Henry Morgan

Henry Morgan (1635?-1688), Welsh buccaneer, born in Llanrhymny. He is said to have been kidnapped at Bristol when a boy and sold as a servant on the West Indian island of Barbados. After a time he worked his way to Jamaica, where he joined the buccaneers, adventurers who preyed on Spanish settlements and shipping; by 1666 he was in command of his own vessel. Commissioned by the governor of Jamaica to carry on hostilities against the Spanish, Morgan captured and sacked settlements in Cuba, Panama, and Venezuela. He was brought to England in 1672 to be tried for plundering Panama City after a treaty had been signed between England and Spain. Convinced of his loyalty, King Charles II knighted Morgan and appointed him lieutenant governor of Jamaica.