Morice Town

In 1660 William Morice became Governor of and Member of Parliament for Plymouth and in those guises played an important part in the Restoration of Charles II. It was he who had arranged the meeting between the emissary of the King in exile, John Grenville, and General Monck from North Devon, whose role in the Restoration was ulitimately a vital one.

For his services Morice was knighted and then created baronet in 1661 and appointed the King's Secretary of State. From such a position of power Morice was clearly well-placed to see how the future of this area was shaping up and in 1667 he very shrewdly purchased the Stoke Damerel Estate from Sir Edward Wise.

Thus although he died in February 1690, less than a year before a contract was issued for the building of a new stone dock at Point Froward (sic), it is ultimately from him, through his heirs, that all the Morice names in Plymouth Dock, or Devonport as it became, have derived.

EH 17 Jult 1993