Robert Clark Morgan (13 March 1798 – 23 September 1864) was an English sea captain, whaler, diarist, and, in later life, a missionary.
Before he took up his first command in December 1828 on the Sir Charles Price he had been a reckless, boisterous profligate, living without a thought of God, except to blaspheme his holy name; but Divine grace now wrought so wondrous a change in him, that when he once more went to sea the old hands amongst his crew could scarcely recognise him for the same man.
He who once never gave a command unaccompanied by an oath was now never heard to swear; and such was the force of his character and the power of his example, that in a few months' time not a man of his crew dared to use a profane expression while within his hearing.
The discipline of the ship was not a bit lessened, and every one was happier, from the sobriety and good feeling of which the captain set example.
The foundation stone of the Wesleyan Chapel in George Street was laid in September 1816 and it was opened on December sixteenth of the same year.
On 30 December 1822, at Deptford, Kent, at the Church of St. Nicholas,[3] Robert Clark Morgan married Mary Dorrington.
[4] The marriage was registered as: Robert Morgan Clark, bachelor of this Parish and Mary Dorrington, spinster of ('this', written, then deleted) the Parish of Greenwich were married in this Church by Banns this 30th Day of December in the Year one thousand eight hundred and twenty two, by me, D. Jones, Curate.
This Marriage was solemnised between us (signed:) Robert Morgan Clark Mary Dorrington In the presence of { X The mark of James Gittens and
Duke of York finally set sail for the sea on Saturday 19 March 1836, having been unable to get away from the English coast due to bad weather for some five weeks.
A list compiled from the Company's records gave the names of twenty passengers and twenty-six seamen, in addition to the Captain.
Samuel Stephens was the first Colonial Manager, and on behalf of his employers, he established the settlement of Kingscote as a site for their projected whaling venture.
From its location in relation to the mouth of the River Murray, and the Gulfs of St Vincent and Spencer, he considered it as a possible shipping port for the future.
Charles Powell and W. West were gardeners; Henry Mitchell was a butcher; and John Neale was an assistant carpenter.
When in sight of the island the previous evening Captain Morgan, a devout Wesleyan, gathered the passengers for a prayer meeting.
Russell was instructed to carry the child through the shallow water and place her feet on the beach while the adults were at dinner.
The Company had dispatched Duke of York, Lady Mary Pelham, Emma, and John Pirie, with the intention that after they had delivered their passengers they commence whaling operations.
On Friday, 10 February 1837 Morgan heard of the wreck of the ship Active in the Fiji Islands and they took on board its Master, Captain Dixon, Willings the mate, and Wilkey.
The whole ship's company got into three boats and rowed and sailed 300 miles to Brisbane, where they arrived Saturday 26 August 1837 after a most uncomfortable time.
On the way down aboriginals killed an English crewman George Glansford, of Barking Essex, and a Rotumah native boy, named Bob, when the boats put in for water.
They finally arrive at Morton Bay and the steamer James Watt took Captain Morgan, the mate and nineteen survivors on to Sydney, leaving the remainder to follow in another vessel.
The London Missionary Society invited children all over the country to contribute to buying a ship in Williams's memory so that his work could continue.
The original artwork is held in the collections of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, England, and was displayed in the offices of the London Missionary Society.
[quantify] Morgan died 23 September 1864 at Arthur St, South Yarra, Victoria, Australia, at the home of his son, aged 66.
[9] The headstone in the Melbourne General Cemetery reads: Sacred to the memory of Robert Clark Morgan who died 23 September 1864, aged 66.
He brought the first settlers to South Australia in the Duke of York in 1836 and was subsequently Commander of the London Missionary Ships Society's Camden and John Williams.
Murray in his book, Forty Years Mission Work, said "I have known many eminent Christians during my not-short life, but I have never met a more lovable, a more Christian like man than was Captain Morgan"[10] On 12 February 1866, Mary Morgan (née Dorrington) his wife, died at Arthur Street.