Courtenay Morgan, 1st Viscount Tredegar

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

Sir Courtenay Charles Evan Morgan 1st Viscount Tredegar
Born	10 April 1867
Died	10 May 1935 (aged 68)
Nationality	Welsh
Children	Evan Morgan, 2nd Viscount Tredegar (son) Gwyneth Ericka Morgan (daughter)

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 1896-98 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] 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.[9]

In 1926 the viscountcy was revived when he was created Viscount Tredegar, of Tredegar in the County of Monmouth.[10] He is not recorded as having spoken in the House of Lords.[11] In 1933 he was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Monmouthshire,[12] a post he held until his death the following year.[13]

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. Hon. Gwyneth Ericka Morgan, the only daughter of Courtenay and Katharine died in mysterious circumstances following her disappearance in 1924.

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 (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. "Courtenay Morgan". Fortuen City. Archived from the original on 11 March 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
10. "No. 33190". The London Gazette. 10 August 1926. p. 5288.
11. Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Mr Courtenay Morgan
12. "No. 34002". The London Gazette. 5 December 1933. p. 7861.
13. "No. 34057". The London Gazette. 5 June 1934. p. 3575.

Further Information

• Aspects of Evan : The Last Viscount Tredegar by Monty Dart and William Cross. ISBN 9781905914159 (2012)
• A Beautiful Nuisance : The Life and Death of the Hon. Gwyneth Ericka Morgan by Monty Dart and William Cross. ISBN 9781905914104. ( 2012)
• Not Behind Lace Curtains : The Hidden World of Evan, Viscount Tredegar by William Cross. ISBN 978-1-905914-21-0 (2013)
• Evan Frederic Morgan: Viscount Tredegar The Final Affairs: Financial and Carnal by William Cross. ISBN 978-1-905914-23-4 (2014)
• Evan Frederic. Evan, Lord Tredegar, Selected Letters, Prose and Quotations. The Mystic Muse of Evan Frederic Morgan by William Cross. Book Midden Publishing ISBN 9781905914333 : (2015).
• Lois Sturt, Wild Child. A Glance at Hon. Lois Ina Sturt, Viscountess Tredegar by William Cross. ISBN 9781905914319. (2014). Revamped 2015.