Frederic Charles John Morgan, 6th Baron Tredegar, OstJ, (26 October 1908 — 17 November 1962), styled the Honourable John Morgan between 1949 and 1954, was a Welsh peer and landowner. On 21 August 1954, he succeeded to the titles of 6th Baron Tredegar and 8th baronet following the death of his father, Frederic George Morgan, 5th Baron Tredegar. His own death in 1962 saw the extinction of the barony of Tredegar and the Morgan baronetcy and his previous liquidation of the entirety of his family's Welsh estates brought to an end a social and political dynasty that had dominated South East Wales for 500 years.
The Morgans claimed descent from Welsh princes, and were among the most powerful families in South Wales, their fortunes having been established by William Morgan, who was a politician, and acquired substantial landholdings throughout Monmouthshire, Glamorganshire and Breconshire.[1][2] His descendants continued the family's political and social ascent; Charles Morgan becoming a baronet in 1792,[3] and another Charles becoming 1st Baron Tredegar in 1859.[4] His second son, Godfrey Morgan fought in the Charge of the Light Brigade in the Crimean War[5][6] and was made Viscount Tredegar in 1905.[7] Never marrying, Godfrey was in turn succeeded by his nephew Courtenay Morgan, and the Tredegar viscountcy was revived in his favour in 1926.[8]Evan Morgan succeeded his father in 1934. Having no children of his own, his heir was his uncle, Frederic Morgan, father of John.[9]
Early life
Frederic Charles John Morgan was born at Boughrood Castle on 26 October 1908 to Frederic George Morgan, 5th Baron Tredegar (then simply Frederic Morgan Esq.) and Dorothy Syssyllt Bassett.[a][11][12] Although named after his father, Morgan preferred to be known as John.[9] Following family tradition, he was educated at Eton College but did not attend university. It was while studying at Eton, Morgan befriended Alan Pryce-Jones. Pryce-Jones' father nicknamed Morgan "Pinhead", with even Alan conceiving that Morgan was "rather a silly boy".[13]
Morgan's parents divorced in 1921. In contrast to his father, Morgan's mother remarried in the same year, but died in 1929.[14][15] Morgan served in Scotland and the Middle East throughout World War II, gaining the rank of 2nd Lieutenant in the 24th London Regiment and officer of the King’s Own Scottish Borderers.[16][17] In 1949, Morgan became president of the Newport Athletic Club, and the Bedwellty Agricultural Society.[18][19][20] In 1950, he was promoted as an Officer of The Order of St John, having already been Assistant Almoner for the Priory of Wales for sometime, and elected as an honorary member of the Newport Chamber of Trade.[21][22]
Inheritance
Evan Morgan, 2nd Viscount Tredegar died without children in 1949. His life was unconventional; despite his homosexuality, he married twice;[23] enjoyed a long friendship with the occultistAleister Crowley;[24] and spent extravagantly.[17] While his relationship with his uncle Frederic was poor, he and his cousin, John, loathed each other.[17][13] Evan also failed to undertake any estate planning prior to his death, meaning his uncle inherited the Welsh estates, the barony, the baronetcy and an inheritance tax bill of £1,000,000.[17][b]
Frederic, who described himself as an "arthritis cripple"[26] decided to immediately transfer the entire Welsh estate to his son, John, to avoid the payment of a second set of death-duties on his own demise.[17] As a result, John Morgan inherited a £1,150,000[c]
fortune.[17][26] At the time, John told the Western Mail that he was prepared to live at Tredegar Park on "a very modest scale in view of the prevailing conditions". As a recent Catholic convert, Morgan went to Lourdes for guidance as to what to do with his inheritance.[26]
Following Evan’s death, John inherited any contents of the Morgan residences that were considered heirlooms. Any items that were not deemed as such were liable for repossession to pay those to whom Evan was in debt. John Morgan bought the majority of the “non-heirlooms” from his cousin’s executors, including the contents of Honeywood House[d], for which he paid £8,837[e], having been valued by Sotheby’s.[27]
The contents of Honeywood House were moved to Tredegar House, where they would later be sold.[27]
Despite indicating his intention to remain at Tredegar, and the tabloids reporting the house to be his main residence, Morgan spent little time there; only entertaining Lord Lloyd and Lord Raglan in 1949 and 1950, respectively.[28][9] In his father's final years, he had already begun selling off parts of the once 88,000 acre estate, significantly reducing it in an attempt to recover the family's lost fortune.[17] In 1950, he announced "with great regret" that death duties, taxation and costs had made it necessary for him to close Tredegar House, and later that year he agreed to sell the house and its remaining 200 acre parkland to the Sisters of St. Joseph for £40,000,[17] asserting that the sale was "good for his bank balance, and his soul".[f] In January 1951, Morgan allowed Dr Iorwerth Peate, keeper-in-charge for St Fagan's Castle, to choose 30 pieces of furniture from Tredegar House for exhibition in the period rooms of the castle.[29] Later, Morgan directed Stephenson & Alexander, a firm of auctioneers, to dispose of the remaining contents of the house in sales on 11-12 July 1951.[30] On the sale of the house, Morgan asked the nuns to hang portraits of his family and ancestors in one room to ensure that a Morgan presence remained in the house after his departure.[17] Following the sale, Morgan deposited his family's manuscripts and papers to the National Library of Wales, so that they would be preserved in the event of him dying without an heir, despite allegedly promising them to the Newport Borough Library.[31] Councillor A. F. Dolman described changing the destination of the documents as a "breech of faith".[32]
The removal of Morgan’s final belongings from Tredegar House took place in January 1958, around seven years after the sale of the property was completed.[33]
The house was used as a Catholic girls' school until 1974. Today it is owned by Newport City Council, and managed by the National Trust, via a 50-year-lease agreement.[34]
When Morgan announced that he would sell Tredegar House, he told the press that he "intended to live at Honeywood House, Dorking... and had no intention of breaking his connection with South Wales".[35] However, Morgan allegedly severed all family links to South Wales in 1953, after he failed to receive an invitation to meet Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh during a royal trip to Newport.[36] As a result, Morgan directed two firms to dispose of Honeywood House and its surrounding 172 acres at auction in 1954. The estates' lodges, cottages, and home-farm were sold separately.[37] Honeywood House itself became a convalescent home, run by Mr Sidney Miller, who believed that music could help a patient's recovery, and had one room converted into a "music room".[38]
Ruperra Castle was the family's weekend hunting lodge, and once home to Morgan's grandfather, Colonel Freddie Morgan. By the end of World War II, the castle had been severely damaged by a fire during the military's control of the property.[39] In his book, Midway on The Waves, James Lees-Milne describes a journey with Morgan to Ruperra, shortly after the War. He wrote, "the Welsh want to buy the castle from John as a memorial to Welshmen killed in the war and vest in the National Trust", adding "I could not see any point in it at all".[40]
Despite offers from the National Trust, in 1956 Morgan sold the castle to Eagle Star Insurance Company for around £25,000.[h][39] Today, it continues to deteriorate.[39]
Agricultural estate controversy
In February 1956, it was reported that the 53,000 acre Tredegar agricultural estate was to be sold in a series of auctions overseen by Lane, Saville & Co. It was reported that the estate consisted of housing, shops, banks, offices, docklands in Newport, and 100 tennanted farms.[41] Morgan assured the press that tenants would be given first refusal to buy their lease holdings, and that if a buyer for the entire estate was found prior to the auction, any sale agreements with tenants that had already been arranged would be honoured, adding that "he had hoped the estate might find a buyer as a whole.[42] Shortly afterwards, the firm told the Western Mail that tenants would be given first refusal to buy their lease holdings "where possible"; a contrast to the original statement which suggested that tenants would be given first refusal, absolutely.[42]
As a result, Mr W. Watson Cliffe, a high-ranking member of the Welsh Union of Leasehold Reformers, held a meeting stating that he wished for "Lord Tredegar to keep his promise and offer every tenant the land on which his house stands" adding that "he hoped that within a month his union would boast a thousand members".[43] In November 1956, it was reported that a 72-year-old woman living in Roath, Cardiff, had been asked by Morgan's agents to pay £515 for her house, despite similar properties having been sold for £100 two months earlier.[44] Cliffe stated that he had "written to Lord Tredegar, but received no response", and that he was "shook" by the incident, having consistently referred to Morgan's generosity throughout the union's meetings.[44] Morgan's solicitors wrote to Cliffe explaining that "the sale of the freehold was completed some time ago, and it was not possible to re-open negations". Unsatisfied, Cliffe wrote to Lord Tredegar once again asking for a personal interview to discuss the "full-facts" of the situation.[45] With no response, Cliffe petitioned to start an inquery into the case, hoping to gain public support.[46]
If this union never does anything else it must try to get back the money this poor woman has paid the Tredegar Estates... When the details of the public meeting are completed, we shall invite representatives of every public body we can think of. This should stir the public more than anything we have done. Tredegar Estates, too, would be invited.
— Mr W. Watson Cliffe
Despite argument continuing for several months, by November 1957, Eagle Star Insurance Company had bought the majority of the 53,000 acre agricultural estate and remaining 7000 Monmouthshire town properties, raising around £3,000,000,[i] all of which went to the treasury in payment for outstanding death-duties.[47][48][49]
Later life
Marriage
Morgan remained a bachelor until the age of 46. On 19 December 1954, he married Joanna Russell (1910–2000), in London.[50][51] The new Lady Tredegar, who went by “Joan”, had been married twice previously and Morgan became step-father to two daughters, one from Joanna's marriage to Commander Archibald Russell, and one from Russell’s previous marriage.
In 1955, Lord and Lady Tredegar featured in The Tatler, alongside Lady Tredegar's daughter, Bridget at St. Moritz.[52] The following year Lady Tredegar visited Tredegar House for the first time, accompanied by her husband. They thanked staff working at the house and met retired, former employees.[53]
Exile and Death
Morgan lived at 16 Randolph Crescent, Edinburgh, but heavy taxation, aided his decision to spend married life in Monte-Carlo, Monaco, as a tax exile.[54] Here he pursued his passion for art, having studied under Leonard Fuller at St Ives School, and produced several works which are now owned by the National Trust and displayed in Tredegar House.[55] He also enjoyed yachting and golf.[16]
In 1957, Morgan embarked on a 2000-mile journey on his motor-yacht, the Henry Morgan, named after his distant ancestor, Sir Henry Morgan. When the Henry Morgan became at risk of sinking during the voyage, Lord Tredegar allegedly went below-deck asserting, "there is nothing I can do about it; wake me when the fuss is over".[56][9]
In 1962, Morgan became ill with chronic pancreatitis, and returned to London as he did not trust the local doctors.[9] On 10 October, he was successfully operated on at Middlesex Hospital, but contracted septacemia shortly after; subsequently being relocated to St George's Hospital. Morgan failed to recover, and died without issue on 17 November 1962, aged 54.[57] Morgan left estates with a net value of £309,580,[j]
donating £500[k]
to the Church of The Immaculate Conception in his will.[58] Morgan also specified for his funeral to be carried out in the "simplest manner", wishing for any money that would have been spent on flowers to be donated to the Catholic Church or charity.[59]
On his death, his wife donated more family portraits and some of John's artwork to the sisters of St. Joseph, in his memory.[l] The works include a portrait of her husband, by Leonard Fuller and dating from 1950, which is on display at Tredegar House.[61] As he died childless, John Morgan's death marked the extinction of the Morgan baronetcy and the Barony of Tredegar, bringing an end to a dynasty that had existed in South Wales for some 500 years.[17]
^£1,000,000 in 1949 equates to approximately £44,627,000 in 2023, according to calculations based on the Consumer Price Index measure of inflation.[25]
^£1,150,000 in 1949 equates to approximately £51,321,000 in 2023, according to calculations based on the Consumer Price Index measure of inflation.[25]
^Honeywood House was Evan Morgan’s second residence, in Dorking, England. It was the primary residence of Evan’s mother, Katherine, as she did not enjoy good relations with her husband, Courtenay. Both Evan and Katherine died there in 1949.
^£8,837 in 1949 equates to approximately £394,000 in 2023, according to calculations based on the Consumer Price Index measure of inflation.[25]
^£40,000 in 1950 equates to approximately £1,731,000 in 2023, according to calculations based on the Consumer Price Index measure of inflation.[25]
^The property was renamed by John Morgan's aunt, Katherine Morgan (née Carnegie), Viscountess Tredegar, c.1914.
^£25,000 in 1956 equates to approximately £788,000 in 2023, according to calculations based on the Consumer Price Index measure of inflation.[25]
^£3,000,000 in 1957 equates to approximately £91,360,000 in 2023, according to calculations based on the Consumer Price Index measure of inflation.[25]
^£309,580 in 1962 equates to approximately £8,342,000 in 2023, according to calculations based on the Consumer Price Index measure of inflation.[25]
^£500 in 1962 equates to approximately £13,000 in 2023, according to calculations based on the Consumer Price Index measure of inflation.[25]
^ abCross, William (30 October 2014). Viscount Tredegar: The Final Affairs. 58 Sutton Road, Newport, United Kingdom: Book Midden Publishing. pp. 124–125. ISBN978-1-905914-23-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
^"Social & Personal". Western Mail & South Wales News. 10 October 1949. p. 3. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
^Entry of death reading, "Frederic Charles John Morgan, 6th Baron Tredegar. Died 17 November 1962, St George's Hospital, Westminster". Registered; 19 November 1962 by Donald A. Boreham. Retrieved; 6 November 2024.
^"Debts Forgiven in Will". Birmingham Daily Post. 22 March 1963. p. 11. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
^The will of The Right Honourable Frederic Charles John, Lord Tredegar, of Palais de la Scala, Monte-Carlo in the principality of Monaco. 29 September 1959; retrieved, 6 November 2024.
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