Charles   Rodney   Morgan

1828-1854


Tredegar  House  Heir

Charles Rodney Morgan was the first born child and eldest son of Charles  Morgan Robinson Morgan ( or Gould) and  Rosamond Mundy.  He was heir after his father of  the Morgan family titles  going back to the baronetcy given to   his  great  grandfather,   Charles Gould, later Morgan,   in 1792.   The Morgans were wealthy landowners in  South Wales, an  ancient family descended from Welsh  Princes, an important political family of  several  Welsh Members of Parliament.  They  were also   a family who wisely  invested in the railways and docks and  made improvement in land use and in  the rearing and in the showing  of cattle and other livestock. The family  seat  was  Tredegar House in Newport, South Wales, which was also surrounded by  Tredegar Park, which had  a deer park,  a Home Farm and  large  lake. At the time of the birth of Charles Rodney Morgan in 1828, his grandfather, Sir Charles Morgan  was the head of the Morgan family.  The heir to the Morgan titles and land lived at  Ruperra Castle, a few mile from Newport.  A picture of Ruperra Castle  can be seen below. 

Ruperra Castle : Home of the Heir to Tredegar

Charles Rodney Morgan :  1828-1854
The  heir apparent  of Tredegar House, Newport
A new book from
William  Cross FSA Scot

 

 More  About

Charles Rodney Morgan

  • Born  1828  on  2  December  at  Tredegar House, Newport 
  • Died  1854  on  14 January   aged 25
  • Heir to the House of Tredegar, he came of age to glorious celebrations in Newport and surrounds, in 1849
  • He  was at Eton,  in the Coldstream Guards, and later became MP for Brecon
  • Led a bohemian and  dangerous lifestyle in London and in France
Father : Sir Charles Morgan Robinson Morgan
Mother : Rosamond Mundy
NEW BOOK DETAILS
Charles Rodney Morgan :  1828-1854
The heir apparent of Tredegar House, Newport : By William Cross, FSA Scot

Charles Rodney Morgan ( 1828-1854)  was  the first born son  of  the wealthy Charles  Morgan Robinson Morgan and  Rosamond Mundy   later  Lord and Lady Tredegar of Tredegar House, Newport, South Wales. 

A foppish,  romantic  figure,  described as “diminutive and of delicate features” he was a popular  huntsman and heir to the Morgan family titles.  In  1849  his coming of age was marked with wide spread celebrations in Newport and surrounds, huge bonfires were lit for miles around. He had everything to live for and become the next Sir Charles Morgan, a landowner of thousands of acres and numerous property interests.                       

Educated at Eton,  Charles saw  service as an officer  in the Coldstream Guards,  later he was elected  Member of  Parliament for  Brecon.  Then scandal and tragedy struck.  Charles had a  taste for the bohemian life and chose bad company in the underbelly of London Society.  At the age of just 25 he died  in Marseilles,  France in 1854 after contracting a debilitating  disease.

Charles’  brother Godfrey was at his sibling’s bed side to offer hope and comfort. It was soon afterwards that Godfrey famously went out to the Crimea to fight for his  Queen and country and return a hero of Balaclava, and  the Morgan  heir.

This is a touching  story of ‘what might have been’ of how Charles Morgan’s first choice of a wife  was dismissed by his parents, how he fell under the spell of a French woman, who bore him a son,  slipped fast into debauchery and  under pressure from creditors  and his angry parents fled in disgrace abroad.    

ISBN 13 978-1-905914-50-0

Published by William P. Cross Book Midden Publishing

58 Sutton Road Newport Gwent, NP19 7JF,   United Kingdom

 Publication Date : 2 December 2019

 

The above pictures show Charles Rodney Morgan's parents in later life as the first  Lord and Lady Tredegar, from 1859.  


Tredegar  House, Newport,

South Wales

The  seat  of  the  Morgan  family

 

 

The above memorial to Charles Rodney Morgan is at St Basil's Church, Bassaleg, near Newport, close to  the site of the old Morgan family vault
The Morgans were re-buried outside the Church in a new grave in 1918 
Contact the Author William Cross FSA Scot
williecross@aol.com

© Copyright Charles Rodney Morgan