assumed by royal license the surname of Morshead in addition to that of Anderson.
In July 1807 he was sent to Dublin, and three months later was appointed commanding royal engineer of the expedition, under Brigadier-general Beresford, which sailed from Cork early in 1808, and in February took possession of Madeira. He remained in Madeira until 1812, and on his return to England in November of that year was posted to the Plymouth division. He was promoted lieutenant-colonel 21 July 1813, and sent to Dublin; was appointed commanding royal engineer in North Britain (March 1814), and in July 1815 was transferred as commanding royal engineer of the western district to Plymouth, where he remained for many years, and carried out important works for the ordnance and naval services in consultation with the Duke of Wellington and Lord Melville. On 29 July 1825 he was promoted colonel.
In 1829 he was appointed commanding royal engineer at Malta, and died at Valetta on 11 Nov. 1831, while acting governor. He was honoured with a public funeral, and was buried in the old saluting battery overlooking the grand harbour. He married in 1800 Elizabeth, only daughter of P. Morshead, esq., of Widey Court, Plymouth, Devonshire, by whom he had eleven children. A man of frank and engaging manners, a good conversationalist, and a clear writer, he was fond of society, and exercised a genial hospitality. There is a bust in the royal engineers' office in Valetta, Malta.
The following plans by Morshead are in the war office: 1. Edinburgh Castle, two plans, 1814 and 1815. 2. Whiteforland Point and Defences, two plans, 1814. 3. Leith Fort and Breakwater, 1815. 4. Plymouth, Survey and Drawings of various parts of the Defences, Piers, and Ordnance and Naval Buildings, nineteen drawings, 1815-26. 5. Plan of Plymouth Sound, showing intended breakwater and the soundings, with an original pencil sketch by Mr. Rennie of the lighthouse, 1816. 6. Plymouth Citadel, 1820. 7. Devonport Lines, 1820. 8. Scilly Islands, St. Mary's, Plan of the Defences, 1820. 9. St. Nicholas Island, Plymouth, 1820. 10. Pendennis Castle, Falmouth, 1821. 11. Pendennis Castle, and Falmouth Harbour, two plans, 1828-9. 12. St. Mawes Castle, Falmouth, 1829.
[Royal Engineers' Records; War Office and Board of Ordnance Records; United Service Journal.]
MORT, THOMAS SUTCLIFFE (1816-1878), a pioneer of commerce in New South Wales, was born at Bolton, Lancashire, on 23 Dec. 1816. As a boy he entered the warehouse of Messrs. H. & S. Henry of Manchester, and in 1838 was recommended by them to their correspondents, Messrs.
Aspinall & Brown, in Sydney. With this firm and their successors he remained five years as clerk and salesman. In 1841 he made his first step in colonial enterprise, and became an active promoter of the Hunter River Steam Navigation Company, which afterwards developed into the Australasian Steam Navigation Company. But shortly after the panic of 1843, which ruined some of the best houses in Australia, the failure of the firm which he served threw him on his own resources. He then started in business as an auctioneer, and laid the foundations of the great firm which bore his name. It was in connection with this business that he started the public wool sales of the colony. And it was at this time also that he began experiments in regard to freezing meat. Residing quietly in a cottage at Double Bay, he devoted himself with an exclusive vigour to his new calling, and his wealth and influence increased. In 1846 he bought some land, which is described as 'two or three sand-hills,' at Darling Point. Here a love of gardening, which had always characterised him, and his skill in management, had full scope, and he turned an uninviting tract into the lovely estate of Greenoaks.
In 1849 he took an active part in promoting the first line of railway in New South Wales, between Sydney and Paramatta. When the gold rush came he formed (in 1851) the Great Nugget Vein Mining Company. In 1856 he turned to the encouragement of the pastoral development of the country, and laid at Bodalla the foundations of a rural settlement for the supply of dairy produce to the large towns, which eventually spread over thirty-eight thousand acres, and absorbed 100,000l. of his own capital. It was the favourite resort of his later years. From 1857 to 1859 he was in England, collecting those works of art which eventually adorned his house at Greenoaks.
In 1863, with the view of promoting the use of steamers in the colonial trade, he commenced excavations for the great dock at Port Jackson, where again he invested some 100,000l, and finally constituted the Mort Dock and Engineering Company. The latter years of his life were chiefly devoted to the attempt to perfect the machinery by which meat could be transported in a frozen state for long distances over seas. He was the originator of the modern frozen meat trade. After giving the subject much consideration, he began about 1870, with the aid
