Charles Morton, Esq

According to the book Alumni Cantabrigienses (record of Cambridge alumni from the beginnings to 1900), Charles was the eldest son of Charles Carr Morton, Esq. of Drumrora co. Cavan (Ireland). Born 8/16/1802 in Dublin. He was admitted to Trinity College (Cam. U.) (age 18) on October 13, 1820. He went to Harrow School. Matric. Michs. 1820; Scholar 1823; B.A. 1825; M.A. 1830; Admitted at Middle Temple October 18, 1823. Died October 2, 1832. Brother of D' Arcy (1833), Pierce (1820), Edward (1823), and Savile (1830)--all Cambridge U. alumni. {Source: Inns of the Court}

On the death of Charles, more is forthcoming. Below are transcriptions from 3 newspapers from around the date of his death:

The Times - October 3, 1832, London, Middlesex County, England

Coroner’s Inquest

At 8 o'clock last night an inquisition was taken before Mr. Biggs, at Wright’s Hotel, Adam-street, Adelphi, on view of the body of Charles Morton, Esquire, barrister-at-law, he terminated his existence under the following circumstances:

Pierce Morton, of the Middle Temple, Esquire, brother to the deceased deposed that the deceased had only returned on Sunday From Rotterdam, where he had sojourned for the last three months. He visited another brother at Blackwall on his arrival, and stayed with him until Sunday morning; on that day he came to town, and witness accompanied him to the above hotel, where he hired apartments.

The deceased, who was about 30 years of age, was a melancholy and reserved man; he was possessed of considerable property in Ireland, and was contemplating a Journey to that country. During the year 1830 witness was constantly with him, and on terms of intimacy; he imparted, for the first lime, that he had formed an attachment to a lady of title abroad; the attachment was of a violent nature and at times, absorbed his entire attention; it so much affected him, that he was incapable of discharging his duties of a magistrate in the county of Kerry, in Ireland.

He showed witness several letters from the lady, and it appeared that the attachment was mutual. He had not seen her for three years, and about three months ago he left this country lo visit her, and only returned on Sunday. He then appeared in excellent health and spirits, and exhibited to his friends several presents he had received. Witness spent Monday evening with him, and at his request brought him some newspapers. Witness was sent for after the melancholy occurrence, and found in the room a letter, written by the deceased to the lady abroad, in which there was not the remote allusion to the fatal act. Witness considered the attachment was the cause of the occurrence.

Edmund Morton, Esquire, another brother, staled that the deceased stayed with him at Blackwall on Sunday, and on the Monday left him in excellent spirits. On Tuesday (yesterday) witness went to the hotel, and at 1 o'clock rapped at the deceased's apartment, but received no answer. At 2 o'clock he again knocked, and, receiving no answer, he desired the porter to get in at the window, the door being fastened. His deceased brother was then discovered in his dressing gown quite dead. A surgeon was sent for, and quickly arrived. Witness was not aware what led to the rash act.

Mr. Skegg, surgeon, of Bedford-street, Strand, stated that he was called in. The deceased was quite dead. There was a quantity of blood over his dressing-gown; some on the floor, and some in a foul-pan, in which he found a double bladed knife, generally used by gardeners. With the largest blade the deceased, had no doubt terminated his existence. On the right side of the neck he discovered red a deep incised wound, three inches in length, and two inches in depth. The deceased's eyes were very much bloodshot, which was indicative of mental anxiety. And while laboring under that he had doubtless made away with himself. From the position in which he was found, he must have wounded himself while sitting, and held the pan for the blood. After further evidence was adduced, confirmatory of the story. The jury, after a short consultation, resumed a verdict "That the deceased destroyed himself in a fit of temporary insanity."

Baldwin’s London Weekly Journal And Surrey And Sussex Gazette – October 6, 1832

On Tuesday an inquest was held at Wright's Hotel, Adam-street, Adelphi, on the death of Charles Morton, Esquire, barrister at law. The deceased arrived at the above hotel on Monday, and on Tuesday, about one o'clock, he was found dead in his chamber, weltering in his blood, having inflicted a severe wound in his throat. The deceased who was a barrister, out had never practiced, had just returned from Rotterdam — Pierce Morton, Esquire, of the Inner Temple, a brother, stated that the deceased had always been of a melancholy and reserved temper; for the last six years his mind was wholly engrossed by an ardent attachment to a foreign lady of rank, and witness thought that his recent return to this country after a visit to Rotterdam might have caused this passion to affect his mind. The affection was, however, mutual; and when the deceased called on witness, on Monday, he was in excellent spirits. He present estates in Ireland, and had discharged the office of high sheriff. Amongst the papers of the deceased there was a letter containing a copy of a monumental inscription at Rotterdam, which was addressed to the lady in question. Verdict: Temporary Insanity.

True Sun, October 4, 1832

Died

On the 2d instant Charles Morton, Esquire of Kilnacrott, County of Cavan, aged 30.

In his travel book, 'England with sketches of society in the Metropolis', James Fenimore Cooper, the great American writer, writes the following description of the hotel on Adam street, Adelphi in an account published in 1837, five years after our uncle committed suicide:

"In travelling along these beautiful roads, at the rate of ten or eleven miles the hour, in perfect security, we are irresistibly led to recall the pictures of Fielding, with his carriers, his motley cargoes, and his foot-pads! - - London met us, in its straggling suburbs, several miles down the river. Icannot give you any just idea of our carte de route, but itled us through a succession of streets lined by houses of dingy yellow bricks, until we suddenly burst out upon Waterloo Bridge. Crossing-this huge pile, we whirled into the Strand, and were set down at the hotel of Mrs. Wright, Adam-street, Adelphi. Forty years since we should have been in the very focus of the fashionable world, so far as hotels were concerned, whereas we were now at its ultima Thule. The Strand, as its name signifies, runs parallel to the river, and at no great distance from its banks, leaving room, however, for a great number of short streets between it and the water. Nearly all these streets, most of which are in fact "places," having no outlets at one end, are filled with furnished lodging-houses, and, in some of the best of them, I believe it is still permitted to a gentleman to reside. When, however, I mentioned to a friend that we were staying in Adam-street, he exclaimed that we ought, on no account, to have gone east of Charing Cross. These were distinctions that gave us very little concern, and we were soon refreshing ourselves with some of worthy'Mrs. .Wright’s excellent tea. One of the merits of England is the perfect order in which everything is kept, and the perfect method with which everything is done. One sees no cracked cups, no tea-pots with broken noses, no knives thin as wafers, no-forks with one prong longer than the other, no coach wanting a glass, no substitute for a buckle, no crooked poker or tongs loose in the joint, no knife that won't cut, no sugar cracked in lumps too big to be used, no hat unbrushed, no floor with a hole in it, no noisy servants, no bell that won't ring, no window thatwon’t open, no door that won’t shut, no broken pane, nor anything out of repair that might have been mended. I now speak of the eyes of him who can pay."