Courtenay Morgan, 1st Viscount Tredegar

Courtenay Charles Evan Morgan, 1st Viscount Tredegar, CBE, KStJ, VD (10 April 1867 – 3 May 1934), was a Welsh peer.

Courtenay Charles Evan Morgan

1st Viscount Tredegar
Born(1867-04-10)10 April 1867
Died10 May 1935(1935-05-10) (aged 68)
NationalityWelsh
Spouse
Lady Katharine Carnegie
​
​
(m. 1890)​
ChildrenEvan Morgan, 2nd Viscount Tredegar (son)
Gwyneth Ericka Morgan (daughter)
Parent

Morgan was born at Ruperra Castle near Newport, Monmouthshire, and educated at Eton College.[1] He was the eldest son of the Honourable Frederick Courtenay Morgan, of Ruperra Castle, third son of Charles Morgan, 1st Baron Tredegar. His mother was Charlotte Anne, daughter of Charles Alexander Williamson, of Lawers, Perthshire. He succeeded his uncle Godfrey Morgan, 1st Viscount Tredegar, as third Baron Tredegar in 1913.[2]

Tredegar was appointed a captain in the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers on 30 December 1891, and was later promoted an honorary major. In early 1900 he was Aide-de-camp to Sir Thomas Fraser, Commandant Royal School of Military Engineering at Chatham and Commanding the Thames District.[3]

Tredegar was a minor cricketer who played at county level for Shropshire between 1896 and 1898 while playing at club level for Ludlow.[4]

In the 1906 General Election he unsuccessfully stood as Conservative candidate for South Monmouthshire, losing the seat to the Liberals in a national landslide for that party.

General Election 1906: South Monmouthshire [5][6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Ivor Herbert 7,503 54.7 N/A
Conservative Courtenay Morgan 6,216 45.3 N/A
Majority 1,287 9.4 N/A
Turnout 13,719 86.5 N/A
Registered electors 15,858
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing N/A

One of Lord Tredegar's first acts after his succession was to purchase the steam yacht Liberty,[7] which almost immediately was requisitioned by the Royal Navy for use as a hospital ship. He left his home and went back to serve in the First World War, taking command of his yacht for the first part of the war.[8] He was granted the temporary rank of lieutenant in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve,[9] soon promoted to temporary commander.[10] After the end of hostilities, he embarked on a world cruise, eventually going around the world twice during which he visited every colony in the British Empire and every state in the Commonwealth of Australia.[11]

Tredegar was promoted to captain in the RNVR in 1921[12] and appointed a naval aide-de-camp to the King in 1925,[13] but was placed on the retired list in 1926.[14] In 1926 the viscountcy was revived when he was created Viscount Tredegar, of Tredegar in the County of Monmouth.[15] He is not recorded as having spoken in the House of Lords.[16] In 1933 he was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Monmouthshire,[17] a post he held until his death the following year.[18]

Lord Tredegar married Lady Katharine Agnes Blanche, daughter of James Carnegie, 9th Earl of Southesk, in 1890. He died in May 1934, aged 67, at the Ritz Hotel in Westminster, London after his return from a health trip to Australia.[2] He was succeeded in the viscountcy and ownership of Tredegar House by his eccentric and bohemian son, Evan Morgan, 2nd Viscount Tredegar.

Katharine, Viscountess Tredegar died in London in 1949, only a few months after her son Evan. The Hon. Gwyneth Ericka Morgan, only daughter of Courtenay and Katharine, died in mysterious circumstances. She went missing in December 1924 and is thought to have died then: her body was found floating in the Thames in May 1925. She is believed to have overdosed in a Limehouse opium den, whose proprietors then dumped her body.[19]

References
  1. Percival, Tony (1999). Shropshire Cricketers 1844-1998. A.C.S. Publications, Nottingham. p. 21. ISBN 1-902171-17-9.Published under Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians.
  2. thepeerage.com Courtenay Charles Evan Morgan, 1st Viscount Tredegar
  3. "The War – The Imperial Yeomanry". The Times. No. 36058. London. 6 February 1900. p. 11.
  4. Shropshire Cricketers 1844-1998, pages 21, 48.
  5. The Liberal Year Book, 1907
  6. Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 9781349022984.
  7. "Lord Tredegar's Yacht 'Liberty' during the South Lock Extension opening ceremony, 14th July 1914". Newport Harbour Commissioners. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
  8. "HMNS Liberty". Roll of Honour. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
  9. "No. 28870". The London Gazette. 14 August 1914. p. 6395.
  10. "No. 29015". The London Gazette. 22 December 1914. p. 10919.
  11. "Courtenay Morgan". Fortuen City. Archived from the original on 11 March 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
  12. "No. 32356". The London Gazette. 14 June 1921. p. 4737.
  13. "No. 33068". The London Gazette. 21 July 1925. p. 4866.
  14. "No. 33207". The London Gazette. 1 October 1926. p. 6294.
  15. "No. 33190". The London Gazette. 10 August 1926. p. 5288.
  16. Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Mr Courtenay Morgan
  17. "No. 34002". The London Gazette. 5 December 1933. p. 7861.
  18. "No. 34057". The London Gazette. 5 June 1934. p. 3575.
  19. Channon, Henry “Henry ‘Chips’ Channon: The Diaries (Volume 3): 1943-57” Online reference


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