Tredegar House

Book A Tour While You Can!

2012-02-07T07:13:00.001Z

With the National Trust soon to take over the running of Tredegar House, change is most definitely afoot at the old Morgan homestead. In my utterly biased fashion, I have always considered the tour guides of Tredegar House to be a superb example of their species. They have an intrepid Sherpa-type quality about them. If you have never been on a Tredegar House tour, why not arrange a booked tour for a party of friends, while the chance is still there?

You won't regret it. Act quickly though. This offer almost certainly ends at the end of next month. Details via: http://www.newport.gov.uk/_dc/index.cfm?fuseaction=thingstosee.tredegarhouse&contentid=CONT229206

The Morgan history resumes tomorrow with the hugely influential and remarkably durable Sir William Morgan (for those of you familiar with the House, he's the one whose portrait hangs in the Gilt Room, above the fireplace, accompanied by a rather cheerful skull).

History of the Morgans (12): Thomas Morgan (d. 1603)

2012-02-04T07:33:00.000Z

The sinking of Miles Morgan's ship Red Lion of Newport, with the loss of all hands, heralded another period of uncertainty for the Morgans of Tredegar. Since Miles was declared an 'outlaw' on his death, his estate was due to be sequestrated. Once again, the Morgans seemed to have lost Tredegar, and once again they managed to bounce back. A resilient bunch.

Technically the Tredegar Estate should have passed directly to the childless Miles' brother-in-law, Thomas (the son of the Roman Catholic, Rowland Morgan), who lived at Machen. The sequestration muddied the waters considerably, as did the fact that nobody seems to have done anything about said sequestration. After the declaration there seems to have been much thumb twiddling and whistling, but very little sequestrating. This might well have given Thomas valuable time in which to plan his response.

Fortunately for the Morgans, Thomas was the ideal person to head the family at a time of legal strife. He had spent ten years, (1567-1577) at The Middle Temple. At this period The Middle Temple was attended not just by those who wished to pursue a legal career, but also by the sons of the nobility and gentry, who wished to gain a polished education. It was an academic establishment which, understandably, focussed heavily on legal training. These legal studies would serve Thomas Morgan of Machen well in the struggle that was to come.

Whether hatched by Thomas or not (the likelihood is that it was) a remarkable 'conspiracy of ignorance' was launched when the gears of sequestration finally started to grind into motion. Tredegar, and all its contents, had to be valued. The problem was, nobody seemed to remember anything that was in the House. The authorities must have thought that they had found the right man to assist them in Phillip Madock of Mendellgyffe; after all, Master Madock had earlier prepared an inventory of the mansion. Alas, it would seem Madock was becoming rather forgetful. He had a poor memory regarding the contents of Tredegar House but, ever helpful, although he couldn't remember how many silver cups there were at Tredegar, he "thought there was a salt."

The eventual result of all this was that Thomas Morgan eventually succeeded to the Tredegar Estate. A document of 1584 states that he 'repossessed land of the deceased outlaw, Miles Morgan, on the payment of £5565'. His Middle Temple education had served him well.

Thomas went on to serve as Sheriff of the county in 1582, and as Member of Parliament for Monmouthshire in 1588-89. He married Elizabeth Bodenham of Hereford (the second Morgan-Bodenham match-up) and they had issue, thus securing the line. Thomas's brother Henry was set up at Llanrumney. It has been suggested that from this Henry's line descended the famous Sir Henry Morgan of the next century.

Thomas died in 1603. Presumably leaving behind a very detailed inventory of his possessions to his eldest son. And almost certainly "a salt."

Click to view previous chapters in this series:
11. Miles Morgan d. 1578
10. William Morgan d. 1569
9. John Morgan d. 1513
8. Sir Morgan ap John d. c1504
7. Sir John Morgan d. c1492
6. Ieuan ap Llywelyn ap Morgan
5. Llywelyn ap Morgan (lost Tredegar in 1402)
4. Morgan ap Llywelyn d. c1384
3. Ifor Hael of Gwern y Cleppa
2. Llywelyn ap Ifor and Angharad
1. Sir Morgan ap Maredudd d. c1331

One More Push....

2012-02-03T07:40:00.003Z

With the National Trust taking over the running of Tredegar House very shortly, I thought it might be an opportune moment to resume my rather laboured history of the Morgans of Tredegar. With an almighty push we might be able to get over the finish line just in time.

Stay tuned. We'll get there.

Halloween 2011

2011-10-30T07:35:00.003Z

It seems to come around so quickly. Night One of the infamous Tredegar House Halloween event has been concluded. Judging from the screams (and the sound of chainsaws) it seems to have had its usual impact on visitors.

Did you attend? Did you survive? Feel free to comment.

Servant's History Evening

2011-06-08T12:37:00.004+01:00

Thursday, June 23rd, 6pm-8pm at Tredegar House.

Follow in the footsteps of the Tredegar House servants and see where they lived and worked.

The tour will finish with a glass of wine in the Servants Hall and offers a unique chance to chat and look through the photographs and information that we hold on the Tredegar House servants and estate workers.

Adults £9.95, concessions (senior citizens, children aged 15 and under & students) £8.95, price includes a glass of wine.

(01633) 815880 to book tickets, or for further details.

Tredegar House Halloween 2010

2010-10-30T15:47:00.002+01:00

It's that time again. The fake cobwebs go up (which can be very confusing for the housekeeper) and the doors to Wales' finest 17th century house are thrown open to celebrate that dark, murky, time of year, Halloween.

Expect vampires ('sparkly' ones), werewolves, insane clowns, a not altogether stable butcher, the faint hum of a chainsaw or two, and much more.....

Did you survive Halloween at Tredegar House? Comments and feedback always welcome.

Radio Programme on the Hon. Gwyneth Morgan

2010-02-17T11:20:00.005Z

BBC Radio Wales are airing a programme about Lord Tredegar's daughter, Gwyneth Morgan, and her tragic fate, this Sunday. Listen in if you can!

Sunday 21 February
14.03
BBC Radio Wales

'Past Master'
Phil Carradice investigates the strange disappearance of Hon Gwyneth Ericka Morgan, the beautiful Welsh heiress, who fell victim to illegal drugs during the 1920s.

St David's Day Event

2010-02-15T11:54:00.003Z

Celebrate St David’s Day with a tour of Tredegar House and a chance to sample Welsh food and drink within the Servants Hall.

The tour will look at the Morgan family’s connections with Welsh culture and language and their place in local history.

There will be a bar open until 9.30pm, selling Welsh drink.

Times

English Tour 6pm

Welsh Tour 7.15pm

Booking is essential.

All tickets must be booked in advance.

Adults £9.95, concessions (senior citizens, children aged 15 and under and students) £8.95

For further information and to book tickets please contact:

Tredegar House & Park

Newport
South Wales
NP10 8YW
Telephone: (01633) 815 880
Fax: (01633) 815 895

Email: tredegar.house@newport.gov.uk

History of the Morgans (11): Miles Morgan d.1578

2009-11-06T11:21:00.005Z

Mention 'pirates' to people today and almost immediately the name of Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean films hovers into their mind's eye; a different generation might offer up an image of a swashbuckling Errol Flynn (all sensible opinion must surely acknowledge that the finest 'pirate movie' of them all is Flynn's 'The Sea Hawk' (1940)?). Those with a passion for history might prefer to mention the deeds of the real life flesh-and-blood (with a hint of rum) seafaring hero, Sir Henry Morgan.

Very few would conjure up the name of Miles Morgan of Tredegar. With good reason. Miles, if he was indeed involved in piracy at all, was not very successful at it. Had Errol Flynn made a film about his seafaring career, it would have been a very short one, and the box office receipts would have been highly disappointing.

Part of Miles Morgan's Tredegar House still exists today in the form of the much altered Servant's Hall. It was here he moved in 1569 when he succeeded to the Tredegar estates as the illegitimate grandson of William Morgan, formerly Member of Parliament and Sheriff of the county. Miles' inheritance was a rich one and included: 40 farm houses, 200 cottages, 200 gardens, 100 orchards, 3000 acres of pasture, 3000 acres of furze and heath, 500 acres of wood, 60 acres of marshland and much more besides.

Marriage to his cousin Catherine Morgan of Machen and his participation in the traditional Morgan activities in the surrounding counties (Miles served as High Sheriff for Glamorgan in 1571) helped to solidify, and perhaps lend legitimacy to, his tenure as head of the Tredegar Estate. He also continued the Morgan tradition of bardic patronage.

For all of this surface normality, the Tredegar Estate seems to have been going through some financial difficulties during this period (Miles ultimately died in debt to the tune of £800.13.4d). Perhaps it was this parlous financial state that drove Miles to the dramatic, but ultimately tragic, step of heading to sea in a bid to recoup the family fortune. An exciting opportunity arose in 1578. Sir Humphrey Gilbert, the explorer, and half-brother to Sir Walter Raleigh, was to lead an expedition for "the inhabiting and planting of our people in America." Miles, who got on extremely well with Sir Humphrey, joined the expedition, bringing several Welsh gentlemen with him to serve under his command.

Back at Tredegar, Miles' bard had a bad feeling about all this.....

The fleet (of seven ships) was assembled in Plymouth. Gilbert took command of the flagship Ann Ager, which bore as her motto "Quid Non!" ("Why not?"), Walter Raleigh was to captain the Queen's own contribution to the scheme, the 100 ton vessel Falcon; while Miles Morgan had fitted out a 110 ton tall ship (the third largest of the fleet) named The Red Lion of Newport (which sounds rather like Miles went to sea aboard a floating pub!); a red lion was the heraldic device used by Miles, and his ship carried the motto "Now or Never."

Miles' bard composed a song urging his employer to come "back to Tredegar" and warning him to "go no more to the sea." Whether the bard actually had a presentiment of the disaster that was to follow, or whether he merely feared not getting paid, is unclear. Either way, Miles probably should have listened to him.

Second in command of the whole thing was the strutting peacock that was Sir Henry Knollys. Knollys was a relative of the Queen on her mother's side (those Boleyns again!) and made absolutely sure everybody was aware of that fact. He even publically declared that he thought himself worth at least twenty knights of the calibre of Sir Humphrey Gilbert. He thought even less of Miles Morgan. At some stage a row broke out between them, which ended with Knollys ordering Morgan's arrest and execution. A gallows was to be erected onboard one of the ships in Plymouth and, it is said, it was only the timely arrival of Gilbert that prevented the execution taking place.

Back at Tredegar, Miles' bard probably wondered why nobody was listening to him....

At last the great expedition set sail. Bad weather and worse luck plagued the fleet. A contemporary account records the sad outcome:

"Sir Humphrey adventured to sea, when having tasted of no less misfortune he was shortly after driven to retire home with the loss of a tall ship, and more to his grief a valiant gentleman, Miles Morgan." - Edward Haies -

The Red Lion was the only ship not to make it home. Some have speculated that they encountered a Spanish ship which sunk them. This is unlikely. The contemporary sources are remarkably quiet about the whole affair, but they surely would have mentioned such a battle. Although many facets of the voyage remain shrouded in mist, it seems more likely that Miles and his men encountered some terrible weather, which sent the unfortunate Red Lion, and all her crew, to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

The Queen, perhaps wary of angering a suspicious Spain, had Miles Morgan of Tredegar declared an 'outlaw' and his Tredegar estate to be sequestrated.

The Morgan family braced itself for more legal battles, and a certain Welsh bard, must have picked up his belongings from Tredegar House, and trudged off with a weary sigh to find an employer who would greater value his advice.

Click to view previous chapters in this series:
10. William Morgan d. 1569
9. John Morgan d. 1513
8. Sir Morgan ap John d. c1504
7. Sir John Morgan d. c1492
6. Ieuan ap Llywelyn ap Morgan
5. Llywelyn ap Morgan (lost Tredegar in 1402)
4. Morgan ap Llywelyn d. c1384
3. Ifor Hael of Gwern y Cleppa
2. Llywelyn ap Ifor and Angharad
1. Sir Morgan ap Maredudd d. c1331

Halloween 2009

2009-10-28T10:19:00.003Z

Well, it is almost upon us. Another few nights of spooky goings-on await at Tredegar House. Over 3000 people are expected to attend the event over the three nights. It is a complete sell-out. Last night was the final rehearsal for those involved in sketches. Everything seems to be coming together quite nicely. New ideas are coupled with the return of some old favourites.

Are you attending this ghoulish extravaganza? Feel free to leave any reviews, feedback and comments here.

Here's to a successful (if slightly jumpy) Halloween!

Servant's Evening Is Upon Us!

2009-06-03T14:24:00.002+01:00

All is set for the first Servant's Evening tomorrow night. The ticket sales have been quite healthy (with a few tickets already being snapped up for the September event) and we should have people there with family connections to a Tredegar House footman, a seamstress, Park Keeper, Game Keeper, Home Farm worker, and gardener, among others. Hopefully the weather will stay reasonably nice enabling us to wander around the formal gardens and take a look at the Stables and Riding School as well as the House itself.

Last minute tickets are still available for tomorrow evening (6pm start) and any information can be found by giving Tredegar House a ring on (01633) 815880

For those of you who have visited Tredegar House before but have never had chance to delve into the unrestored parts of the House (including the Nursery Wing, Attics, and cavernous cellars) Unexplored Tredegar tours return on Saturday, at 1pm, and 3pm; again, give the House a ring to book tickets.

Servant's Event Date Confirmed

2009-03-31T11:54:00.003+01:00

Two dates have been confirmed for the Servants Family History event. The new Tredegar House events booklet has this to say:

Thursday 4th June (6pm) Thursday 17th September (6pm)

Follow in the footsteps of your relatives with this tour of Tredegar House. There will be tales of the Morgan family and some of the servants. The tour will visit a variety of rooms in the House and some of its spectacular outbuildings. The tour will finish with a glass of wine in the Servant's Hall, where we will answer any questions that you may have, chat about your own families' connection with the House and listen to any of your family stories.
Adults £8.50 Concessions £7.50 (price includes a glass of wine)

Tickets can be booked via Tredegar House (01633 815880)

Other events that are popping up soon include:

Butler and Housekeeper Tours: Sunday 12th, 19th and 26th April (2.45pm) Step back in time to 1895 and allow the butler Mr Smith and the Housekeeper Mrs Williams, to take you on a tour 'Below Stairs' on the eve of a visit from the Prime Minister, Lord Salisbury.
Adults £8.50 Concessions £7.50 (price includes afternoon tea in the Brewhouse)

Easter Monday - A Traditional Easter at Tredegar House: Monday 13th April. Stroll around Tredegar House at your own pace. Children's activities throughout the day including: an Easter Bonnet Parade hourly from noon; making traditional Easter cards; a quiz throughout the house including an Easter egg hunt. An egg for every child.
Doors open at 11am. Last entry at 4pm
Adults £4.00 Concessions £3.00 Children FREE

Plus, the House itself re-opens again for guided tours on Wednesday April 8th!
Tours run Wednesday-Sunday, starting at 11am, then hourly until 4pm.

Murder Mystery (Feb 13th)

2009-02-09T08:55:00.003Z

There may still be a chance to pick up last minute tickets for the latest Tredegar House Murder Mystery. Give the House a ring (01633 815880) for more details.

Who wouldn't want to see in the Valentine's Day weekend with a grisly murder, in the presence of such vivid characters (and potential murderers) as the poet Evan Morgan, his sister Gwyneth, that star of stage and screen, the Hon. Lois Sturt, the occultist-for-hire Meredith Starr, and, topping it all off, the quite remarkable Marchesa Casati?

Tredegar House murder mystery evening, Friday 13 February.

'Cupid's Poisoned Arrow'

Are they the perfect couple, or is their marriage a perfect sham? Are they, as some believe, the reincarnation of Romeo and Juliet or is the truth far more sinister? And just who was it that shot the late Lord Tredegar through the heart with a golden arrow?

A perfect way to spend Friday 13, and see in the Valentines weekend. Interrogate the characters in the sumptuous state rooms at Tredegar House then retire to the Morgan Room to deliberate over a three course meal for only £30

The Morgan Homes Shiver

2009-02-05T11:20:00.003Z

Tredegar House and Ruperra Castle in this week's snow. (courtesy of the ever-intrepid Monty Dart)

Pub Signs At Risk?

2008-12-06T10:03:00.003Z

One article from today's newspapers jumped out at me. Louise Gray in The Telegraph writes an interesting piece about traditional swinging signs that hang outside pubs. Since a Royal Act in 1393 made such signs compulsory they have dotted the British landscape and some of them are extraordinary works of public art in their own right. Now they are endangered.

That famous anglophile Bill Bryson explains:

"Only around 30 independent pub chains and breweries in Britain are still ordering individually painted signs, amazingly a few of these fine artists are still working and there are some notable examples such as The St Austell Brewery in Cornwall that still employ sign writers," he said.

"But it is a shrinking market and the dominance of a few chains has contributed to the disappearance of traditional British pub names, and led to a profusion of bland corporate makeovers."

There are quite a few pubs with Tredegar links. From those quite close to Tredegar House, such as the plethora of Tredegar Arms (although it always used to disturb and slightly amuse me that a print of Godfrey, Viscount Tredegar, and his skye terrier 'Peeps' used to hang near the toilets at the Bassaleg Tredegar Arms. No doubt Godfrey himself would have come up with a dry comment about that!), Ruperra Arms, and now of course even the Godfrey Morgan run by the Wetherspoons chain.

Further afield there is the Morgan Arms in the aptly named Morgan Street in Bow, and, also in that area is the Lord Tredegar in Lichfield Road, which has the image of Godfrey as its traditional swinging pub sign. (see above)

Family Members Worked for Lord Tredegar?

2008-11-30T11:23:00.002Z

Over the years I have met so many people who have approached me after a talk or a tour to say: "My grandfather worked as a gardener at Tredegar House before the war" or "My great-aunt was 3rd Housemaid to Lord Tredegar in the 1930s." It is wonderful whenever this happens. I am always trying to add one more fact, or one more story, to help flesh out the history of this remarkable building and the family and staff who lived and worked there for centuries.

Quite often though, the grandson of the said gardener, and the great-niece of the 3rd Housemaid, although obviously having heard of Tredegar House, sometimes have never actually been there themselves. This got me thinking (usually a dangerous thing!). What if we had an evening event at Tredegar House for precisely those people? Would there be a demand for it?

Perhaps a quick tour so they could walk in the footsteps of their relatives, a glass of wine, and then a sit down in the New Hall, and a question-and-answer session, where we could hear THEIR side of the Tredegar story.

It would be a sort of Tredegar servants family reunion.

So, did any of your relatives work at Tredegar House when the Morgans themselves were in residence? Do you have any tales of the place that you would be keen to share?

If anybody has any ideas for this, or would like to attend the event, do drop me a line. Either by commenting on this post, or by emailing me at busbylist@gmail.com

Evan, Viscount Tredegar Book Update

2008-10-01T11:37:00.002+01:00

Many apologies for all those waiting for the biography of Evan Morgan. We should get some firm news soon about a publication date. Much new material (especially about Evan's activities during the Second World War) has been uncovered recently and I hope the wait will prove to be worthwhile.

Book On Tredegar House Servants In Pipeline

2007-08-13T10:51:00.001+01:00

A book is currently being written by Samantha Lilygreen on 'Service at Tredegar House'. Building on research conducted by May Adcock (who brought so much material together), David Beevers, David Freeman, Laura Beresford and sundry others over the years, Samantha hopes to be able to publish, what should be, a fascinating look at 'Below Stairs' life at Tredegar in the early 20th century.

If anybody has any memories, letters, photographs, or simply wishes to learn more about this project, you can contact the author through this blog.

My talk at Treadwells was sadly cancelled due to the dreadful flooding that gripped parts of the nation. We hope to reschedule shortly.

New Findings Unveiled

2007-07-16T08:53:00.000+01:00

For all who might be interested. I will be at Treadwell's Bookshop, 34 Tavistock Street, Covent Garden, London pretty soon, giving the following lecture. Hope to see some of you there.

26 July 2007 (Thursday)

Crowley’s “Adept of Adepts”
The Eccentric Occultist Evan Morgan
Paul Busby
£5
7.15 for 7.30pm start

Tonight Paul Busby, biographer, introduces us to an almost-unknown occultist and eccentric, Evan Frederic Morgan, 2nd Viscount Tredegar (1893–1949). A friend of Aleister Crowley, Morgan was (as Busby has discovered) actually a practitioner of the art magical. Crowley himself called him “Adept of Adepts”. Morgan was known in his own day not so much for his occultism but, in aristocratic society, for his extravagant lifestyle, and wild week-end house parties, which attracted the likes of Aldous Huxley, H.G. Wells and Augustus John as well as The Great Beast. This eccentric also kept at the house a menagerie of animals including a boxing kangaroo, honey bear, baboon and macaw. Tonight’s speaker has recently written a biography of Morgan, and has discovered a great deal about the man’s magical practice. Tonight he reveals his findings and in so doing provides a greater insight into the life in the 1930s of the work of Aleister Crowley, as well as allowing a fuller appreciation of the nexus of ideas and personal links that made up the the 1930s British occult community.

New Housekeeper at Tredegar

2007-06-18T16:49:00.001+01:00

There is a new Housekeeper at Tredegar House. Such news would have sent shock waves through the establishment in Victorian times. What would the new Housekeeper be like? Would she rule with a rod of iron, or did she own a particularly nice pair of velvet gloves? Would the Still Room maids feel her wrath, or would the new regime be slightly more lenient on burnt toast than the old? All these questions would have swept through the Servant's Hall like a brush fire.

Today, the new Housekeeper is Caitlin Eales. Cait is not only the present day Housekeeper (I'm not sure how strict she is about burnt toast, as yet), but also occasionally plays the role of her late Victorian predecessor Mrs Williams for the school tours, which must present something of an identity crisis for her at times. Welcome Cait!

Now, I'm sure Cait already has the following qualities in abundance, but, I thought this advice to Housekeepers by Mrs Beeton, would be worth pointing out:

" 61. IN CONCLUDING THESE REMARKS on the duties of the housekeeper, we will briefly refer to the very great responsibility which attaches to her position. Like “Caesar’s wife,” she should be “above suspicion,” and her honesty and sobriety unquestionable; for there are many temptations to which she is exposed. In a physical point of view, a housekeeper should be healthy and strong, and be particularly clean in her person, and her hands, although they may show a degree of roughness, from the nature of some of her employments, yet should have a nice inviting appearance. In her dealings with the various tradesmen, and in her behaviour to the domestics under her, the demeanour and conduct of the housekeeper should be such as, in neither case, to diminish, by an undue familiarity, her authority or influence."

Keep Up To Date!

2007-03-08T08:05:00.000Z

For the very latest news on my book: "Only Evan: The Eccentric Life of Lord Tredegar" and other Tredegar and Morgan-related projects I am undertaking you can now join my mailing list.

Just send an email to: busbylist@googlemail.com and you will never be out of the loop again!

All the best people are on it!

News Update

2007-03-08T07:39:00.000Z

Last Friday night saw the first Spooky Tales Tour of 2007. As usual, it was an excellent turnout, and a good time was had by all. These tours run every Friday evening (7pm start) throughout March. Ring Tredegar House (01633 815880) to book tickets or for more details.

Those on the tour witnessed a rather hectic looking house, with the Kitchen Corridor pretty much stripped to the bare bones. It is currently receiving a much-needed redecoration.

Very good news on the Morgan graves at St. Basil's: the restoration work has made such a massive difference and they are now looking splendid. The memorial to Gwyneth Morgan has grown an arm back and looks brilliantly white and gleaming. I'm particularly pleased about the restoration of the graves, and have to thank (among others) Mike Buckingham for his original column in the South Wales Argus last year that publicised their then sad state, and Cyril Highman, who began to explore a possible solution to the problem.

I am scheduled to give a talk for the Friends of Tredegar House (and anybody else that fanices popping along) at the Civic Centre on March 28 at 7.00pm. I will be discussing the unrestored parts of Tredegar House. Tickets are readily available, and will only set you back a single shining pound coin. Oh, the value! Please contact Dawn Elliott at dawnelliott18@hotmail.com for more details.

William Morgan (d.1569) (10)

2007-01-30T12:27:00.000Z

Perhaps the 'Jolly Roger' is not the ideal image for William Morgan of Tredegar, and, yes, I probably should have saved it for when I got to Sir Henry Morgan, but, it's there now, and it isn't totally inappropriate.

William succeeded to Tredegar in 1518. The Tudors were by this time reorganising the political structure in Wales and the Morgans of Tredegar (who had proved themselves staunch Tudor supporters - give or take a little bit of embezzelment) gained greatly as a result. William owned Tredegar during the time of the Act of Union between England and Wales and the Reformation. The Reformation allowed the Llantarnum branch of the family to purchase the Cistercian Abbey and although William himself did not obviously benefit from the dissolution of the monasteries, the seeds had been sewn for future advancement.

The local power of the Morgan family had reached new heights. As the historian Kyrle Fletcher states: "The Squire of Tredegar was like a king in a country." In the Great Hall (probably the present day 'Servant's Hall') lay the Justice Chair, where William would sit and pass judgement on vagabonds brought up before him. If the authorities were concerned about a local matter they would often first approach Tredegar about it. A good example of this is the plight of the Bristol merchants. They were getting heartily sick of their ships being attacked by pirates as soon as they left Bristol. The finger of suspicion pointed directly at Newport, where they suspected the pirates were being harboured. The Privy Council began an investigation. When their men turned up at Tredegar House to ask the Squire questions they found William to be uncooperative. This isn't too surprising. William had a hand in the piracy.

With William getting a fat share of the pirate's Bristolian haul, with the respectability of being an executive officer of the Tudor crown (he served as MP for the County of Monmouth between 1555-1558 and Sheriff in 1565), and with hawks being kept in Tredegar Park for sport, life was good for the Morgans of Tredegar. Perhaps the one fly in this rich ointment came in William's family life. He had married Catherine Bodenham, the daughter and heiress of the wealthy Thomas Bodenham from Hereford, but the marriage produced no children, and William became unfaithful to his wife. William had fathered an illegitimate son from one of his dalliances who went by the name of John Morgan. He was set up at the Cross House in Newport, and William appears to have looked out for his son's interests above all things.

With no legitimate children of his own, the legal heir to the Tredegar Estate on the death of William was to be his cousin Rowland. Rowland was a Roman Catholic, and using this pretext, William arranged for the estate to bypass his cousin, and go instead to William's (illegitimate) grandson, Miles Morgan, the son of John of the Cross House. William died in 1569 and the scene was set for a legal battle and much uncertainty in the years to come.

William Morgan (d.1569)
Son of John Morgan of Tredegar and Lettice Herbert
On Throne when at Tredegar: Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I, Elizabeth I
Married: Catherine Bodenham of Co. Hereford
No Legitimate Issue (but had a son, John Morgan of the Cross House, Newport)

Click to view previous chapters in this series:

9. John Morgan d. 1513
8. Sir Morgan ap John d. c1504
7. Sir John Morgan d. c1492
6. Ieuan ap Llywelyn ap Morgan
5. Llywelyn ap Morgan (lost Tredegar in 1402)
4. Morgan ap Llywelyn d. c1384
3. Ifor Hael of Gwern y Cleppa
2. Llywelyn ap Ifor and Angharad
1. Sir Morgan ap Maredudd d. c1331

Christmas!

2006-12-16T09:04:00.000Z

With the decorations up and the carols a-blaring, Tredegar House opened its doors last night for the first time this festive season: the butler was prompt in answering the front door; Lord Tredegar welcomed guests in the Dining Room with his usual matchless grace; there was singing and dancing aplenty in the New Hall and Gilt Room; a storyteller weaved tales in the Best Chamber; a feather boa draped Olga, Lady Tredegar chatted with visitors in the King's Room; Tiny Tim limped about looking for sympathy; Mr Bumble was on the hunt for orphans for the workhouse; the cook seemed suspiciously jolly in the Kitchen; Father Christmas worked very hard in the grotto, and Scrooge showing no sign of getting into the spirit of things, attempted to sleep through it all in his bed chamber.

And that was just the first evening.

This year I am playing the part of Scrooge. It is quite refreshing to be the one person in the House who is not jolly; even Mr Bumble obviously enjoys his work.

Friends AGM: Fishing On The Lake?

2006-11-20T12:03:00.000Z

Last week was the Annual General Meeting of the Friends of Tredegar House. The Newport Council Cabinet Member for Culture and Recreation (the department responsible for Tredegar House) Councillor Ron Jones was present for a question and answer session after the meeting. I went along to hear what he had to say about the future direction of Tredegar House.

Councillor Jones has a long history of dealing with Tredegar House. Many years ago he was responsible for the appointment of David Freeman as curator. He indicated that this was among the best decisions he had made in the role. Certainly the spark and influence of David Freeman is still very much felt around the place today. The curator has a unique opportunity to leave their mark on Tredegar House.

There were some lively questions posed to Councillor Jones and he did not shirk from giving straight answers. Among the items of interest were (my not-so-humble opinion appearing beneath each item):

In his opinion, the National Trust should NEVER own Tredegar House.
He was quite vehement about this. Tredegar could well have ended up in National Trust hands on a few occasions in the 20th century. Evan, Viscount Tredegar was approached by them in the late 1940s, and his cousin, John, 6th and last Baron Tredegar, contemplated the idea of Trust ownership in the 1950s (but, a Roman Catholic convert, he preferred to sell it to the Sisters of St Joseph.). Recently the idea of a 'partnership' between Newport Council and the National Trust has been suggested, but it would seem that outright Trust ownership is not currently an option.

More events should be held in the grounds.
Events, even small ones, give people an excuse to come to the House. Councillor Jones suggested the idea of a Farmer's Market. I thought this a good idea. Anything (within reason) that brings people to Tredegar House is a good thing; any event that is sympathetic to the history of the House and Park is even better.

More needs to be done at Tredegar House in the winter.
Tredegar, like many historic attractions throughout the country does tend to hibernate for the winter (Christmas excluded). This break gives the curator and house staff an important opportunity to conduct restoration and cleaning projects. Nothing should be done to disrupt the essential works that need to be done. However, with a bit of planning and imagination, perhaps more (small) events could and should be put on in the winter. It is certainly possible.

Fishing on the lake?
Councillor Jones mentioned that this was still being discussed. There seems to me to be a powerful argument on both sides of this divide. Those in favour of a return to fishing on the lake argue that fishermen could, in essence, 'police' the lake, which would improve the security of the area. The awful treatment of the swans earlier this year is still fresh in the memory. Others would argue that fishing was banned from the lake in the 1980s mainly because of the danger to the wildlife: swans caught up in fishing lines, etc.

Newport Museum will not be moving to Tredegar House
This was my question to Councillor Jones. I had been dismayed to learn that an old rotting chestnut of an idea had been given new life earlier this year. In the 1970s it was first suggested that Newport Museum should move to Tredegar House. The idea, thankfully, was rejected, and the imaginative restoration of Tredegar House as an historic home began. The idea though did not die completely and it appeared that the council was giving it consideration (albeit at an exploratory stage) earlier this year. This would have been an awful plan for both Newport Museum and Tredegar House. If there is one surefire way to reduce visitor figures at Newport Museum it would be to move the museum out of the city centre. Also, people would be less keen to visit Tredegar House if it contained glass cases and was, apart from the surroundings, like any other municipal museum.

I was delighted to hear Councillor Jones confirm that the idea is now off the table. Perhaps it never was being seriously considered. Trial balloons are sometimes flown. I'm glad this one has been shot down.

All in all, it was an interesting evening. Thanks must also go to the Mayor of Newport, Councillor Miqdad Al-Nuaimi, who attended and gave a very good speech. His pride in Newport shone through very clearly and was good to hear.

I am convinced that the future of Tredegar House will be a very bright one. It has always been a very special place. As one ex-servant said to me: "It gets in your blood, Tredegar does." Lets hope more members of the public will visit and also catch the 'Tredegar bug'.

Look Up Your Genes

2006-11-06T19:29:00.000Z

The episode of 'Look Up Your Genes' featuring Tredegar House (and in particular the stories of Evan and Gwyneth Morgan) is to air on Wednesday 8 November at 8.30pm on BBC 2W (digital)

Hope you can all catch it!

Halloween at Tredegar

2006-10-31T09:57:00.000Z

Halloween. How quickly it comes round.

We are preparing for the final, and, inevitably, busiest night of the Halloween festivities. For those of you who haven't been to this event: Tredegar House, essentially, is transformed into something of a 'ghost train'. You wander through the House and prepare to be frightened.

Some are good at frightening people. I am not. Being slight of stature, short on height, and rather mild mannered by nature, I am not the most intimidating of figures. I would not elicit much of a response jumping out at people, no matter how terrifying my costume might be. Consequently, you will never find me at Tredegar House at Halloween lurking in cupboards, or charging at guests shrieking profusely. Laughter not screams would fill the air.

I am usually to be found in the 'sketches' that are set up (it is very kind of those in charge to put me in these). This is far more my scene. It also gives me a chance to ham it up dreadfully. And I do mean dreadfully. My accents are a wonder to behold. I am thinking of setting up a competition whereby members of the public try to guess what accent I am supposed to be doing at any given time. I doubt many would get the continent right, never mind the nation. Still, it is all in good fun, and nothing is taken seriously.

My Halloween participation over the years has included:

The Witchfinder General, A Vicar at a Vampire Wedding, Dr Van Helsing in a 'How To Stake A Vampire' routine (I think this was my favourite. It was written by Goff Morgan, whose brand of silliness suits me perfectly), Dennis Samosa a fake Scouse psychic medium, and Dr Jekyll (twice).

This year I am back in the Receiving Cellar playing the role of Dr Boris, an archetypal Central European 'mad scientist'. The idea is a very simple one. I rant for a bit and then my 'pets' are introduced to the audience, with predictable results. All good fun. There is a little bit of audience interaction. My accent is supposed to be German, but, despite my best efforts, it goes on the Grand Tour at regular intervals (it takes in Dutch, Italian, Russian, a bit of Welsh, and even has traits of Indian and Chinese, for a truly exotic flavour). At one point I ask the audience if they have any pets. Last night I asked a lady this question in my usual over-the-top Germanish accent, only to find her replying, to my great chagrin, in German!

Halloween at Tredegar House is nothing if not unpredictable.

I would be very interested in any feedback from people who have attended the event. Stuck as I am in the cellar, I never actually see the whole thing myself. I can always pass on your messages and suggestions to the powers-that-be.

Tonight should be extremely busy. I hope there are no easily offended Germans in the House. Not that they could guess my accent in any case......

Gwyneth (Tredegar House Back on TV)

2006-10-24T10:58:00.000+01:00

The above image of the Hon. Gwyneth Morgan peering over her memorial stone at St Basil's Church in Bassaleg was sent to me by Monty Dart (photo taken by Tom Dart).

Gwyneth's sad fate will be featured on the BBC 2 Wales TV Programme 'Look Up Your Genes' to be aired on November 8th. It should be an interesting programme. It was the first time I have ever really been interviewed in a lot of depth about Evan and Gwyneth. It was only in the middle of rattling on that I realised just how MUCH material we have on this era at Tredegar House. I am sure most of it will end up on the cutting room floor, so to speak, but the finished programme should give people a fascinating glimpse into two of Tredegar's most colourful, and perhaps misunderstood, characters.

Goff Morgan will also be on the programme discussing Aleister Crowley's relationship with Evan. Goff delves into the darker side of things while I, being far more innocent, attempt to maintain the moral high ground!

Gwyneth's memorial DOES look a little sorry for itself at the moment. Happily, this should be rectified soon. Restoration of the Morgan graves is on the agenda and we should see work progressing before March 2007.

Ruth Burt To Leave

2006-09-28T10:20:00.000+01:00

Ruth Burt, the Wedding Co-ordinator at Tredegar House, is leaving shortly. She will be greatly missed. Not only was she a great success in the post (as anybody who has married at Tredegar House could no doubt testify) but her contribution goes back far further than that. When I first arrived at Tredegar in early 1998 as a callow youth with little idea as to the historic importance of the place, Ruth was one of the first people I met. She was a tour guide at that time. A very fine one too. She very patiently taught me how to conduct a tour and took both me, and two other callow youths (callow youths were everywhere in 1998) under her wing. She has always been immensely kind to me and I - and indeed Tredegar House - owe her a lot.

Good luck Ruth.

John Morgan (d.1513) (9)

2006-09-08T12:14:00.000+01:00

The eldest son of the venerable Sir Morgan ap John cannot have owned Tredegar for very long and very few references to him survive. This can be rather frustrating when compiling a history, but, perhaps, readers of this blog may be able to add any information that has eluded me. Piece by piece we should be able to put together the Morgan jigsaw.

John married Lettice, the daughter of Sir George Herbert of St Julians in Newport. Sir George, the third son of William, 1st Earl of Pembroke, established a power base at St Julians that threatened the local dominance of the Morgans of Tredegar. Understandably, the local gentry in those times got quite miffed when their jealously guarded local interests came under threat and often responded quite ruthlessly. Many of them had gangs of armed retainers in their employ and were not afraid to use them. The head of a powerful family resembled a 'gangland boss' far more than the Victorian ideal of the 'respectable paternal aristocrat'.

The marriage of John and Lettice did little, it would seem, to dampen the rivalry between the two families. The Morgans and the Herberts would soon clash.

John died in 1513. His eldest son William succeeded, and, fortunately for us, the surviving material documenting his life is far richer.

The image above is the 'Back View of St Julian's House' which appeared in William Coxe's 'An Historical Tour of Monmouthshire' in 1801. St Julians was built by John Morgan's father-in-law Sir George Herbert. The sad destruction of the House in the 20th century, and the way in which it was done, is a dark chapter in Newport's recent past.

Click to view previous chapters from this series:

8. Sir Morgan ap John d. c1504
7. Sir John Morgan d. c1492
6. Ieuan ap Llywelyn ap Morgan
5. Llywelyn ap Morgan (lost Tredegar in 1402)
4. Morgan ap Llywelyn d. c1384
3. Ifor Hael of Gwern y Cleppa
2. Llywelyn ap Ifor and Angharad
1. Sir Morgan ap Maredudd d. c1331

Ruperra On The Brink

2006-08-17T10:42:00.000+01:00

Ruperra Castle, for many years home to the heir of the Tredegar Estates, is threatened by property development and continuing neglect.

Wandering through beautiful countryside it suddenly emerges through the trees. The massive frame (and, sadly, frame is the right word these days) of Ruperra Castle still looms over the landscape. It is such a desperately sad sight to see. Some see ruins as romantic. In Ruperra's case I think they are more tragic than anything else. Since that dreadful fire during the Second World War the castle has deteriorated. One tower collapsed in the 1980s, and, unless something is done quickly, others are sure to follow.

Change and the modern world seem ready to obliterate the magical setting of Ruperra Park. The current owner, Mr Barakat, has a planning application being considered for the building of houses directly around the castle. The castle itself could one day become luxury apartments. The inside quite alien to the outside, like historical taxidermy. Some will see this as inevitable. It has happened at countless places around the United Kingdom. Is there a reason to stop it? Is it even possible to stop the seemingly relentless charge of urbanisation? Money seems to talk louder than the faint cry of protest from beseiged history.

And yet, the closer you get to Ruperra Castle the more you realise that the past has not yet been totally destroyed. The lost tower can be rebuilt, the interior walls are surprisingly strong, the cellars are in a remarkably good state of preservation, and the grounds maintain the promise of matchless beauty. You can almost imagine young Godfrey Morgan in front of the castle being informed by a breathless postboy of the Chartist uprising in Newport in 1839. Trying to impress a watching girl the postboy was rather melodramatic and spoke of doom, and how he had barely escaped with his life. The little eight year old Godfrey's reply of "bother your chartists, come and help me catch this rabbit!" still echoes around the place.

Memories still live at Ruperra. Memories of King Charles I using the castle as refuge during the Civil War; of John Morgan the Merchant plotting grandiose plans within its walls; of General Thomas Morgan seething, perhaps in the Banqueting Hall, at the actions of Lady Rachel Morgan, to rob him of his Tredegar inheritance; of celebrations at Colonel Frederic Morgan's countless election triumphs; of Lord Tredegar's shooting parties; of Mrs Mundy riding imperiously out of the stables; of weddings, of births, of deaths; of countless servants living and working in the castle; of estate workers; of beautiful gardens and proud gardeners. But what are they worth when the property developer comes calling? What cares he for history?

There is a better way. I know Ruperra Castle can be restored. It would be a huge job, but I know it can be done. This is the last chance, however. The Planning Department need to be made aware that the public do not wish houses to be built on the site. I urge you to write as soon as possible to them and make your feelings known. Only through an outpouring of public feeling can the castle be saved.

Write to:

The Chief Planning Officer
Caerphilly County Borough Council
Pontllanfraith
Blackwood
NP12 2YW

The following quotations have been taken from the new Ruperra Castle Blog

"Most castles are well cared for, but not this one....which is sliding further into dereliction. Ruperra is a test of the Welsh system of protecting of the country's greatest buildings. If Ruperra is lost or degraded then that test will have been fluffed."
Ancient Monuments Society

"Ruperra was one of the great Renaissance houses of South Wales. It's destruction by fire in 1941 was a national tragedy, the neglect of the house and park that surrounds it is a national disgrace."
Dr. Giles Worsley - Perspectives on Architecture

"Anything that Cadw can do to protect the site would be of inestimable value. One does think of Ruperra‘s sister building, Lulworth Castle which has been so lovingly and skilfully restored by English Heritage."
Mark Girouard - architectural historian

"It is the most significant building at risk of its period in the whole of the UK and its continued neglect is an indictment of the effectiveness of the system for protecting buildings of outstanding architectural and historic interest."
Professor Malcolm Airs: Author of 'the Tudor and Jacobean House'

A Most Ghastly Murder!

2006-08-16T13:18:00.000+01:00

(Photograph taken on the night of the Murder Mystery, very kindly sent to me by Mr Glenn Behenna)

The Murder Mystery was a success, and it is likely that more will follow. The feedback has been very positive. Guests entered via the New Hall (original 17th century front door) to be greeted by the Hon. Frederic George Morgan. A glass of wine awaited them, as well as the chance to question the suspects. Did Lady Tredegar love birds enough to kill her husband? What about John Morgan's lack of success on the Gaming Tables of Monte Carlo? Did Evan Morgan's need for cash to hush up a scandal cause him to murder his father? What about Fred? Was he as honest as publicly thought?

After the Morgans were grilled, it was over to the Morgan Room for dinner.

I can't really give a detailed report of the evening because there is a chance that the plot may be re-used in the future. Suffice to say that the butler, Mr Sloman, came up with the goods, and the murderer was apprehended by the local constabulary. It came as quite a shock to the rest of the family. But life at dear old Tredegar continues.....

Other ideas are in the pipeline. A Victorian murder at Tredegar next, or perhaps even a 17th century crime, are being contemplated. Which Morgan will be killed off next? Nobody is safe from the pen of Goff Morgan!

A Busy Time

2006-07-25T08:21:00.000+01:00

A little update:

'Unexplored Tredegar' has been confirmed. Every Saturday in August, another chance to see the parts of the House that are not usually open. Tours at 1pm and 3pm. Tickets to be booked in advance on (01633) 815880

'Torchwood' the Doctor Who spin-off starring John Barrowman is to be filmed at the House. There is also the possibility of 'Dracula', a new BBC version of Stoker's gothic classic, (scheduled for Boxing Day), also using Tredegar to film. There has been much speculation among staff as to who should be the new Dracula. For what it's worth, some of us tend to favour Richard E Grant for the role. All shall be revealed no doubt.

Update - so much for Richard E Grant - it seems that the role of 'Dracula' will be played by Marc Warren (Hustle, Band of Brothers, Oliver Twist) with 'Lucy' already confirmed to be Sophia Myles (Thunderbirds, From Hell, and who was last at Tredegar House to film the Doctor Who episode 'The Girl In The Fireplace' when she played 'Reinette')

The Murder Mystery is now sold out. I'm very pleased about this. The script is in (another devilish one, by the incomparable Goff Morgan); it is 1923 and on the day of the Balaklava Dinner, Lord Tredegar is murdered. It is up to the guests to interview the suspects and solve the mystery. I am to play (inevitably, perhaps) that most innocent of creatures, the Hon. Evan Morgan.

The Ruperra Castle situation is becoming critical. The owner has submitted plans. They involve apartments for the castle, and a series of houses to be built around it. Time is running out for the birthplace and home of so many Morgans. It is easy to imagine a Ruperra Compound like Cefn Mabli. But would that just be the thin end of the wedge? So often initial building projects like this open the door for future development. I would urge all who are concerned about this to contact me. Something must be done soon, or it will be too late.

Ruperra Woodland Festival 2006

2006-07-17T10:26:00.000+01:00

Pat Moseley supplied me with an excellent photograph of 'King Charles I' posing by the new Ruperra panels to accompany the following press release, but I can't seem to upload them. I shall work on it.

King Charles I paid a return visit to Ruperra Castle on the weekend of 8 /9 July after an absence of 350 years. To greet him was the present Lord Lieutenant of Gwent, Simon Boyle, patron of Ruperra Conservation Trust.

King Charles walked along the drive at the back of the castle, still known as the King’s Drive, to get a view of the castle where he had stayed for four nights in July 1645 desperately seeking help for his cause from local gentry. His Majesty noted that the building was in a very sorry state compared with the ‘castle fit for a king’ that he had stayed in.

He also walked about among the stall holders at the Festival and watched members of the public trying their hand at rug weaving in the Pyefinch marquee, at old methods of carpentry and at building an otter holt under the direction of John Bell. He saw the Coed Hills artists building an oven outside their yurts, and visited the Orienteering tent from where children and their parents were directed to a delightful tree trail in the woods. The youngest children went on an animal picture hunt which they thoroughly enjoyed.

King Charles’ entourage of Sealed Knot members demonstrated 17th life in their encampment and let visitors try out the Civil War weaponry. Guided by the advice of a 17th herbalist, King Charles had his own food and drink provided by his valet so he did not partake of the lovely cakes and teas and coffees on sale at Ruperra Trust’s cabin where members of the Trust worked hard raising money. He saw the splendid art and written work prepared by local schoolchildren for the launch of a book ‘Serving under Ruperra’ and he posed for a photograph by the new Ruperra panels all funded by the Heritage Lottery.

A Tredegar House Murder Mystery

2006-07-14T21:46:00.000+01:00

Here is quite a unique opportunity. Care to spend an evening at Tredegar House, have dinner, and then solve a sinister murder mystery? Well here is your chance.

Lord Tredegar has been murdered and the suspects are waiting to be questioned. The finger of suspicion points at the Morgan family itself!

Who could have done such a ghastly deed?

Was it Lord Tredegar's taciturn and often grumpy brother?

Perhaps it was his young and ambitious nephew?

His wild and unpredictable daughter?

His eccentric wife?

Or perhaps it was his own son and heir?

All shall be revealed.......

Transport yourselves back to the 1920's where Tredegar House holds a secret of murder and betrayal. You will be able to interrogate the suspects in the stunning staterooms throughout the house, where the mystery unfolds.

A three course supper will be served in the Brewhouse Complex, where you can discuss evidence and decide 'whodunnit' with your fellow detectives.

All will be revealed by the costumed characters before the evening ends.

£30 per head, includes 3 course supper.

All ticked to be booked in advance on (01633) 815880.

Happy 113th Birthday!

2006-07-13T09:31:00.000+01:00

113 years ago today, the last member of the Morgan family to live at Tredegar House was born.

Evan Frederic Morgan, 4th Baron, 2nd Viscount Tredegar, Knight of the Holy Sepulchre, Knight of the Constantinian Order of St George, Knight of St John of Jerusalem, Knight of Malta, Knight of the Cape and Sword to Popes Benedict XV and Pius XI, (among other titles) was born on July 13, 1893.

Some quotations on Evan from certain notables:

"The inimitable Evan Morgan, poet, painter, musician, aristocrat and millionaire. The unique fairy prince of modern life."
Aldous Huxley

"A fantasy"
Nancy Cunard

"The one person I know who CAN give a party."
Aleister Crowley

"A little red absurdity, with a beak of a nose, no chin, and with the general likeness to a callow but student bantam cock that has run to legs and neck."
Virginia Woolf

"The re-incarnation of Rameses. He must posses cosmic secrets."
Ronald Firbank

"A character straight out of fiction"
Barbara Cartland

"A birdlike sort of man. Possibly because his mother, the dowager Lady Tredegar, built the biggest bird's nest in all the world...She apparently hatched nothing in it except - who knows - Evan?"
Gore Vidal

"There seems to be much wrong with him."
Sir Caspar John

"He tinkers."
H.G. Wells (when asked about Evan's intelligence)

"Sometimes suffers from a too volatile fancy in conjunction with an overactive tongue."
Augustus John

"He should not have lived in this century. He should have been born in a doge's palace."
Sir Walter Monckton

He was a quite extraordinary man. For all those who would sneer and degrade Evan Morgan in his lifetime, there would be an equal or greater army who would defend and sing his praises. They would speak of a man who fought a constant battle against pomposity and dullness and routed the pair of them. They would speak of acts of great kindness. Of an incomparable host, raconteur and friend. Of a man who was always surrounded by laughter, because he generated it himself. Fearless, impetuous and eccentric to the point of madness, he always lived life on his terms. He was the sort of person who made life more interesting, more fun, more exciting.

He was a poet, novelist, artist, musician, gourmet, pilot, occultist, papal chamberlain, collector, arts patron, bird tamer, journalist, parliamentary candidate, diplomatic attache, Major in the military, part of the secret service....the list goes on and on.

He preferred fantasy to reality and who could really blame him? His outlook on life seemed to be: on to the next adventure, the next horizon, but, never, ever, stop moving, not for a second. He always moved quickly and was very agile, (Augustus John suggested his movement was very bird-like) and appeared to be constantly restless. Perhaps he was. The lines that best sum up Evan Morgan (and perhaps the era in which he lived) for me, come from Tennyson's Ulysses:

How dull it is to pause, to make an end,
To rust unburnished, not to shine in use!

Evan Morgan was never in any danger of rust.

Sold Out!

2006-06-23T09:05:00.000+01:00

'Unexplored Tredegar' finishes its month-long experimental run tomorrow. The final two tours are now sold out.

Thank you to all who came along. I'll be posting a review of the month over the week-end.

Sir Morgan ap John (8) (d.1504)

2006-06-22T10:58:00.000+01:00

"Speak the truth and only then can you be freed of your chains." (Statue of Cornish revolt leaders Michael 'An Gof' and Thomas Flamank)

Peace was not something that came easily in Tudor England. The War of the Roses was finally at an end but few people were under the illusion that the struggles were over. There was always a new threat on the horizon. Always a new enemy to be confronted, or an old to be re-confronted.

The newly built Tredegar House encapsulated this. Built by Sir John Morgan, probably c1490, it was built around three sides of a central courtyard, its windows faced inwards for defensive purposes. These were indeed still dangerous times.

Morgan ap John had succeeded his illustrious father in 1492. Tales and songs of 'The Fat Knight' were probably still well known in the locality. In many ways, Morgan had a big act to follow. He was, however, a firm Tudor supporter, and served his king on the battlefield. If his father had helped put Henry VII on the throne, Morgan would help in keeping him there. Although, if truth be told, the battle that Morgan participated in was rather more one-sided than the fabled Battle of Bosworth Field.

Henry VII had a problem. In 1491 a figure appeared in Ireland claiming to be the younger of the two Princes in the Tower. It did not really matter that he was an imposter by the name of Perkin Warbeck, a Flemish custom officer's son. Warbeck was a dangerous symbol around which enemies of the Tudor dynasty could rally. He had been proclaimed as 'King Richard IV', moved to Scotland, where he married a Scottish noblewoman and found an enthusiastic ally in the Scottish King James IV; he threatened to invade England and clearly was a danger to the new regime.

Henry VII raised taxes to fund an invasion of Scotland. This, in turn, caused unrest in Cornwall. The hard-pressed Cornish tin miners already lived in poverty, were already taxed on the small amounts of money they were making, and felt aggrieved that they had to suffer further for a struggle so far away that they did not feel involved with. Two local men, Thomas Flamank, a lawyer from Bodmin, and Michael Joseph, or Michael 'An Gof' ('the smith') raised an army to march on London against the King and his taxes.

On the roads to London they gathered more supporters. Yeomen from Plymouth joined the march, and they were joined by Lord Audley from Somerset who took command of the rebels. Some have estimated the group numbered 40,000 by the time it reached London. Unfortunately, although sympathetic to the cause, many of the marchers did not want to encounter a well-drilled, well-equipped army of the King on the battlefield, and they drifted away leaving about 15,000 rebels, armed with mainly country weapons, to face the King's forces.

Among the King's forces that met the Cornish rebels at Blackheath on 17 June 1497 was Morgan ap John of Tredegar. He must have been very confident of success. The odds were stacked massively in the King's favour. They numbered 25,000 to the rebels 15,000, and, far more importantly, they had horse and artillery. The battle was a complete mis-match. Estimates of losses vary; some say 300 rebels were killed, others maintain that figure should be closer to 2000. All agree, however, that the King's forces were barely scratched, their losses were claimed by some to have been in single figures!

After the battle Morgan was knighted. He died in 1504 to be succeeded by his son, John.

The leaders of the revolt were executed.

Michael An Gof went to his death defiantly, claiming that his name would be "perpetual" and that he would gain a fame "permanent and immortal". Thomas Flamank died urging "Speak the truth and only then can you be freed of your chains." 500 years later, in 1997, the Battle of Blackheath and the Cornish revolt was remembered when thousands of Cornish people took part in a memorial march from Cornwall to Blackheath. A statue of An Gof and Flamank now stands in the village where it all began in 1497.

Sir Morgan ap John

Died: 1504

Married: Margaret daughter of Sir Thomas Morgan of Pencoed

Children: John of Tredegar; Margaret

Click to view previous Tredegar owners in this series:

7. Sir John Morgan d. c1492

6. Ieuan ap Llywelyn ap Morgan (father of Sir John)

5. Llywelyn ap Morgan (lost Tredegar after Glyndwr revolt)

4. Morgan ap Llywelyn (died c1384)

3. Ifor Hael of Gwern y Cleppa

2. Llywelyn ap Ifor and Angharad

1. Sir Morgan ap Maredudd (died c1331)

The Stairs To Nowhere

2006-06-11T13:51:00.000+01:00

As mentioned by Andrew in the comment below, we have the dramatically titled 'stairs-to-nowhere' which can be found in the Family Beer Cellar. (above)

I'm pleased to report that both 'Unexplored Tredegar' tours were pretty much sold out on Saturday, so the experiment seems to be working. The tours continue every Saturday throughout this month, at 1pm and 3pm. Phone Tredegar House to book tickets in advance; there may be a few available in the visitor's centre on the day, but why take the chance?

Unexplored Tredegar Starts Today

2006-06-03T08:27:00.000+01:00

The doorway to the Receiving Cellar, which contains a natural spring guarded by remarkable stone heads, and a very curious soda water bottling plant. It is an odd tour!

The 'Unexplored' tours start today. I attempted to wander around on my own yesterday, running the tour through in my head, and checking my timing, but got waylaid, and ended up hunting for a tunnel instead! All will become clear on the tour.

Stephen Sully, the Tredegar House Admin Officer, was a huge help in compiling this tour. He has a great knowledge and understanding of the 'unexplored' parts of the House, and was invaluable (and patient) as I pestered him for his ideas, and his recollections of how things looked in the 1970s when he first started working at Tredegar.

But despite our combined efforts, there are still many things that puzzle us. Hopefully visitors will have some ideas of their own. There is more detective work to be done.

'Unexplored Tredegar' Tours

2006-05-30T09:16:00.000+01:00

This should be interesting. I have had great fun researching and writing this tour, and I hope it will be well received. The perfect antidote to the frustrating and tantalising 'locked doors' we all encounter when visiting historic houses.

It's time to open the locked doors...

Unexplored Tredegar Saturday 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th June

Discover many of the un-restored and rarely viewed aspects of the House, grounds and outbuildings. You will explore the servant's sleeping quarters, cellars, children's nursery, stable block and much more - a rare treat.

The tour finishes in the Old Brewhouse, originally used for brewing the estate beer, where afternoon tea will be served.

Tours run at 1pm and 3pm, all tickets must be booked in advance by telephoning (01633) 815880.

Adults £6.00 Concessions £5.00 to include afternoon tea

The Edney Gates (relatively newly gilded)

2006-05-15T23:03:00.000+01:00

I began to read back through the archive of this blog yesterday, and realised that I never did post the photographs of the newly gilded Edney Gates that I promised. So, belatedly, and with profuse apologies, here they are: we see the facade (above) and the gates in all their glory with the stables in the background (below)

Sir John Morgan (7)

2006-05-11T14:12:00.000+01:00

To say that Sir John Morgan's father's name was a bit of a mouthful is to put it mildly. There was a lot of character in Welsh names in the 15th century, but it could take an awful long time to actually say them. A name was rather like a family tree. Using a series of 'aps' ('son of') the lineage was proudly displayed, but was surely enough to test the patience of the most polite of readers or listeners. John's father, for instance, went by the name of Ieuan ap Morgan ap Llywelyn ap Morgan ap Llywelyn ap Ifor of Tredegar.

It was John who decided to drop the series of 'aps' and decided on a surname, as Anthony Pickford writes in 'Between Mountain And Marsh' (1946)

"The descendants of Llywelyn ap Ifor, living in some form of house at Tredegar, decided that their name was to be that of the old family Christian name, the old royal name of Morganwg; the famous name of Morgan."

John was created a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre (possibly c1448). He had visited the Holy Lands where the Crusades had been fought. At this time, pilgrimage was becoming a popular venture among noblemen. Rather like today's 'package holidays' it was entirely possible, for a price, to have everything arranged for you; from the transport, to the food, to the guide. Not all 'packages' were as attractive as they seemed; noblemen were advised to use Venetian ships or risk ending up at the bottom of the sea!

The behaviour of certain noblemen on pilgrimage often left a lot to be desired. Fifteenth century graffiti was a problem and it was not particularly difficult to identify the culprits. We can only hope that Sir John did not follow the disrespectful trend of noblemen that chose to carve their family crest on the walls inside the Holy Sepulchre itself.

Upon returning to Wales, Sir John cemented his fortune and influence, and helped guide the Morgans firmly back into the ascendancy, after the unfortunate aftermath of the Glyndwr rebellion. He married Jenet, the daughter and heiress of John David Matthew of Llandaff. The Matthew family were very influential and the match seems to have been a beneficial and successful one; ten children resulted from it.

Sir John was a large figure in South East Wales in more ways than one. He was locally powerful (even in pre-Tudor times he was appointed Steward of Gwynllwg) and physically immense. Tales of his martial prowess survive in the songs of his bard, as do descriptions of his stature: he was known as 'Y Marchog Tew' ('The Fat Knight'). His bard was, perhaps, no less statuesque, as he went by the name of 'Gwilym Tew' ('Fat William'). This heavyweight combination has left us with a vivid impression of Sir John Morgan of Tredegar. Gwilym called him 'The Widespread Wine of Wentloog' for his generosity in the locality, but perhaps Sir John could afford to be generous because of rather shady dealings that got him into trouble with the authorities on more than one occasion...

On 22 February 1476, Sir John was bound to the King in a bond of 300 marks which would only be cancelled if he appeared in chancery within three weeks of easter and did not leave London without the King's express permission; and, as stated by Ralph A Griffiths ('The Principality of Wales In The Later Middle Ages, 1972) "in the following June he entered into a bond of 500 marks with Duke Henry of Buckingham to ensure his good conduct in the lordship of Newport." Good conduct was the very last thing on Sir John's mind in 1485, when, following something of a Morgan tradition, in the footsteps of his ancestors Sir Morgan ap Maredudd and Llywelyn ap Morgan, he supported rebellion.

An early supporter of Henry Tudor's claim to the throne of England, Sir John rallied to the Red Dragon Standard when Henry landed in Milford Haven in August 1485. It is likely that such a rich, influential and firm Tudor supporter, with such a reputation for competence on the battlefield (even if we only know this thanks to the flattering words of a paid poet) would have been present at the Battle of Bosworth Field on 22 August. History is full of 'what ifs'. What if Richard III had won the Battle of Bosworth Field? What sort of building would Tredegar House be today? Would it even exist? Fortunately for the Morgans, at last, one of their rebellions proved successful.

When Henry Tudor was crowned King Henry VII it was of great benefit to the Morgans of Tredegar. Sir John received reward for his early support almost immediately. On 7 November 1485 he was appointed by the new king 'steward and receiver of Ebboth for life', granted the office of Sheriff of Wentloog and Newport, and was made Steward of the Machen Commote.

His elevation to officer of the Tudor crown placed Sir John Morgan's influence and power at a new height. To better reflect this newly found status it is likely that, sometime after the Battle of Bosworth Field (perhaps c1490), he commissioned the building of a new house at Tredegar. A wing of Sir John's stone manor house still exists. It is now the oldest part of the present day Tredegar House.

In retrospect, making Sir John 'steward and receiver of Ebboth for life' was not the wisest move made by the incoming Tudor dynasty. Certain taxes that were meant to flow through Sir John to the crown only got as far as Tredegar House. There was a distinct lack of flowing. It would appear that 'The Fat Knight's' purse grew fatter at the expense of the crown treasury, and "on 14 May 1491 he was reprimanded accordingly" (Griffiths, 1972)

Walking around the much remodelled remains of Sir John Morgan's house at Tredegar today, it is tempting to picture a Falstaffian figure, being praised to the Heavens by his adoring bards (much as Dafydd ap Gwilym did for Ifor Hael), enjoying his new status, and all the while hoping that the crown would not catch up with his latest scheme to enrich himself at their expense. But, if we take c1490 as the date of the building of his new stone manor house, it is unlikely that Sir John enjoyed living there for very long.

His will is dated 26 October 1491 and it is likely that he died soon after that, possibly in the following year. He was buried at St Woollos. His alabaster tomb was, according to Octavius Morgan, desecrated by Parliamentarian troops during the Civil War; only fragments of his effigy survive, but, even after centuries of damage by time and fate, the image is still recognisably Sir John Morgan of Tredegar; it shows a figure wearing the Lancastrian collar, with an unmistakable little paunch underneath his armour.

Sir John Morgan
Died: c1492
Married: Jennet, daughter of John David Matthew of Llandaff

Children Included:

Sir Morgan ap John of Tredegar (I know, I know, the 'aps' are back, but they do not last!)

Thomas Morgan of Machen
He acted as Esquire to the body of King Henry VII and built Plas Machen after his lord gained the throne of England at Bosworth Field in 1485. The Morgans were rewarded and were allowed to purchase the manors of Bedwellty and Mynyddislwyn. They were rather unpromising lands back then, but the soil contained rich mineral deposits that added greatly to the fortune of future members of the Morgan family.

Thomas married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Roger Vaughan of Brecon, and many of their children were set up in estates of their own (the Morgans really were more of a clan than simply a family and had cadet branches all over South Wales), their children included: Rowland (who became sheriff in 1588), Reynold (of Llanfedw), John (of Bassaleg) and Edmund (of Bedwellty).

Thomas's grandson, another Thomas, built Ruperra Castle in 1626.

John (m. Margaret, daughter of J. Richards of the Duffryn)
Lewis (d. 1491)
Isabella (m. James Kemeys of Llanvihangel-Vach, Glamorgan)

Click to view previous Tredegar owners in this series:

6. Ieuan ap Llywelyn ap Morgan (father of Sir John)
5. Llywelyn ap Morgan (lost Tredegar in 1402)
4. Morgan ap Llywelyn (died c1384)
3. Ifor Hael of Gwern y Cleppa
2. Llywelyn ap Ifor and Angharad
1. Sir Morgan ap Maredudd (died c1331)

The Ruperra Book Launch

2006-05-11T11:29:00.000+01:00

Ruperra Castle on the day of the book launch. (Photograph by Samantha Lilygreen)

Press release by Pat Moseley:

LOCAL SCHOOLCHILDREN CELEBRATE THEIR RUPERRA CASTLE HERITAGE.

On Friday 28th April 2006, a beautiful spring day, Home Farm Ruperra was the venue for Ruperra Conservation Trust’s book launch of “Serving Under Ruperra”, a collection of recorded memories of people who worked on the Ruperra Estate at the beginning of the 20th century. The costs of printing the book and of the launch were funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund scheme “Awards for All.” Dame Liz Forgan, Chairman of the national Heritage Lottery Fund sent her congratulations.

The decorations were provided by students from local comprehensive schools, with art work and written contributions by local primary school children who also entertained the visitors with singing and dancing. The highlight of the performances was a little drama about the problems of the cook at Ruperra Castle in 1900. The teachers had excelled in conveying the meaning of heritage to their pupils.

SUPPORT FOR RUPERRA FROM MPS, AMS AND OTHERS

Councillor Phil Bevan, Chairman of the Trust introduced the proceedings and lending their support were Lord Raglan, Simon Boyle Lord Lieutenant of Gwent and the patron of the Trust, Wayne David MP for Caerphilly, and Paul Flynn MP for Newport West, Jeff Cuthbert AM, William Graham AM, Owen John Thomas AM and Mrs Penny Matthews Chairman of Bedwas, Machen and Trethomas Community Council who presented a cheque. Griff Rhys Jones sent his good wishes.

Dan Clayton-Jones, the guest speaker and chairman of the Heritage Lottery Fund Committee for Wales, stressed the disaster facing our historic heritage at the present time when more and more historic buildings are being bought up by developers who have very little regard for the historic landscape surrounding them, and who destroy our countryside with inappropriate housing schemes.

Both Wayne David MP and Jeff Cuthbert AM congratulated the teachers of the local schoolchildren who showed a magnificent enthusiasm for their heritage. Owen John Thomas AM who serves on the Culture Committee in the Welsh Assembly Government, pointed out that castles are one of Wales’ most important assets which should be protected and preserved so that people can enjoy and appreciate their heritage. Pat Moseley who compiled the book, was glad that Caerphilly County Borough Council’s Unitary Development Plan provides special protection for Ruperra.

The event was a huge success; the excellent attendance and amount of donations bearing witness to the popular support for Ruperra Castle.

A Little Peek Into The New Ruperra Book

2006-04-22T11:56:00.000+01:00

The Staircase at Ruperra Castle (c1920s)

As the date for the launch of Pat Moseley's book 'Serving Under Ruperra' gets ever closer I thought it might be a nice time to post an extract. It is an interesting look at the upheaval caused at Ruperra whenever the Morgans decided to stay. The quotations come from a maid who worked at the castle and who, according to Pat, only went to work there because she was in love with the gardener! The Lord Tredegar referred to is Courtenay Morgan (1867-1934) 3rd Baron, 1st Viscount Tredegar.

" Then suddenly there would be a rush - ‘His Lordship is coming tomorrow with a little party.’ Then all the dust sheets would come off all through the place. The grates were enormous with great big stands, which had to be done with emery paper - that was the most horrible job ever! All the figures in the grates and the armour on each little landing had to be kept without a speck of dust on them, even in the cracks.

When Lord Tredegar had been shooting, pheasants would be hung up in the kitchen until they stank. The place used to be stinking of pheasants. How the cooks managed, I’ll never know. I had to help with the feathering and I used to cry because the maggots would be climbing up over my hands.

There was a staff dining room, the servants’ hall, very big with a huge table down the middle. When there was any big do the staff would come from Tredegar House and you sat in order of status. Of course I was at the bottom end of the table, wasn’t I! When Lord Tredegar came he brought a butler, 2 footmen and about 20 staff with him. Perhaps he’d only stay one night and there’d be all this upheaval! When he wasn’t in residence we were only four so we used the butler’s pantry for our meals. Of course we had to clear out of there when the butler from Tredegar House came. He took over then with the kitchen maids and scullery maids and you had to be on your best behaviour. We were the underdogs. We were ‘the Ruperra’ we weren’t ‘the Tredegar House.’ You had to shut your mouth and do as you were told. And believe it or not, if one of the Tredegar housemaids wanted something from their bedroom I was told to go up and get it. I was of the same status but it made no difference. They wanted to show their authority. One time after being sent all the way up those stairs two or three times for something trivial, I said ‘If you want it from upstairs, fetch it yourself!’ I was reported to Miss Watts and severely told off. By this time I didn’t care because my gardener and I had finished anyway!’

Spooky Tales Resume

2006-04-19T09:56:00.000+01:00

Just a quick reminder that Goff Morgan's Spooky Tales tours start up again on Friday 21 April at 7pm. Book your tickets in advance by phoning Tredegar House on (01633) 815880

Who knows, you might be able to celebrate the Queen's 80th birthday by bumping into the ghost of her ancestor King Charles I or His Majesty's elderly three-fingered host Sir William Morgan. If you do, be sure to point it out to Goff won't you?

Ruperra Book Launch (April 28)

2006-04-16T18:04:00.000+01:00

(above print of Ruperra Castle by John Charlton - Godfrey, Viscount Tredegar's favourite artist - is available as part of a set from Jorrocks Books - other Morgan-ish items available are The Meet (Lord Tredegar's), The Portico and Colonel Morgan)

I received the following message from Pat Moseley of the Ruperra Conservation Trust. Hopefully, in the future Pat will be a regular contributor to this blog, to bring us all the latest news on that second Morgan home in South Wales, Ruperra Castle. I am greatly looking forward to the book launch and I hope to meet as many of you there as possible.

"On Friday April 28th 2006 there will be a launch of the book "Serving under Ruperra" at Ruperra Home Farm.

This event is funded by the Heritage Lottery Board's "Awards for All" scheme. Local school children will be providing written contributions and other entertainment and people who contributed to the contents of the book will be honoured.

This will be a lunch time event and if you would like to attend please phone 029 2088 5840 or email pat.moseley@btinternet.com

The main guest speaker will be Dan Clayton-Jones, chairman of the Wales Heritage Lottery Board who was one of the founder members of Ruperra Conservation Trust. Several Assembly members will also attend as well as Caerphilly MP Wayne David. Newport's Paul Flynn MP hopes to attend also. There will be refreshments and a free copy of the book! Last orders please!"

See You Monday!

2006-04-13T12:32:00.000+01:00

The Friends of Tredegar House celebrated their 25th anniversary with a dinner held in the Morgan Room at Tredegar House last night. The main speaker was David Freeman, ex-curator of the House, who played a prominent part in the establishment of the Friends organisation all those years ago.

I think it is vital to kick-start the new season with a decent attendance at the Medieval Day on Easter Monday. I shall be there, so please come up and say hello if you get the chance. The readership of this blog always intrigues me. I have received e-mails from so many people, from so many different parts of the world, it is wonderful to know that Tredegar House still captures the imagination of so many.

The House Awakes

2006-04-04T17:32:00.000+01:00

It is that time of the year again, when Tredegar House, after a winter of apparent slumber (in reality it has been a remarkably hectic close season) re-opens its doors to the public.

Visitors to the House will see some noticeable differences: the stairwell has been repainted and is now resplendent in Indian Yellow. It certainly brightens up that portion of the House. A new family portrait is now added to the walls at the top of the staircase, that of Thomas Morgan of Machen, a late 16th, early 17th century Morgan, who played a large part in the tale of the dynasty. Also, newly hung portraits of Sir Charles Morgan and his son, Sir Charles Morgan Robinson Morgan (the 1st Baron Tredegar) are now alongside those of their ancestors and descendants.

The Best Chamber has been completely re-painted as well. It is now 'Tallow', which is an off-white with a slight yellow tint.

School tours began once more on Monday, and, on Easter Monday (April 17th), the House will be open for a free-flow (no guided tours, you wander around at your own pace, and there are stewards in each room to answer any questions) Medieval day. Bowmen of the Rose, a 15th century re-enactment group will be present to add to the atmosphere. House open 11am-4pm. Prices: Adult £4, Newport Resident £2.26 (to be precise!), Concession £2.10,

Ieuan ap Llywelyn ap Morgan (6)

2006-03-27T11:42:00.000+01:00

Llywelyn ap Morgan had lost Tredegar, but whereas such a cataclysmic state of affairs perhaps would have sunk a less durable dynasty, it proved to be merely a blip in the fortunes of the Morgans of Tredegar.

One weapon the Morgans wielded with skill throughout the centuries was marriage. Dynastic marriages managed to greatly expand the family's wealth and prestige in the years to come, but in those uncertain few years after the failure of Owain Glyndwr's revolt, it was a tactical match that saved the Morgan aspirations.

Llywelyn arranged a lucrative marriage between his eldest son Ieuan and Elizabeth, the daughter of Thomas ap Llywelyn of Brecknock, brother of that sworn enemy of Glyndwr, Dafydd Gam.

Dafydd Gam (or 'Dafydd of the Squint', a rather unfortunate nickname perhaps) had long supported the King and actively opposed Glyndwr's rebellion. A man of great personal courage he died at Agincourt fighting alongside Henry V, and some sources credit him as having saved the King's life that day. To bring Dafydd's niece into the Morgan fold was something of a masterstroke and it seems to have allayed any lingering suspicions the authorities may have had about rebellious intentions still emanating from Tredegar.

Assuming that the Morgans received their estates back soon after this marriage, Tredegar passed on to Ieuan (or 'Jevan' as he appears in some sources) who faced the task of re-establishing their local pre-eminence. Ieuan appears to have lived to a very old age, so long in fact, that the Victorian antiquary Thomas Wakeman explored claims that Ieuan had been present at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. Since his father had come of age almost a century before that, it is unlikely that Richard III would have been shaking in his boots at the prospect of meeting this ancient Morgan on the field of battle.

Although, if Ieuan had been born relatively late, he could have been present at Bosworth in his late eighties, and although this seems rather implausible, it was not unknown for octagenarians to participate, and participate valiantly, in battle at the time.

If Ieuan was still alive at the time of Bosworth it seems more likely that he would have declared his support for the Tudor cause but left the actual fighting to his son, Sir John.

When Ieuan eventually died is not known but, perhaps some time after the Tudor dynasty began their reign on the throne of England, he, as Thomas Wakeman concluded: "probably retired to Tredegar and died in his bed."

Married: Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas ap Llywelyn

Children:

Sir John Morgan
David
Jenkin born c1454

Llywelyn ap Morgan (5)

2006-03-15T14:10:00.000Z

Roughly a year after Llywelyn ap Morgan succeeded to Tredegar, the small town of Newport (in 1385) was granted its first town charter. Llywelyn, himself, had been granted the Lordship of Magor which, although admittedly small, does give some indication of the local power that the owner of Tredegar wielded.

Within twenty years, the fledgling town of Newport would be all but destroyed, and Llywelyn would have his lands confiscated.

The force which swept all this away was the revolt of Owain Glyndwr. In 1400 Glyndwr, in open defiance of the King of England, Henry IV, was proclaimed Prince of Wales by his band of followers. In that first year, Denbigh, Rhuddlan, Flint, Oswestry, Ruthen and Hawarden all fell to the forces of Glyndwr. Nearly the whole of Northern and Central Wales was in his hands, and by the end of 1401 the revolt, like a forest fire, had spread into South Wales.

Llywelyn ap Morgan decided to pledge his support to Glyndwr. This may have stemmed from a feeling of shared blood between the two men, for not only were they obviously both Welsh, and no doubt shared a love of country, but they were also both descended from the old princes of Deheubarth. Was this to be a re-birth of those days; was Glyndwr to be a new, more national, version of Hywel Dda?

As far as both Glyndwr and Llywelyn ap Morgan were concerned sadly not, although how popular Glyndwr actually was in Newport after his near-total destruction of the town and sacking of its castle, is open to debate. It is also hard to gauge exactly how supportive the Morgans actually were to Glyndwr, and how much of it was down to self-preservation. For example, did Llywelyn's home at Tredegar survive the Glyndwr assault on Newport?

There was no question about the aftermath, however: when Glyndwr's revolt failed, Llywelyn ap Morgan had his estate sequestrated. He had lost Tredegar.

Llywelyn was also a Juror in the Inquisition of Hugh Stafford in 1387, which pretty much proves that he had come of age by that time.

Married: Jennet, daughter of David Vaughan

Children (thought to have been eight of them in total) included:

Ieaun
Christy m. Madoc ap Ieuan of Gelligaer
Ann m. John ap Jenkin

Click to view previous Tredegar owners in this series:

4. Morgan ap Llywelyn d.1384
3. Ifor Hael of Gwern y Cleppa
2. Llywelyn ap Ifor and Angharad
1. Sir Morgan ap Maredudd d. c1331

A Saturday Morning Update

2006-03-11T10:21:00.000Z

Just a quick update on things this Saturday morning:

You may notice that there is now a small advert just above this blog entry. I don't choose what this advert says, and it can seem rather random at times. On an automated system, it seems to pick up certain words from my blog, and then insert a 'themed' advert. This was fine when I was discussing the Morgan family, for a genealogy ad popped up; when discussing Ruperra, a conservation ad appeared, but following my post on the Morgan graves, the ad offered visitors to the blog the wonderful opportunity of being buried in a beautiful natural woodland!

Anyway, every time somebody clicks on the ad, it helps my blog. So, please feel free to show your support, by clicking away whenever something interesting catches your eye.

Other News:

We await further developments in the ongoing Ruperra Castle saga. I will try to keep you as fully updated as I can.

The latest entry in the Morgan family history will appear tomorrow, with Llywelyn ap Morgan of Tredegar.

And, last but certainly not least, Tredegar House is losing Lisa Jenkins. Lisa has worked in the general office for several years and is usually the first voice you hear when phoning the House. She will be greatly missed, because not only is she remarkably organised and efficient (she may giggle at that comment, but she really IS!) but she brought with her a sense of fun and was a joy to work with. She is going on to better things. She deserves it. I'm sure everyone wishes her all the very best in her new job.

Ruperra Castle Latest

2006-03-08T11:27:00.000Z

Ashraf Barakat has submitted plans for the re-development of Ruperra Castle to the Planning Department of Caerphilly County Borough Council.

It is thought that he is eager to convert the castle, and many of the outbuildings, into apartments. Does this mean that Ruperra Castle and the immediate grounds may become, like Cefn Mabli, something of a private 'compound'?

There is a meeting next week to discuss Mr Barakat's plans.

The Morgan Graves (looking shabby?)

2006-03-01T21:53:00.000Z

In tonight's South Wales Argus, Mike Buckingham writes of the current poor state of the graves of the Morgans of Tredegar at St Basil's Church, Bassaleg.

Hopefully something can be done to improve them.

The last time I was there was after a Spooky Tales Tour last year. A group of us had retired for a drink at the Tredegar Arms next door, to mull over the evening. After chatting about the Morgans for a bit, somebody suggested (I forget who, but it sounds like a suspiciously Goff Morgan-ish idea) that we actually pay them a visit, seeing as we were in the neighbourhood. And so, by the light of a mobile phone, our small intrepid band headed into the pitch black graveyard to find the resting place of many of the later members of that colourful dynasty.

Slightly away from the main plot of Morgans (there were so many buried there that the Tredegar family vault was full by the 1920s) , are the graves of a father and daughter. It was quite poignant, and somehow fitting, to find, side-by-side, the graves of Courtenay Morgan, Viscount Tredegar, and his only daughter Gwyneth (who drowned in the Thames in December 1924).

I had been studying the sad case of Lord Tredegar's daughter only a few weeks before and it had been the first time I had visited her grave. I had heard all about the great tensions between father and daughter, and of how scandal had been heaped upon the Morgan name by her connections with some rather shady characters from the Limehouse region of London. If there was anything that Courtenay hated it was scandal. The death of Gwyneth, deeply affected him, however, and probably accelerated his own physical decline.

Originally Gwyneth had been buried at Putney Vale Cemetery, near Wimbledon, and it was only on the insistence of her brother, Evan, that her body was brought back home, and re-buried at St Basil's.

I am sure that Courtenay would be pleased that he is now at rest so close to his daughter.

All talked out!

2006-02-28T15:36:00.000Z

The talk seemed to be quite successful (despite me rambling on far longer than I intended), and the turnout was very good. It was the first time I had spoken (or even been to) the Reardon Smith Lecture Theatre, and I was very impressed by it. At the end, Lord Raglan gave the vote of thanks (and recounted the story of an Italian friend of Evan's who was so fond of her pet leopard, that when it died, she had it turned into a hat and, literally, leopard-skin trousers!). He had actually had lunch at Tredegar House when a boy before the war, and although he couldn't remember much about Evan, he remembered 'the macaws' and other exotic birds that called Tredegar home.

He also had lunch with Evan's cousin, John Morgan (the last Lord Tredegar) in 1950, and he got the impression, very firmly, that John was intent on staying at the ancestral home.

This will all be explored in far greater detail in the future. I shall start to kick-on with the brief Morgan biographies and will be posting far more regular updates. 'Llywelyn ap Morgan' will appear very shortly.

South Wales Argus article

2006-02-23T14:04:00.000Z

Ticket sales seem to be going quite well for the Evan Morgan talk at the National Museum of Wales, this Saturday (25 Feb, 10.45am start); in an attempt to generate interest in the talk, and to provide some publicity for the forthcoming biography of Evan, the following article appeared in the South Wales Argus last week:

Paul Plumbs Life of Magic Master

by Mike Buckingham

South Wales Argus. Friday February 17, 2006

The ghost of Evan Morgan, the last Viscount Tredegar, still haunts the stately home bearing his titled name.

"Sometimes when I'm alone here I have a feeling that Evan, with his tall, angular body and beak of a nose that made him look like one of the birds he loved so much, is going to appear." Paul Busby says.

"I often find myself looking at portraits of Evan, who was undoubtedlythe most eccentric of the Morgan family, and thinking, 'I wonder what you were really like.'

"The answer is that he was a Walter Mitty character, a man who wanted to be a Roman Catholic priest, a novelist, painter, journalist and poet. Evan was at the centre of the bohemian network that included Augustus John and Dylan Thomas, H.G. Wells and the infamous satanist Aleister Crowley, and himself took a deep interest in black magic.

"He has been condemned as the Morgan who frittered away the family fortune, but the real culprits were war and the Great Depression, death duties and the changing pattern of life."

Paul Busby's storehouse of knowledge about the Morgan dynasty, and Evan in particular, will be unlocked before an audience at the Reardon Smith Theatre, which is part of the National Museum in Cardiff, on February 25.

"Most people in Gwent know something about Sir Charles and Godfrey Morgan, who were the benefactors of modern Newport and of a lineage going back to 1290. Evan, the last viscount, is completely different from his hunting, shooting and fishing forebears and undoubtedly took some of his eccentricity from his mother, Katherine.

"Godfrey Wynn, the journalist, used to tell of how, after dinner, Katherine would summon a footman who would appear with a tray filledwith moss and hair and bits of twig and begin to assemble birds' nests. When finished, she would put the nests up in trees. She also built a nest for herself and held court from it."

An obsession with the Morgans stole upon Newport-born Paul, 27, quite slowly. "While at St Joseph's School I used to play football and cricket inthe grounds of Tredegar House without setting foot in it. It was when I got a summer job as a guide that my interest really took off. After Plymouth University, where I read history, I was drawn back to the house and into a deep fascination with Evan and the other Morgans.

"Evan, who became Lord Tredegar in 1934, was, according to his friend Aldous Huxley, a 'poet, painter, musician, aristocrat and millionaire, the fairy prince of modern life.'

"He was certainly capable of the most extraordinary things. As late as the 1930s he brought back powdered wigs for his footmen and, at a party for the Princess Royal, engaged four footmen with the names Mr North, Mr South, Mr East and Mr West."

His poetry is dreadful. He wrote a novel entitled 'Trial by Ordeal', the best review of which said, 'this is a very dull book.'"

By the very nature of its contents Paul Busby's planned biography of Evan is unlikely to be anything other than spellbinding.

"Evan Morgan wasn't on the edges of the bohemian world of the 20sand 30s, he was right in the thick of it. One thing he could do really well was to tame birds. Tredegar House was at one time full of exotic birds and animals, including a parrot that habitually attacked HG Wells.

"Evan was charismatic, eccentric, totally unpredictable and a fantasist. If you wanted to know anything about Evan Morgan, the last person to ask was Evan Morgan."

A Tunnel at Tredegar?

2006-02-13T08:55:00.000Z

There are always tall tales connected to historic places. One of my favourites involves the fireplace in the Gilt Room. It was said that the gaping mouths of the two gilded gargoyles flanking the fireplace used to have tongues. If the tongues of both were pulled at the same time, the fireplace would spin around to reveal a tunnel. There was a little debate as to where this tunnel led: I have heard it stated that it stretched to the banks of the River Usk for smuggling; an even wilder tale had it stretching all the way to the second Morgan home in South Wales, Ruperra Castle!

Sadly, this is all gilded balderdash. If you stand in the Cedar Garden you can actually see the back of the Gilt Room fireplace jutting out, and nobody has ever found any evidence of a tunnel. Ah well.

But what if there really was a tunnel at Tredegar House? What if the cellars contained more than barrels of beer and bottles of wine? The new 'Unexplored Tredegar' tours will dig into this theory further. We will present the evidence (such as it is), and the visitor can make up their own mind. Of course a survey (anybody got a handy geophysics machine lying around?) might put the matter beyond doubt.

Evan Morgan, Viscount Tredegar talk (25 Feb)

2006-01-30T15:12:00.000Z

Perhaps the most colourful member of the Morgan family was Evan Morgan, 2nd Viscount Tredegar. The last member of the line to live at Tredegar House, Evan lived a life of great eccentricity and adventure. His week-end house parties at Tredegar in the 1930s and 40s gained much local notoriety. Surrounded by a menagerie of pets (including a bear named 'Alice', an anteater, and the talented 'Somerset', a boxing kangaroo) Evan, often with his 'familiar', a mischievous macaw named 'Blue Boy' (see above) perched imperiously on one shoulder, entertained on a lavish scale. Among the many artistic, literary and society figures that enjoyed his princely hospitality at Tredegar House were HG Wells, Aldous Huxley, Augustus John, Nancy Cunard, Ivor Novello and the 'Great Beast' himself, the occultist Aleister Crowley.

I am giving an illustrated talk on Evan's life at 10:45am on Saturday 25 February, at the Reardon Smith Theatre in Cardiff for the Friends of the National Museum and Galleries of Wales. All guests are welcome and can pay on the door (tickets £5), so if you are interested in learning more about the life of one of South Wales' greatest eccentrics, please come along.

'Unexplored Tredegar'

2006-01-27T12:11:00.000Z

I returned to Tredegar House yesterday for the first time since Christmas to find the place full of the song of whistling workmen, and scaffolding dominating the stairwell. The stairwell is being re-painted in Indian Yellow. The Best Chamber is also being re-painted, and it is only really when furniture is taken out of a room at Tredegar, that you can appreciate just how large the rooms are.

I have started working on an 'Unexplored Tredegar' tour, which is likely to be incorporated into the events programme for the new season. The tour will include the attics (servant's bedrooms), Linen Room, Nursery Wing, Cellars, Medieval Wing (above the Servant's Hall), The Stables, Baking Ovens, and will end in the Brewhouse where visitors can recover with a cream tea (which may be included in the tour price). It will give the public a chance to see parts of the House that they would not normally see.

A Tredegar House Christmas: Arrival of guests

2005-12-24T11:54:00.000Z

It is the prerogative of every 'Lord Tredegar' at Christmas at Tredegar House to choose the name of his butler. As butler this year I was in charge of chocolates (a grave responsibility) and of introducing visitors to Lord and Lady Tredegar in the Dining Room. For the first couple of nights Lord Tredegar was played by Alan Hall (tour guide of some distinction), who decided that in keeping with the Dickensian spirit pervading the House, that I was to be called 'Tulkinghorn'. Sadly, and probably because of the immense stress placed on members of the aristocracy at this time of year, the endless handshaking proved to be too much for His Lordship's constitution, and he was forced to retire from the post. Tenants on the estate wept, but, as ever, life at Tredegar had to continue.

Life continued, and Lady Tredegar acquired her second husband within a week, when Michael stepped into the role. Here we see him looking distracted; he can hardly be blamed, with Fagin and the Artful Dodger given free reign of his ancestral home, it was a trying time for His Lordship. How many spoons bearing the Morgan family crest made it into the pockets of these Victorian ne'er do wells, only the House Steward, after much consultation with the Housekeeper, could be sure.

The new Lord Tredegar decided to rename his butler 'Rutting'; a name that has given him great amusement ever since he first encountered it in the Middle East some years ago. Although 'Rutting the Butler' sounds more like an old English custom than a name, I assumed the title with grave dignity. A butler should always set an example to others Below Stairs, in both appearance and manners. When talking he must be polite and deferential; when walking he should be, as PG Wodehouse put it "a stately procession of one."

Unfortunately, I also had to help carry the prams and pushchairs from the Side Hall down into the Housekeeper's Room for collection. It is hard to be taken seriously when you are pushing a pink, double-seater pushchair (complete with fluffy toy poking out of the seat) through a crowded house of merry makers. I craved the sanctuary of the Butler's Pantry!

Tredegar House on TV

2005-12-19T10:20:00.000Z

The Flog It! episode featuring Tredegar House will be shown on Thursday 22nd December on BBC 2 at 6.00pm

Morgan ap Llewelyn (c1334-c1384) (4)

2005-11-29T10:13:00.000Z

Morgan ap Llewelyn was Ifor Hael's elder brother. Of course he was much more than that, but he has inevitably been overshadowed by little brother Ifor of Gwern y Cleppa. Perhaps if Morgan had, in a quiet moment at Tredegar, leant back in his comfortable chair (the one with the fewest splinters) and contemplated granting employment to that talented young bard Dafydd ap Gwilym, of whom he had heard so much, then things could well have been different. Welsh literature may well have remembered the generosity and grace of Morgan Hael of Tredegar, leaving the name of Ifor to interest only geneaologists whose pulses race when encountering, among dusty archives, details of an obscure younger son from centuries past. It did not turn out that way.

It is not difficult to imagine Ifor Hael as a jolly, old gentleman, surrounded by bards, dispensing patronage and favour like a local monarch at court. This would seem to be an erroneous impression. Ifor did not even reach middle age. In 1361 when aged only about 25 or 26 he travelled ( along with his wife, Nest) to Bishton Castle, the home of Bishop John Pascal. They did not return home. Ifor and Nest contracted the plague and both died from it. The Bishop promptly did the same. If this be true, then the story of Dafydd ap Gwilym falling in love with Ifor's daughter is false. Indeed, there is doubt over whether Ifor had a daughter at all!

On his death Ifor left a young son, Thomas, who, according to some sources, was taken in by his uncle Morgan ap Llewelyn of Tredegar. Their names both appear as witnesses to a deed in 1375, and, as Thomas Wakeman points out, it is reasonable to assume that Thomas was brought up at Tredegar under the guardianship of his uncle. It must have been quite a crowded house at this time, as Morgan and his wife had at least nine children.

Morgan probably died around the year 1384, in his early 50's. He had consolidated the family dynasty, but his heir was rather more rash...

Born: c1334
Died: c1384
Married: Maud Verch Rhys
On Throne when at Tredegar: Edward III, Richard II,

Children:

Llewelyn ap Morgan (c1366)
Philip ap Morgan (c1368)
John ap Morgan (c1370)
Christie Verch Morgan (c1372)
Ann (c1374)
Margaret (c1376)
Unknown daughter (c1378) (how cold and heartless that sounds!)
Eleanor (c1380)
and Guardian to Thomas ap Ifor

According to a 1612 pedigree examined by John Weston of the data-wales website, Morgan ap Llewelyn was responsible for 'Morgan' becoming a fixed surname. Others have attributed the 'surname decision' to Sir John ap Morgan, who died in c1492.

Halloween (2)

2005-11-07T19:01:00.000Z

Just when things couldn't get any worse..........

Halloween

2005-11-07T18:57:00.000Z

Baron Frankenstein's evening takes a turn for the worse, as a worried Dr Jekyll looks on!

Halloween: The First Night

2005-10-30T09:44:00.000Z

Last night was the first of the 'Halloween evenings' at Tredegar House. I have reprised my role as Dr Jekyll. This means that I am one of the more respectably dressed characters that visitors to the House will encounter (and, believe me, they encounter some terrifying figures!). Dressed in my black cut-away coat I am sure I look the very model of Victorian elegance, as I welcome people into the Dining Room, which has been converted for the occasion into Dr Jekyll's study. By the end of the evening, however, after over three hours of doing the same thing over and over, I begin to look a bit bedraggled, the healthy shine gone from my cheeks, and my throat aching from all that coughing, spluttering and choking from drinking the 'potion'. Such is life. Mr Hyde, in his grotesque rubber mask, gets it much tougher. My job is a relatively easy one this year. I set the scene, Hyde makes 'em scream.

After re-reading 'The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde' I have come to the surprising conclusion that I would probably be better suited to playing Hyde. My diminutive height and slight frame are much more in keeping with Stevenson's original description of the evil Hyde than that of the 'good' doctor. But since Halloween at Tredegar is basically about scaring people witless (and we certainly did that last night!), it is far better for Hyde to be more physically imposing and menacing than I could muster. Listen no more to my slightly jealous outpourings, it is just that I have come to the conclusion that at Tredegar House, at Halloween at least, bad guys DO get all the fun!

I think last night went quite well. Most people turn up to enjoy themselves; they laugh easily, scream easily, and generally do all the things you hope they will do, and a good time is had by all. Then there are those who see walking through the House as a challenge, almost an affront to their pride, they claim to have nerves of steel. These people are often teenagers, they stand surly with crossed arms, determined that nothing will make them smile, and nothing will make them scream. It is hard to make such people smile, but the satisfaction of making them jump is immense!

Dr Jekyll will be experimenting again tonight and tomorrow. I am sure the crowds will get livelier the closer we get to the night of Halloween itself.

Oh, and on a far brighter note, I hear that the Edney Gates gilding process is expected to be completed by March.

Ifor ap Llewelyn: 'Ifor Hael' (3)

2005-10-20T14:42:00.000+01:00

"It is here that nobility resides, where there is feasting and where comforts are nurtured: a fair lordship and dukedom has been established near Basaleg." So wrote Dafydd ap Gwilym, of Ifor Hael's Llys (or 'court') at Gwern y Cleppa in the 14th century.

Ifor ap Llewelyn, second son of Llewelyn ap Ifor and Angharad of Tredegar, was assured by his bard that "As long as the Welsh language continues your praise will be sung." As the Eistedfodd returned to the grounds of Tredegar House last year, it was readily apparent that Dafydd was as good as his word. The name of Ifor Hael (Ifor the Generous, as Dafydd termed him) has indeed lived on.

Dafydd ap Gwilym, like Ifor, had roots in Dyfed. There has been speculation that political problems involving his family forced the bard to move to Gwent. Some have called Dafydd the greatest of all Welsh poets, and certainly the most renowned bard of medieval Wales. It was at Gwern y Cleppa, at the court of Ifor Hael, that he enjoyed the munificent hospitality that inspired some of his greatest work. It was to prove an excellent partnership. Ifor could not have wished for a better man to sing his praises, and ultimately, to immortalise him.

The atmosphere at Gwern y Cleppa in those days can be imagined. It was described as a centre of civilised living, as being the very symbol of gentility, grace and luxury, where the spirit of chivalry mixed with the old Welsh traditions. As head of the Llys, Ifor Hael, Dafydd tells us, was the embodiment of courage, wisdom, generosity and justice. He was compared to Rhydderch Hael, one of the three generous men of the Isle of Britain. The bard certainly enjoyed his stays:

"drinking with Ifor, and shooting straight-running great stags. And casting hawks to the sky and wind, and beautiful verses, and solace in Bassaleg."

Sadly for our so far idyllic story, it was not just the free-flowing drink with Ifor, and the great stags near Gwern y Cleppa, that appealed to Dafydd; he was appointed to act as tutor to Ifor's daughter and, rather inconveniently, fell in love with her. It can be imagined how the music and gaiety suddenly stopped at Llys Ifor Hael when the great man discovered this. Greatly disapproving of such a match, Ifor sent his daughter to Anglesey, away from the romantic attentions of the silken tongued bard. Dafydd promptly followed to Angelsey, but was ultimately frustrated, not least by the fact that Ifor's daughter took the veil and became a nun. The breach with his patron was not critical however, and Dafydd returned to Gwent, and continued showering praise on Ifor. ( In later years Dafydd again fell in love controversially, and Ifor welcomed the couple to Gwern y Cleppa)

The Morgans of Tredegar were well aware of the importance of their illustrious forbear, and for many years, an avenue of trees led from Tredegar House to the old Llys at Gwern y Cleppa, which became, not so much a physical court, but more a spiritual one for the Morgans. Ifor Hael became not just a man, but an ideal to aspire to. His name was evoked many times in the history of the Morgans: Sir John ap Morgan made the halls of Tredegar ring with song with his employment of Welsh bards, as did the Elizabethan adventurer Miles Morgan; we can see strains of Ifor's princely hospitality in the socialising of Sir William Morgan in the early 18th century, and the lavish praise Ifor received found a mirror in the praise poured on Sir Charles Morgan in the 19th century ("One of the Kings of south Wales"). Ifor's name was frequently used by the Morgans in political campaigns. Who would dare to oppose a descendant of Ifor Hael in south Wales? Had the electors not read their Dafydd ap Gwilym?

Perhaps the closest the Morgans ever reached to the heady adulation and reputation enjoyed by Ifor came in the late Victorian era, when the war hero and generous public benefactor Godfrey Morgan, 1st Viscount Tredegar, was acclaimed in the area as, what else?, 'Ifor Hael the Second'.

Although Ifor's reputation remained untarnished, the old court of Gwern y Cleppa did not. The 18th century bard Evan Evans (1731-1788) who went by the name Ieuan Brydydd Hir visited it, and wrote:

"Ifor Hael's court, wretched sight, lies destroyed
Just heaps of stones in the trees
Where the thorns and brambles grow
In the place where majesty flourished"

There is very little to see now at Gwern y Cleppa, the site itself has not been built on, but, in the words of Ieuan: "The ancient paths where there was once song are now the haunts of owls."

Another Season Ends

2005-10-03T10:50:00.000+01:00

The House is now closed for public tours and thoughts turn to the end of October. Fake cobwebs will soon be put up; real cobwebs will be left up, and preparations are underway for Halloween. What ghoulish suprises will await visitors to Tredegar this year? More to the point what situations will the staff find themselves in? My roles in the past have included Dr Jekyll, a vicar at a vampire wedding, Professor Van Helsing (complete with 'interesting' Dutch accent), Dennis Samosa (a dodgy medium, complete with rather erratic scouse accent) and the Witchfinder General (my accent for this was perfect, but nobody has been able to ascertain exactly what accent it was supposed to be. I like to leave a certain mystery about my performances, it covers up for a spectacular lack of acting talent).

In other news:

The Edney Gates gilding process continues. The gates are currently covered with blue tarpaulin to protect the work from the elements.

A 17th century themed wedding took place at Tredegar House on Saturday afternoon. Practically every guest was attired in costume from the civil war period. Most were cavaliers, but, as I was told by one man brandishing a particularly sharp looking sword and a suspicious countenance, a few parliamentarians had sneaked in, too. The bride and groom were given a guard of honour of raised swords as they left the House.

The 'History of the Morgans' series will continue tomorrow, with the third instalment: Ifor Hael.

The Sound of.....Something!

2005-09-15T10:31:00.000+01:00

What an odd atmosphere surrounded the House last Friday. I have done many Spooky Tales tours and have never really felt anything particularly strange. Psychics and Mediums tend to have a field day at Tredegar House, but, whether it is because of my naturally sceptical nature, or, because perhaps I am not sensitive to such things, I have remained oblivious to all-that-is spooky. I haven't seen, felt, or really heard anything unusual in eight years. The spirits have seen me, and are obviously not interested.

But last Friday night I definitely heard something. I have been trying to put a rational explanation on it ever since. Goff was in the middle of his tour and the whole group were in the Bells' Passage. He was explaining that the servants at Tredegar in the 1930s and 40s used to think that the ghost of Gwyneth Morgan (only daughter of Courtenay, Viscount Tredegar), who drowned in the Thames aged 29, haunted the Bachelor Staircase and upstairs. I was sat on the foot of the Bachelor Staircase as he said this, and I smiled politely as inevitably every face on the tour turned to peer inquisitively in my direction hoping to catch a glimpse of Gwyneth. Goff then moved onto 'Dragon's Breath' and why you should never build on running water, and it was at that moment that I heard it.....

I could swear that I could hear singing coming from above me. Not music. Just singing. As if somebody was cleaning upstairs and they were singing to themselves as they dusted. Now, the entire tour and the only other members of staff in the House were in the Bells' Passage. There should not have been anybody upstairs at all. It is true that there was an event at the Brewhouse that night, but I did not hear bass, or the thudding sound of music from a CD player; I heard no music at all. Just the sound of somebody singing gently to themselves.

Fortunately my girlfriend Samantha was beside me at the time and heard it as well. As did Gafyn, a friend who was on the tour. We couldn't explain it. As soon as we called other people over to listen, the singing stopped. What was it? I have tried thinking rationally about it. I know how sound sometimes travels strangely in Tredegar, so it is possible that a member of staff may have been present at another part of the House and their singing reached my ears. However, this was late at night, and all the staff that were working were present in the Bells' Passage.

It is not as exciting as some of the ghost stories of Tredegar House, but perhaps, perhaps, I have at last experienced something a little odd, after eight barren years. Maybe the spirits are warming to me, after all!

Spooky Tales

2005-09-08T11:22:00.000+01:00

"Any ghosts here?" Is a common question that guides are asked on House tours. Every Friday night throughout September, that question is resoundingly answered by the Spooky Tales tours. Conducted by Goff Morgan, it is an exploration into the murkier side (or the "Supernatural Underbelly" as Goff puts it!) of Tredegar House and its past. Not only will visitors be informed about attempted murders, live burials, and occultism; but also about the ghostly sightings and experiences that many have reported in the House over the years.

As for me, I am a cynic in the daytime; but at night time when I am locking up (something which I will have to do after the Spooky Tales tours) I am not quite so sure....

A review of tomorrow night's tour will appear here...

Llewelyn ap Ifor and Angharad (2)

2005-08-28T11:43:00.000+01:00

On the death of her father, Sir Morgan ap Maredudd in c1332, Angharad, his only daughter, inherited Tredegar and his other estates. An account of Angharad's great beauty has been passed down through history (she was celebrated as being the mother of Ifor Hael). As a great heiress, a marriage with her should have been seen as very desirable, it is therefore slightly surprising that, aged around 32, she was still unmarried on her father's death. It is very tempting to ponder the reasons for this. After all, as Thomas Wakeman, the Victorian antiquarian pointed out "at a time of day when young ladies of any expectations were married when about 13 or 14 it may excite our curiosity". Was her father, Morgan the Rebel, an obstacle in her path to marriage? There is no evidence either way, but speculation is always fun.

When she DID marry (c1333), it was a very advantageous match. Her husband was Llewelyn ap Ifor, lord of Sancler (St Clears) and Gwynfe, in Carmarthenshire. He was a descendant of Cadifor Fawr, lord of Cilsant, who lived in Dyfed, and died in 1089. Cadifor Fawr's third son, Bledri, received land from the Normans in Gwent. Thus, two ancient Welsh families, with links back to Hywel Dda, and the Welsh princes, were joined. It is likely that Llewelyn moved to Tredegar and it was from this marriage that the main line of the Morgans of Tredegar stemmed; a family that were to become dominant in south-east Wales.

The children from this marriage included:

Morgan ap Llewelyn - born c1334, the heir to Tredegar.

Ifor Hael - born c1336, a name that lives on thanks to the bardic tradition. He lived at Gwern-y-Cleppa (near what is now Cleppa Park).

Philip - born c1338, who lived at St Pierre. It was from his line that the Lewis family of St Pierre descended.

It must have been shortly after the birth of their third son (Philip of St Pierre) that Llewelyn ap Ifor died. Angharad, who obviously had overcome her reluctance to matrimony, re-married as soon as decency allowed, and, according to some accounts, may even have married a third time. Tredegar passed to the eldest son, Morgan ap Llewelyn, but it was the events at Gwern-y-Cleppa, home of the second son, Ifor Hael, that capture the imagination....

Newport Civic Society

2005-08-28T10:28:00.000+01:00

Newport Civic Society have recently launched a web-site (the link for which can be found on the right of this page). To quote from their homepage:

"The Newport Civic Society exists to promote and preserve and the environment, buildings, and architecture of the City of Newport and it environs, as well as to represent the Community's voice in planning our Civic future.
We are inspired by the past, present and future of Newport, in its natural history, its buildings, its people, culture, geography - its success as well as its failings. Only by being involved can we make a difference."

The site is well worth a visit for all Newportonians. Forums have just been set up to generate debate on Newport. An interesting poll has been set up there: Should Newport City Council Sell Tredegar House? Gad sir! A little startling perhaps; of course, I have added my not-so-humble opinions, and have written a bit about the history of the National Trust's advances towards Tredegar.

Edney Gates To Be Gilded

2005-08-19T21:58:00.000+01:00

The wonderful 18th century 'Edney Gates' at Tredegar House are currently in the process of being gilded. They were made between 1714-1718 for John Morgan of Tredegar (whose monogram can be found at the top of the gates entwined with that of his wife, Martha's) by the brothers William and Simon Edney, who were the finest gatesmiths operating out of the west country in the early 18th century. (William Edney's work also survives in the church of St Mary Redcliffe, in Bristol).

Photographs of the newly-gilded gates will appear here on completion of the project.

Sir Morgan ap Maredudd (1)

2005-08-11T13:29:00.000+01:00

To begin at the very beginning is perhaps impossible. It is not really known when the antecedents of the Morgan family began living at Tredegar. Their family tree is colourful and spectacular in places, but as to how accurate it is we can only speculate. A popular claim in the Victorian era was that the Morgans were descended from leaders of the Silures tribe who fought against the Romans in south-east Wales. This, you would think, would be impressive enough, but not so; some imaginative scribes were content to point to Caractacus as a Morgan ancestor, others preferred to squabble over whether the Morgans were descended from the second or the third son of Noah! (My money is on Ham, the second son, personally...)

Let's begin with somebody who was undeniably 'lord of Tredegar'. Morgan ap Maredudd, sometimes referred to as Morgan the Rebel, who, according to Dr John Gwynfor Jones, "lived at Tredegar in the early decades of the fourteenth century".

Morgan was a descendant of Rhys ap Tewdwr (Tudor), King of Deheubarth, who died in 1093 in Breconshire, and of the old lords of Caerleon (it was with this connection in mind, and playing on the Caerleon as Camelot legend, that the occultist Aleister Crowley made the claim that the last Viscount Tredegar had the right to "bear Excalibur"!).

Morgan and his ancestors were caught up in the continual struggle between the native Welsh rulers and the Norman lords whose intrusions caused continual tension. In an unstable and potentially combustable atmosphere, a fine line needed to be walked. Morgan's father, Maredudd, was the last native lord of Caerleon; he had been deprived of his lands by Gilbert de Clare (who built Caerphilly Castle) in 1270, and this wound was not forgotten by Maredudd's son. (Some have claimed that it was Morgan himself who was dispossessed by de Clare, but Octavius Morgan, the antiquarian brother of the 1st Lord Tredegar believed it to be Morgan's father Maredudd)

In 1294 the Welsh, led by Madog ap Llywelyn, broke into revolt against the English. In Glamorgan and Gwent the uprising was led by Morgan. The English forces, led by the Earl of Gloucester, had very little success against Morgan's rebels; in the uprising half the town of Caerphilly was destroyed and Morlais Castle (in Merthyr) was taken by the rebels. This triumph did not last, however, and in June 1295 with defeat looming, Morgan made it clear that his rebellion was not against Edward I, but against the de Clares, the lords of Glamorgan; giving himself up to the king he obtained the royal clemency.

This is the first indication of the Morgans thinking locally rather than nationally. Their grievance was not against Edward I, as such, but against forces that threatened their interests at home.

Morgan later served the king as a squire of the household in Flanders, thus, presumably, his redemption was complete.

Just the Facts:
Name: Morgan ap Maredudd (Meredith)
Died: c1331
Children: Only one child, a daughter, Angharad
On Throne when owning Tredegar: Edward I, Edward II, Edward III

History of the Morgans of Tredegar

2005-08-08T14:28:00.000+01:00

On Thursday (August 11) I will be starting a 'History of the Morgans of Tredegar'. It is rather ambitious, but I intend to rattle through the centuries by featuring each Morgan known to have owned Tredegar, or lived there. The way this blog works is that every post gets registered as a single web page in search engines. So, therefore, by the end of the series, every Morgan who owned Tredegar, will have their own web-page, where comments can be left, and questions asked about their life.

The first Morgan featured will be Morgan ap Meredudd (Meredith) who owned Tredegar in the early decades of the 14th century. Hopefully, the series will end with John Morgan, 6th Baron Tredegar, who died childless in 1962.

The Life of a Tour Guide

2005-08-06T12:24:00.000+01:00

Tour guiding can be stressful. What will await you when you open that front door? Will there be one person gazing up at you, or a horde of thirty or forty? As a grizzled old veteran of a guide, I sometimes smile patiently when newer guides tell me of their woes. For I still carry the scars of tours past. At night I sometimes awake in a cold sweat, terrified by images of monocles, and swearing blind, that I can hear, like a haunting melody, the strains of Noel Coward singing 'Poor Little Rich Girl'.

Surely a guide that has had to dress up in spats, bow-tie and blazer, with a boater perched precariously on the side of his head, and was forced (some like to use the word 'employed', I prefer 'forced') to conduct tours of costumes from the BBC series 'The House of Eliot' and of original 1920s dresses, without having the first idea about dresses, deserves to have the respect, nay, affection, of his peers. That was the waif-like me in 1998, when the 'Sparkling Twenties' came to Tredegar House. The tours were quite popular. Personally I became convinced that most attended the House simply to laugh at me in spats, but, I suppose, a few were interested in the remarkable dresses on display.

A year later, the costumes from the BBC series 'The Aristocrats' were put on display at the House. I was greatly relieved that the guides did not have to dress in costume for these tours. I think that kitted out in whale-bone stays and corsets (that as far as I could make out, were designed to torture the wearer), guides would have lost consciousness by the end of the day. We were very unlucky with these tours. Due to a mix-up, when the costumes were at Tredegar House, the BBC hadn't shown the programme on TV; it had been delayed. So, aside from the fans of Stella Tillyard's book, most people had never heard of 'The Aristocrats', and the tours, consequently, were quite quiet. By the end of them, though, I had learnt far more about 18th century dresses than I ever thought possible.

On the subject of tours, and the travails of guides, Alan, who has been guiding at Tredegar House since 1999 (and before that, at Haddon Hall in Derbyshire) swears blind that a couple of weeks ago, a visitor to the House asked him, in all sincerity, why the Morgans built their ancestral home so close to the motorway!

Tredegar House is open for tours, Wednesday-Sunday, until the end of September

Tours are at the following times:
11.30 am, 12.30 noon, 1.30 pm, 2.30 pm, 3.30 pm & 4 pm

Prices
Adult £5.40
Concession £3.95
Resident Rate Adult £2.65
Resident Rate Concession £2.10
Children go FREE!

Next Event: St. Mellons Show (10 August)

2005-08-03T21:39:00.000+01:00

The 132nd St. Mellons Agricultural Show will take place in the grounds of Tredegar House on Wednesday August 10, from 8:30am till 6:00pm.

The show will include: Cattle and Sheep, Pigs and Goats, Horses and Ponies, Showjumping, Farriery, Dogs and Rabbits, Caged Birds, Vintage Tractors, Trade Stands, Craft Tent, Rural Crafts and Past Times, Children's Competitions, Children's Amusements, and Main Ring Attractions. Prices: Adults £6 Children £4 OAP £4. Car Parking is free.

The setting is very fitting, as for many centuries Tredegar was primarily an agricultural estate. Perhaps the figure who was best known to the local farming community was Sir Charles Morgan (1760-1846) who was called 'The Farmer's Friend'. He had a passion for agriculture, paid for Newport's Cattle Market in 1844, and was instrumental in the introduction of short-horned cattle into Monmouthshire. There is a painting at Tredegar House (in the Morning Room) showing Sir Charles presenting a short-horn bull to King William IV in front of Windsor Castle.

Flog It! At Tredegar House

2005-07-27T12:31:00.000+01:00

It has been a busy week or so at Tredegar House with film crews using the superb rooms of 'Wales's Finest Restoration House' (I wonder if we could get that trademarked...) as a backdrop for filming. The first to appear were a BBC crew filming an episode for the new season of Doctor Who. They used the Dining Room and the New Hall; no David Tennant as yet (Tredegar House was used for scenes involving the 'Prime Minister'), but the crew may return later this year.

Then on Monday the crew from BBC's Flog It! antiques programme spent a whole day at the House. It was a long shoot and the results should be very interesting. They filmed in most rooms, with longer pieces in the Master's Bed Chamber (where the tale of the madness of Lady Elizabeth Dayrell was recounted), King's Room (Evan, Viscount Tredegar's week-end house parties), Brown Room and Gilt Room (the extravagance of Sir William Morgan KB and his wife Lady Rachel) and in the Side Hall (Godfrey Morgan and the Charge of the Light Brigade). The presenter, Paul Martin, also peeked into many of the rooms 'Below Stairs' and, all in all, the programme should do a lot of good for the House; it certainly looked superb on screen.

It was quite a testing day for the film crew. Their work in the morning was disrupted somewhat by the sudden appearance of an 'important person'. Filming was halted as the guest inspected the state rooms. Speculation was rife as to this person's identity. One of the crew wondered if it was royalty; the producer, Gayle, living up to her Scottish roots, thought it was someone far more important: "Is it Sean Connery?" she asked more in hope than expectation. Sadly for Gayle, it wasn't Sir Sean, but the Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. I am quite sure that huge swathes of the Great British population go weak at the knees at the mere mention of his name but it seems that the MP for Blackburn failed to get the Flog It! crews' pulses racing, but were they angry and bitter at the Foreign Secretary for delaying their filming? Not a bit of it, and anyway, as one of them grinned: "We weren't going to vote Labour anyway!"

The Flog It! crew were wonderful, and the result of their work at Tredegar House will be eagerly anticipated; whether I live to see it is another matter. One of the wardens at Tredegar, Ray, runs an antiques shop in Newport. As the day's filming came to a close he spotted me in the Brown Room window and called up to me:

Ray: Paul!
Me: Yes
Ray: Get me Paul Martin's autograph. Get him to write 'To Raymond'
Me: Sorry, he's already gone.
Ray: Grrrrrr (Ray punches the palm of his hand and looks up at me with menace)

I fully recommend Raymond's antiques shop. Please visit it and spend lots of money. My health might just depend on it.

Sir Henry Morgan

2005-07-21T14:16:00.000+01:00

The Newport historian Haydn Davis sent me the following e-mail regarding Sir Henry Morgan, who, in his will, referred to his 'ever-honest cozen, Mr Thomas Morgan of Tredegar.' There is a portrait of Sir Henry in the Brown Room at Tredegar House but his exact links with the Morgans of Tredegar have always been uncertain.

Haydn wrote:

Congratulations on a great website. At last a decent source of information on the Morgans of Tredegar and an opportunity to clear up by discussion any misconceptions about this long-lived estate. This feature has immediate interest for me if only to iron out to some extent the kinks in the conflicting stories which have developed over the years about the semi-legendary Sir Henry Morgan. You see, my research, such as it is, has made me come down heavily on the side of those who believe that he was not related to the noble Morgan line, and that he was born at Llanrhymney but to one of the Morgan of Tredegar's tenant farmers. There does not seem to be any conclusive proof either way.

In support of this argument, I ask why would a young man, if he was heir to great wealth, go trawling the streets and docks of Bristol looking for work? Was he shanghaied (or barbadosed) or did he willingly sign on for the extremely harsh life of a 17th century sailor?

What evidence is there of his visits back to these shores? Were there any at all except for the brief occasion when he was recalled to London to account for acts of piracy against the Spanish after peace had been declared, only to be given a slap on the wrist, a knighthood and the Lieutenant Governorship of Jamaica? By the same token, where is the proof that he ever visited Newport and was received as a guest at Tredegar House?

His exploits in the Caribbean are legion and well documented, but at home his background is exceedingly murky!

In any debate, this would be my argument.

New Ruperra Book Published

2005-07-20T14:47:00.000+01:00

Ruperra Castle was the second home of the Morgan family in south Wales. From the early 19th century the heir to Tredegar would usually live at Ruperra. A terrible fire in December 1941 (the third such conflagration to hit the castle in its history) gutted the place, and it is now a 'romantic ruin' with an uncertain future.

A new book 'Serving Under Ruperra: A Collection of Memories' has just been released. The book has been compiled by 'Pat Moseley and members from the Rudry Local History Group from conversations with local people and their friends and relations in the 1980s and 90s and from material donated by them'.

Anybody wishing to obtain a copy should find information via the Ruperra link to the right of this website.

Tredegar House

2005-07-15T11:27:00.000+01:00

Tredegar House

So, what exactly is this 'blog' all about? It is, as the name suggests, about Tredegar House, a glorious 17th century mansion which was once the centre of a mighty estate and the home of the one of the most ancient of all Welsh families, the Morgans. The Morgan family sold the House in 1951 to an order of Roman Catholic nuns and it was run as a school for 23 years. It was in 1974 that the local authority, Newport Borough Council (as it then was, before they became city-slickers) bought the House and the 90 remaining surrounding acres of parkland, and began the long and laborious task of restoring Tredegar to something like its former glory.

That task continues to this day. Tredegar House is a country house back from the dead. It is rightly seen as the jewel in Newport's crown. Its red brick facade (which seems to glow when hit by the sun) is a splendid sight, and its unique features, make it one of the most important Restoration houses in Britain. Outside, the lake (known as the 'Great Pool' when it was first dug in 1791) shimmers as swans glide imperiously across the water. The magnificent stables, looking like a mansion in their own right, stand as testimony to the Morgan's passion for both horses and grandeur.

Inside the house, portraits of long-dead Morgans peer down at the visitor. Their stories amaze, beguile and intrigue to this day. In this blog I hope we can discuss both the history of the house and of the family. There are many stories that people half-know, and I hope to address them all in this blog: Didn't one of the Morgans survive the Charge of the Light Brigade? Why did Lord Tredegar bury his horse in the garden? Didn't one of them have a parrot on his shoulder? Was a Morgan at the Battle of Bosworth Field? Didn't Lord Tredegar own a gigantic yacht? Who exactly is that statue of a man sitting in a chair near the NatWest bank in the centre of Newport? Didn't one of them build bird's nests as a hobby? Wasn't one a pirate?.....there is so much to discuss.

This blog will also be used to provide updates on Tredegar House: news on upcoming events, restoration projects, the latest research and theories, and a lot of babble from me. I hope readers find it of some interest. Comments are always welcome.

Best Wishes,

Paul