Henry Cort
Inventor - Creator of puddled iron - Father of iron trade
This page is part of a website based on the life and achievements of eighteenth-century inventor Henry Cort.
The creator and owner of the site was Eric Alexander who passed away. The site is now hosted by Geneagraphie.com
Please contact us with any comments or queries.
Pages
  1. Homepage
  2. Life of Henry Cort
  3. Cort's processes in iron manufacture
  4. Cort's patents
  5. Refutation of allegations of conspiracies against Cort
  6. Adam Jellicoe's death
  7. Henry Cort's birth
  8. A navy agent's business
  9. Early life of John Becher
  10. Attwick & Burges families
  11. "Cortship" of second wife
  12. Thomas Morgan
  13. Henry Cort's hoops contract
  14. 1856 Accolade
  15. Generosity of friends 1789-94
  16. James Watson
  17. Illness of Cort's son
  18. Main sources of information
  19. Contemporary sources
  20. Navy sources
  21. Chancery files
  22. Publications about Cort
  23. Assessment of Cort's character
  24. Images of Henry Cort

  25. Impeach-tranferred to 05

  26. Parliamentary inquiry 1811-2
  27. The furore of the 1850s
  28. Society of Arts
  29. Cort's first marriage
  30. Henry Cort's children
  31. Cort family pensions
  32. Henry Cort's Hertfordshire property
  33. 1791 signatories
  34. Guiana and the Cort-Gladstone connection
  35. Cort's twilight years
  36. Memorials to Henry Cort

  37. Smelting of iron
  38. Fining before Cort
  39. Shropshire & Staffordshire ironmasters
  40. Cumbrians: Wilkinson etc
  41. Early works at Merthyr Tydfil
  42. The Crowley business
  43. London ironmongers
  44. Scottish iron
  45. Cort's promotion efforts 1783-6
  46. Later Merthyr connections
  47. Puddling after Henry Cort

  48. Gosport in Cort's day
  49. Gosport administration
  50. Gosport worthies
  51. The Amherst-Porter network
  52. James Hackman, murderer
  53. Samuel Marshall
  54. Samuel Jellicoe's legacy
  55. Links with Titchfield
  56. Links with Fareham

  57. Fact, error and conjecture
  58. 18th century politics
  59. Law in the 18th century
  60. 18th century finance
  61. Religion and sexual mores
  62. Calendar change of 1752
  63. Shelburne, Parry and associates
  64. John Becher's family
  65. The Becher-Thackeray lineage
  66. Thomas Lyttelton: a fantastic narrative
  67. Eighteenth-century London
  68. Abolition and the Corts
  69. The Burges will tangle

  70. Navy connections
  71. Navy agent's business
  72. Cort's clients
  73. Ships' pursers
  74. History of Adam Jellicoe
  75. Dundas & Trotter
  76. Cort's navy office associates
  77. Toulmin & other agents
  78. Sandwich & Middleton
  79. The Arethusa
  80. John Becher's war
  81. Thomas Morgan's war
  82. The 1782 Jamaica convoy
  83. Sinking of the Royal George

  84. Rickman & Scott: two contrasting naval careers-Missing


  85. Visitors 2006-2009
  86. Developement of the site 2006-2009

    87. ****************
  87. Daniel Guion and family
  88. Extremely bad academic work and extremely bad journalism

  

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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.


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.

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.


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.



Related pages

Life of Henry Cort

Ship's pursers

Thomas Morgan's war

The 1782 Jamaica convoy

Gosport trustees

The pages on this site are copied from the original site of Eric Alexander (henrycort.net) with his allowance.
Eric passed away abt 2012
If you use/copy information from this site, please include a link to the page where you found the information.

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