When working on an electrical system and "shorting something to something", you really need to know what you're doing, or AT LEAST have diagrams. You're lucky that you just blew a fuse and didn't catch your new car on fire.
Here's a link to a troubleshooting article for the electric fuel pump. If you follow it, it will help you find the source of your problem.
http://www.austinthirdgen.org/index.php?pid=35
The fact that the previous owner replaced the fuel pump (or at least he claims) means that he knows nothing about the car. If he did, the fuel pump would work now.
So don't believe everything previous owners tell you. Remember, they're trying to offload their broken car onto an unsuspecting buyer, also called "the sucker".
A no-fuel condition can have several different causes. That's why I posted the troubleshooting article link, it'll help you find it.
Lou
P.S.: As King1960 said, the F/P fuse is located near the battery, in a single-fuse holder. It looks kind of like an unused connector. Should be bolted to the fenderwell.