Major-General Sir Thomas Morgan, 1st Baronet (1604 – 13 April 1679) was a professional soldier from Wales who fought for Parliament during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. As deputy Commander-in-Chief, Scotland, he played an important role in the 1660 Stuart Restoration and was rewarded with being made a baronet.
Major-General Sir Thomas Morgan | |
|---|---|
 Sir Thomas Morgan, 1st Baronet | |
| Lieutenant Governor of Jersey | |
| In office 1665–1679 | |
| Deputy Commander-in-Chief Scotland | |
| In office 1659–1660 | |
| Parliamentarian Governor of Gloucester | |
| In office June 1645 – January 1648 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1604 Old Court, Llangattock Lingoed |
| Died | 13 April 1679 (aged 74–75) Old Court, Llangattock Lingoed |
| Spouse | Delariviere Cholmondeley (1644 |
| Military service | |
| Rank | Major-General |
| Battles/wars | |
Biography
editMorgan was born in Wales. At 16, having at that time little knowledge of any language but Welsh, Morgan enlisted in Sir Horace Vere's Protestant volunteer expedition which fought in the Thirty Years' War. Morgan fought in the Low Countries and in particular assisted the Dutch in the decisive victory at the battle of the Slaak in 1631.
He fought under Thomas Fairfax in the First English Civil War. In 1645 he was appointed parliamentary governor of Gloucester. In 1646 he took Chepstow Castle and Monmouth, and besieged Raglan Castle. From 1651 to 1657 he assisted General George Monck in Scotland and was promoted to major-general. He was second in command in Flanders in 1657 and knighted on his return in 1658. He rejoined Monck in Scotland, and played a conspicuous part in the Stuart Restoration in Edinburgh. His Scottish command was disbanded in December, but he was rewarded with a baronetcy on 1 February 1661.[1]
Morgan established the English Expedition to Portugal to help the Portuguese fight the Spanish. He was appointed Governor of Jersey in 1665 repairing the Jersey forts and reorganising the militia.[1]
A pamphlet narrating his acts in France and Flanders in 1657 and 1658, said to be by himself was published in 1699.[1]
His family home was the Old Court, Llangattock Lingoed in Monmouthshire.[2]
Notes
editReferences
edit- Plant, David (22 September 2006), Sir Thomas Morgan, 1604-79, the British Civil Wars and Commonwealth website
- Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lee, Sidney, ed. (1903). "Morgan, Thomas (d.1679)". Index and Epitome. Dictionary of National Biography. Cambridge University Press. p. 903.
Further reading
edit- Firth, Charles Harding (1894). . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 39. pp. 33–35.
- Dodd, Arthur Herbert (2009). "The biography of Sir Thomas Morgan, 1st Baronet". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 15 November 2013.