Geoffrey de Morton

Geoffrey de Morton (died c. 1317) was a wealthy merchant and shipowner in early fourteenth-century Dublin who served as Mayor of Dublin in 1303. Presumably his wealth was the main reason he was chosen as Mayor of Dublin. He was plunged into controversy almost immediately after his election when he was accused of stealing the official seal of Dublin Corporation for his own private use.

In 1305 he brought a series of lawsuits against Richard de Beresford, the Lord Treasurer of Ireland, and the Barons of the Court of Exchequer (Ireland), all of which failed. The Barons brought a series of successful counter-claims, and as a result, Geoffrey was briefly imprisoned. In fairness to Geoffrey, Beresford's conduct may also have been questionable as he was himself imprisoned and removed from office, although his career was not damaged in the long term. Despite Geoffrey's dubious reputation for commercial honesty this claim may have been genuine: at any rate, it was not rejected outright but referred back to the authorities in Dublin for further discussion.

The murage scandal Geoffrey was apparently undeterred by his imprisonment, or the failure of his lawsuits, and in 1308 he applied to King Edward II for a licence to levy a toll for six years to pay for the murage. The murage was the tax imposed every year since 1221 for the upkeep of the Dublin city walls, and part of it was earmarked for the repair of Isolde's Tower, the defensive tower situated at one end of Old Dublin Bridge (now Father Mathew Bridge), on present-day Essex Quay which had been damaged by fire. Geoffrey claimed to have employed stone masons to repair it, and that he himself had spent more than £80 on the work. He neglected to mention that as he himself was the tenant of Isolde's tower, he was legally obliged to keep it in good repair at his own expense. The licence was granted and confirmed by an Act of the Irish Parliament, but the grant led to a flood of complaints about Geoffrey's corrupt management of the tolls, and in particular his practice of exempting his own friends from paying them. In addition, it appears that none of the money was spent on the upkeep of the walls, which might have had disastrous consequences for the Dubliners during the Scots Invasion of 1315-18. Geoffrey also built several houses on the bridge, which it was alleged seriously disrupted the flow of traffic. The verdict was that William must give an account of his profits.

They had two daughters: Maud, and Alice who married the High Court judge John de Grauntsete. Alice died c. 1335.