that he would "rather be hanged than go to Scotland to starve". <ref name=llewelin310>Llewellin, p.310</ref> While Vaughan stayed, Morgan left the army on the evening of 7 December at [[Ashbourne, Derbyshire|Ashbourne]] and headed southwards with a guide; he was arrested by government forces near Stone, Staffordshire.<ref name=thomas145/><ref name=llewellin316>Llewellin, p.316</ref>
The Jacobites continued northwards to [[Carlisle]], where Towneley and the majority of the Manchester Regiment were left behind as a garrison; after a [[Siege of Carlisle (December 1745)|short siege]] they surrendered to government army on 30 December. Vaughan continued north with the main Jacobite army: after the Rising ended at [[Battle of Culloden|Culloden]] in April 1746, he escaped the country.
==Trial and execution==
Held at [[Newgate Prison]] along with other senior Jacobites, Morgan was eventually brought to trial on 18 July 1746; despite a "lengthy and ingenious defence" he was found guilty of treason and sentenced to be [[hanged, drawn and quartered]].<ref name=llewellin317>Llewellin, p.317 </ref>
He was executed on 30 July at [[Kennington Common]] alongside Towneley and several other officers of the Manchester Regiment.
Morgan seemed unconcerned by his fate: several accounts noted him angrily complaining about the coffee the prisoners were served shortly before being taken to execution. At the scaffold he led the others in prayer for about thirty minutes and distributed copies of a speech; after the execution his remains were probably buried in the burying ground attached to the [[Foundling Hospital]].
==Legacy==
While Wynn continued his covert activities, and the Welsh Jacobite clubs lingered into the 19th century, Morgan's death and the inaction of Welsh Tories effectively signalled the end of Welsh Jacobitism.<ref name=jenkins174/> Nevertheless, like Towneley, Morgan for a time became a figure of inspiration for Jacobites elsewhere in Britain; his execution reinvigorated the Independent Electors of Westminster, of which he had been a member, and contributed to a rise in Jacobite activities after 1745.<ref name=monod340>Monod (1993) p.340</ref>
Morgan also attracted some interest from 19th century Welsh "Celticist" nationalists of [[Cymru Fydd]]: in 1901 the magazine ''Young Wales'' published a poem by [[W. Llewelyn Williams]] in which Morgan, awaiting execution, laments his cause's betrayal by Wynn and the other Welsh gentry to the "shame [of] / Our gallant country".
==Family==
Morgan was married; his wife was reported to have visited him regularly during his imprisonment. They had at least one daughter, Mary, who later inherited Morgan's properties and died unmarried prior to 1798.<ref name=llewellin333>Llewelin, p.333</ref>
==References==
[[Category:1690s births]]
[[Category:1746 deaths]]
[[Category:Welsh Jacobites]]
[[Category:People of the Jacobite rising of 1745]]
Morgan was notable as one of only a handful of Welshmen to join the [[Jacobite rising of 1745]], during which he served with the [[Manchester Regiment (Jacobite)|Manchester Regiment]]. Unwilling to retreat to Scotland with the rest of the [[Jacobite Army (1745)|Jacobite Army]], he was arrested by the government near [[Stone, Staffordshire]], tried and executed in July 1746.
==Life==
Morgan was born about 1695 in [[Glamorganshire]]. <ref name=williams>Williams, D (1959) "[http://bit.ly/2PkH9Ps Morgan, David Thomas], ''Dictionary of Welsh Biography''</ref> His family were of the small gentry class but were considered fairly well-connected; his father, Thomas Morgan, was the second son of a rural landowner William Morgan of Coed-y-Gorres and his mother Dorothy was the granddaughter of a baronet, Sir Edmund Stradling. <ref name=williams/> On his mother's side Morgan was the first cousin of Admiral [[Thomas Mathews]].<ref name=llewellin331>Llewellin, William. "David Morgan, the Welsh Jacobite" in ''The Cambrian Journal'', 1861, p.331</ref>
Morgan's early life is obscure; he trained in law but although he was said to have been well known at Westminster he seems to have spent much of his time at his father's estate of Penygraig, near present-day [[Edwardsville, Merthyr Tydfil]].<ref name=llewellin331/> While some of his surviving poetry suggests he practised actively as a barrister, he later claimed to have "never pretended to much knowledge that way". <ref name=williams/> He may have spent some time as an army officer; at his trial he said that he had "served the crown of England in two campaigns with some reputation". Much of his income seems to have come from valuable leasehold property in [[Shoreditch]] that he acquired through his marriage. <ref name=llewellin332>Llewellin (1861) p.332</ref>
During the early part of the 18th century a number of Welsh gentry continued to support the claims of the exiled Stuarts. The most senior Welsh Jacobite was the powerful Tory landowner and MP [[Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 3rd Baronet]]; Wynn had indicated his support for a Stuart restoration on condition it was backed by French military support. His political club, the 'Cycle of the White Rose', was a focus for Jacobite activity in North Wales; a comparable role in South Wales was filled by the 'Sea Serjeants', led by [[Sir John Philipps, 6th Baronet|Sir John Philipps]]. Morgan himself was a friend of both Wynn and Philipps: he was closely associated with the circle of the [[Charles Somerset, 4th Duke of Beaufort|Duke of Beaufort]], another Tory with Jacobite sympathies, and was a prominent member of the "Independent Electors of Westminster", a pro-Jacobite London club. <ref name=williams/>
==1745 Rising==
At the time Stuart heir [[Charles Edward Stuart]] landed in Scotland in late July 1745, he was partly relying on French intelligence from 1743 that had suggested he would find strong support in Wales.<ref name=jenkins173>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref> While there is evidence of some latent support during 1745, the majority of the Welsh Tory gentry were horrified by the turn events had taken, which seemed to presage a bloody civil war rather than a Stuart restoration on the terms they had hoped for.<ref name=jenkins174>Jenkins (2002) p.174 </ref> Viewing the Rising primarily as a Scottish internal conflict, they felt Charles had aligned himself with "alien and barbarous Highlanders, rather than [...] a British political faction".<ref name=jenkins174/> While Wynn was subjected to intense government scrutiny, he did no more than send the Jacobites equivocal verbal messages of support; in the event Morgan, along with the Catholic William Vaughan of Courtfield and his brother Richard, was one of the few Welshmen of the property owning class to join the Rising.
Morgan's own motives for joining appear to have been at least partly ideological.<ref name=jenkins173/> His surviving poetry and other writings focus on core High Tory themes such as indefeasible dynastic right, a 'country' attack on taxation and on the standing army, while like a number of other active Jacobites he was a [[Nonjuring schism|nonjuring Anglican]] who rejected Calvinist and Lutheran interpretations of Protestantism.<ref name=jenkins173/>
By tradition Morgan is supposed to have heard the news of Charles's landing through members of Philipps' 'Sea Serjeants'. He travelled to northern England and along with Vaughan and [[Francis Towneley]], a Lancashire Catholic, he met the advancing Jacobite army near Preston on 26 November. At Manchester, around 200 English Jacobite volunteers were formed into the Manchester Regiment; while Morgan's Anglicanism and links with Beaufort made him a politically expedient candidate for colonel, the position was given to Towneley.<ref name=monod331>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref> Morgan was instead commissioned captain and was given responsibility for selection of the regiment's junior officers.<ref name=oates131>Oates, J. "The Manchester Regiment of 1745" in ''Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research'', Vol. 88, No. 354 (Summer 2010), pp.131-2</ref>
Few additional recruits joined on the march towards London and at Derby on 5 December the Jacobite Council of War voted overwhelmingly to consolidate their position in Scotland. They debated and rejected the option of heading for Wales: a further message had been sent to Wynn as it was felt that the propaganda value of him joining would be high even if he brought no recruits, but the messenger was intercepted. <ref name=thomas145>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref>
Morgan was unhappy with the decision: he apparently told Vaughan that he would "rather be hanged than go to Scotland to starve". <ref name=llewelin310>Llewellin, p.310</ref> While Vaughan stayed, Morgan left the army on the evening of 7 December at [[Ashbourne, Derbyshire|Ashbourne]] and headed southwards with a guide; he was arrested by government forces near Stone, Staffordshire.<ref name=thomas145/><ref name=llewellin316>Llewellin, p.316</ref>
The Jacobites continued northwards to [[Carlisle]], where Towneley and the majority of the Manchester Regiment were left behind as a garrison; after a [[Siege of Carlisle (December 1745)|short siege]] they surrendered to government army on 30 December. Vaughan continued north with the main Jacobite army: after the Rising ended at [[Battle of Culloden|Culloden]] in April 1746, he escaped the country.
==Trial and execution==
Held at [[Newgate Prison]] along with other senior Jacobites, Morgan was eventually brought to trial on 18 July 1746; despite a "lengthy and ingenious defence" he was found guilty of treason and sentenced to be [[hanged, drawn and quartered]].<ref name=llewellin317>Llewellin, p.317 </ref>
He was executed on 30 July at [[Kennington Common]] alongside Towneley and several other officers of the Manchester Regiment.
Morgan seemed unconcerned by his fate: several accounts noted him angrily complaining about the coffee the prisoners were served shortly before being taken to execution. At the scaffold he led the others in prayer for about thirty minutes and distributed copies of a speech; after the execution his remains were probably buried in the burying ground attached to the [[Foundling Hospital]].
==Legacy==
While Wynn continued his covert activities, and the Welsh Jacobite clubs lingered into the 19th century, Morgan's death and the inaction of Welsh Tories effectively signalled the end of Welsh Jacobitism.<ref name=jenkins174/> Nevertheless, like Towneley, Morgan for a time became a figure of inspiration for Jacobites elsewhere in Britain; his execution reinvigorated the Independent Electors of Westminster, of which he had been a member, and contributed to a rise in Jacobite activities after 1745.<ref name=monod340>Monod (1993) p.340</ref>
Morgan also attracted some interest from 19th century Welsh "Celticist" nationalists of [[Cymru Fydd]]: in 1901 the magazine ''Young Wales'' published a poem by [[W. Llewelyn Williams]] in which Morgan, awaiting execution, laments his cause's betrayal by Wynn and the other Welsh gentry to the "shame [of] / Our gallant country".
==Family==
Morgan was married; his wife was reported to have visited him regularly during his imprisonment. They had at least one daughter, Mary, who later inherited Morgan's properties and died unmarried prior to 1798.<ref name=llewellin333>Llewelin, p.333</ref>
==References==
[[Category:1690s births]]
[[Category:1746 deaths]]
[[Category:Welsh Jacobites]]
[[Category:People of the Jacobite rising of 1745]]
April 21, 2019 at 09:54AM
