Editing Henry Morgan (section)

==Early life==
Born Harri Morgan around 1635 in Wales, either in [[Llanrumney]] or Pencarn (both in [[Monmouthshire (historic)|Monmouthshire]], between Cardiff and Newport).{{sfn|Zahedieh|2004a}}{{refn|name="Monmouthshire status"|group=n}}{{refn|Information on the year of Morgan's birth is unreliable; in a deposition sworn in November 1671 he gave his age as 36.{{sfn|Pope|1978|p=62}}|group= n}} The historian [[David Williams (historian)|David Williams]], writing in the [[Dictionary of Welsh Biography]], observes that attempts to identify his parents and antecedents "have all proved unsatisfactory",{{sfn|Williams|1959}} although his will referred to distant relations.{{sfn|Pope|1978|p=62}} Several sources state Morgan's father was Robert Morgan, a farmer.{{sfn|Zahedieh|2004a}}{{refn|The sources that show Robert as Henry's father include:
* Zahedieh, Nuala (2004). "Morgan, Sir Henry (c.1635–1688)". ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''.
* Blalock, Glenn (2000). "Morgan, Sir Henry". ''American National Biography''.
* [[Dudley Pope|Pope, Dudley]] (1978). ''The Buccaneer King: The Biography of the Notorious Sir Henry Morgan 1635–1688''.
* Breverton, Terry (2005). ''Admiral Sir Henry Morgan: The Greatest Buccaneer of them all''.|group=n}} [[Nuala Zahedieh]], writing for the ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]'', states that details of Morgan's early life and career are uncertain, although in later life he stated that he had left school early and was "much more used to the [[Pike (weapon)|pike]] than the book".{{sfn|Zahedieh|2004a}}

It is unknown how Morgan made his way to the Caribbean. He may have travelled to the Caribbean as part of the army of [[Robert Venables]], sent by [[Oliver Cromwell]] as part of the [[Caribbean expedition (1654)|Caribbean expedition]] against the Spanish in the [[West Indies]] in 1654,{{sfn|Blalock|2000}} or he may have served as an [[Apprenticeship#United Kingdom|apprentice]] to a maker of cutlery for three years in exchange for the cost of his emigration.{{sfn|Williams|1959}} Richard Browne, who served as surgeon under Morgan in 1670 stated that Morgan had travelled either as a "private gentleman" soon after the 1655 capture of Jamaica by the English,{{sfn|Zahedieh|2004a}} or he may have been abducted in Bristol and transported to [[Barbados]], where he was sold as a servant.{{sfn|Gosse|2007|p=154}} In the 17th century the Caribbean offered an opportunity for young men to become rich quickly, although significant investment was needed to obtain high returns from the sugar export economy. Other opportunities for financial gain were through trade or plunder of the [[Spanish Empire]].{{sfn|Zahedieh|2004a}} Much of the plunder was from [[privateer]]ing, whereby individuals and ships were commissioned by government to attack the country's enemies.{{sfn|Cordingly|2006|p=xvii}}{{refn|According to the anthropologists [[Shannon Lee Dawdy]] and Joe Bonni, pirates are defined as "bandits, or sailors who seize property and/or people by force"; privateers are defined as those "who operate with a legal license from a state government to attack enemy ships and ports during wartime, keeping a contracted share of seized goods". Dawdy and Bonni define buccaneers as "originally castaway colonists (usually French or English) on Hispanio (from French) who survived by hunting or raising livestock",{{sfn|Dawdy|Bonni|2012|p=678}} although the historian [[Jon Latimer]] observes that the terms ''pirate'' and ''buccaneer'' have been interchangeable in English since the 17th century.{{sfn|Latimer|2009|p=4}}|group=n}}