Posted on 2 January 2013
A new book, published by the University of Wales Press, gives two intriguing glimpses, both previously unpublished, into the history of a single family.
Travels in Revolutionary France and a Journey Across America: George Cadogan Morgan and Richard Price Morgan, edited by Mary-Ann Constantine and Paul Frame, is part of the Wales and the French Revolution series of books and gives both an eyewitness insight into the opening of the French Revolution, and a vivid description of early nineteenth century America including its early railroad development.
In July 1789 George Cadogan Morgan, born in Bridgend and the nephew of the celebrated radical dissenter Richard Price (1723-91), found himself caught up in the opening events of the French Revolution and its consequences. In 1808, his family left Britain for America where his son, Richard Price Morgan, travelled extensively, made a descent of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers by raft and helped build some of the early American railroads. The adventures of both men are related in the book via letters George sent home to his family from France and through the autobiography written by his son in America.
Professor John Barrel, University of York describes the importance of the book:
“George Cadogan Morgan's accounts of his travels in France at the very start of the French Revolution are a fascinating addition to our knowledge of that event; the autobiography of his son offers an equally compelling narrative of the hopes and disappointments of an immigrant from Britain trying to make a living in 19th-century America. Both are wonderfully readable, and have been expertly introduced by two outstanding scholars.”
Appealing to both academic and general readers interested in the French Revolution, this title makes a contribution to a lesser known part of general Welsh history.
Paul Frame is a Swansea based Geological Consultant with a passion for researching Enlightenment, and particularly Welsh Enlightenment history. Mary-Ann Constantine is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies, a part of the University of Wales.
/Ends
Travels in Revolutionary France and a Journey Across America: George Cadogan Morgan and Richard Price Morgan (November 2012) Edited by Mary-Ann Constantine and Paul Frame
Series: Wales and the French Revolution
£24.99 • PB • 9780708325582 • 234x156 mm • 272pp - 5 black and white Images