The Morgans of Tredegar House : Newport South Wales

  Gwyneth Morgan's Kinfolk Grandpa Freddie’s London Town House was in historic Portman Square, London   Gwyneth Morgan came into the world at her Morgan grandfather’s London town house at No 39 Portman Square, London.  He was Tory MP, Colonel Hon. Frederic Courtenay Morgan, known as Freddie or often Fred. He was heir to the Barony of Tredegar, according to Vanity Fair of 1893 a man with “a beautiful moustache”.  Caricatures of Freddie in the magazines like Vanity Fair show him to be the very model of the Victorian gentleman, a dandy dresser, supporting a large set of whiskers and often the most “extraordinary” bow ties. Freddie was a widower, his  Scottish wife, Charlotte Williamson, had died in 1891, the year after Courtenay and Katharine were married.  William Cross, FSA Scot Culled from the early drafts of  the book on Gwyneth :  “A Beautiful Nuisance”: The Life and Death of Hon. Gwyneth Erika Morgan:  by Monty Dart and William Cro...

  Gwyneth Ericka Morgan's Chaotic Start In Life   Gwyneth's Parents  Lady  Katharine Carnegie and Captain Courtenay Morgan  when they married in 1890   at Kinnaird Castle, Brechin, Angus The only clue on record about the exact nature of Gwyneth Morgan's birth is a remark by the literary critic Alan Pryce-Jones (1908-2000) in his autobiography The Bonus of Laughter.    Pryce-Jones, a boyhood friend of Evan Morgan ( Gwyneth's brother), said Gwyneth had  “ a chaotic start in life” suggesting initial problems either at birth or during her early years. It may have been that she was not expected to live, or was born premature. In 1895, childbirth was a risky business; infant mortality was high, irrespective of the family’s social class.  As the Morgan roots were steeped in Welsh history Gwyneth was an appropriate name.  Katherine was a Carnegie from Angus; in 1895 this Scottish County in North Britain was known as Forfarshire. At...

  The Birth of Gwyneth Ericka Morgan  Of Tredegar House, Newport   Gwyneth’s Birth “ the icy fang and churlish chiding of the winter’s wind” Shakespeare   The story opens on Saturday, 5 January, 1895.   As Lady Katharine Morgan fell in and out of birth-pains at No. 39, Portman Square , Marylebone, London ,  across the English Channel in Paris another ordeal was being played out on the main parade ground of the Ecole Militaire .  French Army officer, Alfred Dreyfus, was being publically stripped of his rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil’s Island . Queen Victoria was 75 years old and had already reigned  for 57 years. Her son Bertie, the Prince of Wales, (who later became King Edward VII) was within earshot of Katharine’s cries. He was at No. 15, Portman Square enjoying lunch with his daughter, Louise, the Princess Royal and his son in law, Alexander William George Duff, the Duke of Fife . London of the time still re...