Although Henry Morgan is often called a pirate, he was really more of a privateer and soldier, only attacking the Spanish and usually not without a commission. At lot of information about Morgan comes from Alexander Exquemelin, who sailed with him as a surgeon. Most of this information was not very flattering, generally portraying the buccaneer leader in a negative light and accusing him of deeds that were not necessarily true. Among other things, Exquemelin claimed that Morgan was born poor and became an indentured servant in the Caribbean, but he in fact he more likely came from a family of wealthy Welsh farmers. One of his uncles, Edward Morgan, was even Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica. He was born Harri Morgan in about 1635 in either Llanrumney or Pencarn in the then Welsh county of Monmouthshire. His name was first anglicised to Henry when he was knighted in 1674. However, not much else is known about his early life.…
