Remembering Evan Morgan, Viscount Tredegar

 

REMEMBERING EVAN

 EVAN MORGAN, VISCOUNT TREDEGAR

 DIED HONEYWOOD HOUSE, ROWHOOK,  SURREY

27th  APRIL 1949

 

Evan Morgan, Viscount Tredegar, ( 1893-1949)  broke the rules, rejecting work to increase the family’s wealth from land, railways and coal to spend his allowance on fun. He rubbed shoulders with bohemians, scene-setters, painters and film stars from Charlie Chaplin to Tallulah Bankhead.  He dazzled literary contemporaries like Aldous Huxley (who portrayed him in his book Crome Yellow), showering the mediocre and handsome youths with praise and presents, and paying their bills.

 

At Garsington Manor the Morrells hailed Evan’s  talent, whilst Bloomsbury’s clique thought him shallow. In the Great War he dodged rat-infested trenches by citing a weak chest, the bane of his existence.  He tried Whitehall politics pursuing David  Lloyd George’s mistress, Francis Stevenson, who dubbed him a liar; he also attempted the diplomat’s role at the 1919  Paris Peace Conference.

 

Vowing to reject pleasure and birthright he found mysticism, spirituality and Roman Catholicism, briefly spending time as a monk, later studying at Beda College, Rome, whilst acting as a  Papal Chamberlain. Aside from the confessional he shared excesses with Augustus John, Gerald Berners, and lined his bed with satyrs.

 

Evan’s attraction for men, from Princes to valets and occultists encountered his dour father’s wrath. An affair with Ronald Firbank  sunk him, as did a fling with Alistair Graham,  Evelyn Waugh’s lover.  He attracted iconic women like Diana Manners, Nancy Cunard and Rosa Lewis and took two wives; but both marriages were shams. 

 

On inheriting the Morgan Estate Evan transformed it for rave weekend parties, nude bathing, and black magic rituals. The footmen adorned powdered wigs.  Houseguests were plentiful from H G Wells to the Great Beast, Alistair Crowley. Godfrey Winn sent Daily Mirror reader’s bulletins from Wales’ Tredegar House. In the Second World War Evan disgraced himself, and was Court Martialed for offences against the Official Secrets Acts.  In his last years he travelled abroad seeking salvation and Irish citizenship. The Tredegar Estate was bankrupted by death duties and Evan finally finished off by cancer, at only 55.    

 

Evan never found happiness; his misfortune was to be born with too much money, too little health and no practical sense. His deep love of animals irritated his “huntin, shootin a’ fishin” relations, wrecking gin-traps and creating his own zoo, with a kangaroo (Somerset), a honey bear (Alice) and a parrot  (Blue Boy).  Throughout decades of high-living Evan continued to write poetry, befriended Bosie Douglas and planned a biography leaving the contents of a black box to his Executors.  They deemed Society was not ready for the scandal; the box was destroyed, with instructions cascaded to burn everything associated with Evan Morgan.  

The funeral pyres glowed for hours.

William Cross, FSA Scot

Evan's Biographer

27 April 2023

 Principal Biographical Sources for Evan Morgan

Books Published by Book Midden Publishing, 58 Sutton Road, Newport NP19 7JF

By Monty Dart and William Cross

A Beautiful Nuisance : The Life and Death Of Hon Gwyneth Ericka Morgan

[ISBN 9781905914104]: 2012

Aspects of Evan : The Last Viscount Tredegar, by Monty Dart and William Cross.  [[ISBN 9781905914159]: 2012

By William Cross, FSA Scot

Not Behind Lace Curtains: The Hidden World Of Evan, Viscount Tredegar.  [ISBN9781905914210]: 2013.

Evan Frederic Morgan, Viscount Tredegar : The Final Affairs, Financial and Carnal . [[ISBN 9781905914241]: 2014.

Lois Sturt, Wild Child : A Glance at Hon. Lois Ina Sturt, Viscountess Tredegar. [ISBN 9781905914319] : 2014.

Evan, Lord Tredegar : Selected Letters, Prose and Quotations [ISBN9783905914333] : 2015

Evan, Lord Tredegar : Further Letters and Prose Pieces: With Anecdotes About Evan.  [ISBN 9781905914388] : 2016

Evan, Lord Tredegar: Final Affairs - The Aftermath: The Welsh Peer, Poet & Pleasure Seeker [ISBN 9781905914326] : 2016

Sketches of Evan, Viscount Tredegar 'Lord of the Lies' As seen by friends, foes and lovers. [ISBN 9781905914463] : 2017.

An album of sexually explicit verses and jokes. From the collection of Lois Ina Sturt and  Reggie Pembroke. [ISBN 9781905914401] : 2018.

Myths About The Morgans of Tredegar House, Newport, South Wales. Busting the History Fraudsters [ISBN 9781905914425] : 2018.

More Sketches of Evan, Viscount Tredegar: 'Lord of the Lies' [ISBN 781905914470] : 2020.

FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT WILLIAM CROSS BY EMAIL

 williecross@aol.com

 

Tredegar House : Failure To Attract Visitors Targeted

 

Tredegar House

Failure To Attract Visitors Targeted

‘The Very  Worst of Times’

  By William Cross, FSA Scot

 

Author of books on The Morgans of Tredegar House, Newport, South Wales  

COVID 19 -Hit Tredegar House closed but the National Trust were staring at failure before the pandemic

 Newport has one of the highest number of COVID 19 infections in the whole of  Wales. This ghastly virus has taken many lives, it remains in free fall and a vaccine is still a far off  dream. The deadly spread and aftermath of the infection’s invisible power makes this a frightening era for all.  

 

Tredegar House, the old Morgan mansion, was closed for many months under the first Welsh government virus lockdown of March 2020,  and although there was a brief reopening in September-  early October 2020,  albeit with restrictions on the numbers of visitors, the house has closed again.  This closure  was  to  avoid  virus transmission to  National Trust staff and those members of the public who wished to go and see the Morgan’s old  homestead and enjoy it’s history, stories and relax or walk around the parklands,  lake and gardens.

 

Post-virus, it is going to be a slow recovery and a very costly one. In fact the world has changed so much by the affects of the virus that the good old joys of carefree days out and day in at places  of “Historic Interest or Natural Beauty” are on a slippery slope to oblivion and our thinking and actions may have to change in every form and have less expectation.

 

Organisations that aim to preserve the past (i.e. in Wales)  like the National Trust and CADW [i] are in deep financial peril too, with redundancies afoot,  and  they are perhaps doomed to ever bounce back or be able to offer the same pleasures or value for money. The heritage bodies will need to fall heavily upon virtual tours of sites. The staff and many volunteers at work in places like Tredegar House may never return in the same numbers or roles. The virus will be feared for years.  

 

Are Newport’s Payments to the National Trust  in 2022  moneys worth?

 

It is  an opportune time  to reflect on the 8 years of management of Tredegar House by the National Trust and ( looking ahead)  question the ‘money’s worth’ of  the National Trust pocketing (on 1 April 2022)   the further sum of £2,004,750 ( ie over 2 million pounds) from Newport City Council as a residual part of the 2012 transfer deal/lease.  

 

This huge payment  in 2022 from Newport’s coffers is no April fool.

 

Would  that money or any part of it be better spent on Newport  itself?   In these  chilling times should Newport Council not first  and foremost support the City’s present and future, the colossal needs, pre-virus vaccine and  in treating the  wounds of a post-virus world?

 

Is it time to try to negotiate, defer or cancel  this  payment to the National Trust, due in 2022,  especially as Newport’s citizens are in the throws of a desperate situation,  with many people condemned to years of uncertainty, recession, unemployment, ill health and misery.

 

It must be  right  to say ( albeit I say it  with sadness  as a  local historian and devotee of the Morgan family)  that  the  City’s  own people, infrastructures, services, and needs over the next few years must be sorted first, even if  at the expense of maintaining the area’s historic heritage,  legacies and  monuments. The same applies to funds earmarked for our  historical icons the Museums,  Newport Castle, the Transporter Bridge etc, people’s welfare surely must come first.

 

But can the Lease Agreement between Newport Council and the National Trust be revisited?

 

The Freedom of Information Act  Will Out

 

It is a curious fact that although the National Trust was set up by statute from 1907 onwards  and has powers to make by- laws , the Freedom of Information Act, 2000, (FOI)  exempts them from scrutiny or of requiring them to make any  public disclosures about their workings and decisions.  However in the case of Tredegar House’s lease some secrets   can be culled as Newport Council does come under the FOI legislation.

 

Visitor Numbers to Tredegar House

 

When the National Trust  took over the running of Tredegar House in 2012, one of their primary gaols was to build up the annual number of visitors to a target of over 120,000.

 

Using the FOI,  Newport Council has revealed to the Author the previously well guarded figures of actual attendance at Tredegar House for the past 7 years. [ii]

 

2013/14   57,280

2014/15   78,984

2015/16   90,285

2016/17   94,850

2017/18   88,309

2018/19   81,377

2019/20   89,234

 

As disclosed by the Author in 2017, [iii]  the 2012  Lease Agreement between the Council and National Trust ( with some £10m being payable between 2012 and 2062)  provided additionally  for the sum of  £150,000 per annum to be paid  to the National Trust as a “ Revenue Subsidy” for as  long as   visitor numbers at Tredegar House  fell below  120,000 per annum.

 

As the figures here show the National Trust started well but on the face of it have failed to pursue an agenda with a sufficiently successful mix of attractions, or prove the worth of  their house management decisions at winning increased support in public attendance.  There is  a repeated failure to capture a clear increase in the number of visitors in ANY of the last 3 years compared with the best year, over 4 years ago.

 

The rot was there long before the current pandemic. The National Trust  management have not fulfilled their  strategic goal over visitor numbers. They will perhaps  say in defence that in these past years conservation projects, as with  the fixing  a new roof, came first.  But the fact is they  reached  a plateau for visitor attendance in 2016/17 and this was far below the strategic figure planned of 120,000.

 

It is interesting that given the question above about the 2012 Lease Agreement being revisited or  changed that  it does look like that this can be done  and it  has already been re-negotiated.

 

According to the FOI Officer’s reply at the conclusion of the 2019/20 season,  Newport Council and National Trust agreed a settlement figure to fully discharge the obligation of the £150,000 per annum ‘Revenue Subsidy’  regarding visitor numbers.

 

The FOI reply adds “ The arrangement was due to expire in 2025 in any case and the stabilisation of visitor numbers at a sub 100k level meant it was unlikely that the 120k target would be reached before the payment arrangement terminated.”

 

So what was the settlement figure – Who benefits?

 

The FOI response was as follows “  The Council was obligated to 5 more years of payments of £150k per year (£750k) while visitor numbers remained below 120k.  The Council and National Trust agreed a settlement of the outstanding payments with a discount of 1 year's payment (£600k).” [iv]

 

This substantial cost to Newport Council appears to be is a very nice gift for the National Trust  to pocket when the country was on the verge of a further national lockdown.  That such a large sum should be removed from Newport coffers cannot benefit  Newport citizens when Tredegar House’s future stands out as being  uncertain as  are other  Welsh  visitor  attractions in the pre-vaccine era.  

 

[i] Cadw is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. Cadw works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage sites of Wales, so that the public can visit them, enjoy them and understand their significance.

 

[ii] REQ08381 - Newport Council Payments to the National Trust at Tredegar House, Newport.

 

[iii] See “Sketches of Evan, Viscount Tredegar: ‘Lord of the Lies’”. Book Midden Publishing (2017).

 

[iv] Reply to Freedom of Information Request REQ08448.  NB Newport Council later advised: “The final settlement payment was confirmed as received by National Trust on 9th of April 2020.  Please note that the attached letter refers to a final payment of 750k which included the payment due 1st of  March 2020.  This had already been processed therefore the final payment received by the National Trust in April was £600k.”   FOI REQ08496. Letter referred to held by the Author. Copy available on request.

 

" Visitor Attendance at Tredegar House 2012-2020."

“More Sketches of Evan, Viscount Tredegar ‘Lord of the Lies’ As seen by friends, foes and lovers ” A new book about Evan Morgan, the last Viscount Tredegar was published on 9 November 2020.

https://morgan-myths.blogspot.com/2020/11/more-sketches-of-evan-viscount-tredegar.html

“Evan Morgan, Lord Tredegar's House Guests 1934-1938”

“Tredegar House : Weekend Parties, Frolics and Fun”

“Evan Morgan, Lord Tredegar's House Guests 1934-1938”

Book  Highlights          

    

A cast list of over 300 guests who slept under Evan Morgan’s ( Viscount Tredegar’s ) 500-year-old-roof at Tredegar House, Newport, South Wales,  between 1934  and 1938.

The truth about the séances, spooky nights  and fortune telling!

Biographical sketches, dates of visits & photographs of the good, bad and disgraceful, including literary personalities, politicians,  spies, spivs, & many of the rich & noble & some  glamorous women of the era.

Details of  the famous novelist who finished off the final chapters of a best seller at Tredegar House? 

After the  ‘ rumour and myth’  that the American  Denham (Denny) Fouts ‘The World’s Best Kept Boy’ was ‘saved’ from jail by Evan Morgan,  what are the facts of  Evan’s relationship with Fouts, a boy  dubbed by Gore Vidal as “un homme fatal” . Did Fouts ever come to Tredegar House?

The gigolo and the  Archbishop…..

‘Jolly boy’ sex and drugs  trips for Evan’s inner crowd to secret ruins. 

The facts concerning  Evan Morgan’s friendship with Crown Prince Paul of Greece ( later King of Greece).

Revelations (and written evidence ) of  how the ill-fated  Prince George, Duke of Kent became indebted to Evan Morgan. Learn too how Evan took charge of the Duke’s honeymoon trip in  Nassau.

Personal testimony and anecdotes from Alan Pryce-Jones,  Brian Howard, Cyril Hughes Hartmann, Lord Charles Carnegie, Desmond Leslie and many others on Evan Morgan’s house parties.

Recollections of a world  famous conductor’s stay-over at Tredegar House when he and his 92 musicians played to packed audiences at Cardiff and Swansea, making Welsh  musical history.

How Evan Morgan’s house party of 1936 reacted to the news of the Abdication of King Edward VIII,  a few weeks after the visit to Tredegar House by one of the King’s former mistresses and after Evan  met the King  during the infamous Valleys tour of “Special Areas”.

Contact the Author William Cross for best price, depending on availability.

e-bay   / Amazon

NB SALES SUBJECT TO AVAILABILITY

Contact William Cross directly ( by e-mail )  for latest book offers.


An illustrated  talk is also available about the book from William Cross. 

LAUNCH/ ILLUSTRATED TALK 

NEWPORT U3A  Shaftsbury Church, Newport

7 November 2019

http://lecturelist.org/content/view_lecture/16498




UPDATED 21 December 2019

Very Limited supplies held.

e-mail 

williecross@aol.com

Write to the Author for further information

58, Sutton Road, Newport, NP19 7JF

South Wales, UK  

Tredegar House, Newport, South Wales: New Book on Evan Morgan

“ Sketches of Evan, Viscount Tredegar, ‘Lord of the Lies’”

Evan Morgan (1893-1949) was the 4th Lord Tredegar and  the last Viscount Tredegar.

He was a  predatory homosexual,  and fantasist,  born with  too much money and not enough good health.  Evan  spent his life hunting 'rough trade' in the shape of boys, and youths, something described in detail in the book ' Not behind Lace Curtains: The Hidden World of Evan, Viscount Tredegar', published in 2013 by William Cross, FSA Scot.  

The new book is  also written  by  Evan  Morgan’s  biographer, William Cross.  With an Introduction from Newport historian, Jim Dyer.

The book  is a compilation of  reminiscences and impressions   of  how  the last Viscount Tredegar  is   recalled by  regular inhabitants of the Morgan family seat at  Tredegar House in the 1930s and 1940s.,

The testimonies  come from those who knew Evan Morgan,  his friends, foes and  lovers.  Contributors include   historian  Cyril Hughes Hartmann, novelist  Inez Holden,  travel writer  Robin Bryans,  poet and journalist Charles Graves, Evan’s godson   Desmond Leslie,  the Irish  diplomat  Shane Leslie,  literary editor,  Alan Pryce-Jones and  barrister  Henry Maxwell.

Contact William Cross, FSA Scot by e-mail for further information about the book

williecross@aol.com

The book was published on 4 December 2017, it is available direct from the author and on Amazon.

Viscount Tredegar : Letters and Prose From His Biographer, William Cross

                               BOOKS ON EVAN MORGAN, VISCOUNT TREDEGAR

Evan’s Letters and Prose.  Two  compilations of the  letters and prose of the charismatic Welsh peer Evan Morgan, Viscount Tredegar,  have recently  been edited by Newport’s William  Cross, FSA Scot who is also Evan’s biographer.

Evan, Lord Tredegar, Selected Letters, Prose and Quotations: The Mystic Muse of Evan Frederic Morgan ISBN 9781905914241 Book Midden Publishing (2015)

This book offers a  wonderful  selection of letters and prose including  Evan’s intimate correspondence to his beloved  friend  ‘Krylie’  ( Cyril Hartmann) culled from the Tredegar House Archive. In addition  are Evan’s letters to the composer Cecil Gray and to literary giants George Bernard Shaw and  G K Chesterton from the British Library Manuscripts Department, published for the first time in ninety years. The letters reveal a surprisingly whimsical, witty, whilst occasionally warped side to Evan thoughts, relationships and deeds.

In addition  the compilation combines a broad base of  prose articles by Evan contributed to  magazines and newspapers offering his own personal memoir of time spent  in Algiers ( 1918); Paris ( 1919); Rome ( for the visit to the Pope at the  Vatican of  King George V and Queen Mary in 1923); and his view of Limehouse as its prospective Member of Parliament in 1929.  Evan’s vision on Catholic matters  is confronted in a serious article, but there is a lighter note  with a lyrical piece about how the Victorians are remembered. The sizable collection of quotations about  Evan will amuse and provoke.

Evan, Lord Tredegar : Further Letters and Prose Pieces: With Anecdotes About Evan  978-1905914388 Book Midden Publishing ( 2016)

Among the letters included are those to the Welsh artist Augustus John, to The Archbishop of Cardiff, Francis Mostyn and to Marie Stopes who was involved with Evan and others in the campaign to try to secure a pension for Lord ' Bosie' Douglas. Other nuggets include two odd-ball letters featuring Evan from Aldous Huxley - his friend from the tragically insecure days spent at Lady Ottoline Morrell's Garsington Manor during the Great War. Here too are the letters from Evan to Frances Stevenson, David Lloyd George's private secretary and mistress; Frances later dubbed Evan " a hopeless liar and thoroughly degenerate". The new prose pieces include Evan's essay on " Youth", his personal views of what men and women of the 1920s would have made the ideal Prime Minister's inner Cabinet, and a curiously vain piece about " This Age of Vulgarity" as well as an equally heady essay entitled " I Believe in the Roman Catholic Church".

These books  are rare,  limited numbers,   the results of  Will Cross’s ten years of research. The work  fills a gap as very little of Evan’s written words ( except his poems and verse) are  readily available  in the public domain.

Copies can be obtained direct from William Cross at 58, Sutton Road, Newport, NP19 7JF.  Cheques/ POs payable to “ William Cross”.   Cost is £7.00 per title plus £2.25 post and packing. If you buy both titles the postage is free. The books are also available on AMAZON.