BOOKS FROM WILLIAM CROSS, FSA SCOT

 

Author and Lecturer William Cross, FSA Scot

BOOKS FROM WILLIAM CROSS, FSA SCOT 

OF NEWPORT, SOUTH WALES,  UK

  

WILLIAM CROSS, FSA SCOT

 

BOOKS BY WILLIAM CROSS, FSA Scot

·                     The Life and Secrets of Almina Carnarvon. Book Midden Publishing ISBN 9781905914081. 2011.

·                    The Dustbin Case : Dennistoun v Dennistoun. Book Midden Publishing ISBN 9781905914043 .2012.

·                    Lordy! Tutankhamun's Patron As A Young Man. Book Midden Publishing ISBN 9781905914050 2012.

·                    A Beautiful Nuisance : The Life and Death of the Hon. Gwyneth Ericka Morgan by Monty Dart and William Cross. Book Midden Publiishing ISBN 9781905914104 2012.

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

·                     Not Behind Lace Curtains: The Hidden World Of Evan, Viscount Tredegar. Book Midden Publishing ISBN9781905914210: 2013.

·                    Catherine and Tilly: Porchey Carnarvon's Two Duped Wives . Book Midden Publishing ISBN 9781905914258 : 2013.

·                     Tilly Losch Schlagobers Sweet Fragments From Her Life . Book Midden Publishing ISBN 9781905914272 : 2014.

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

·                     The Abergavenny Witch Hunt of 1942. Book Midden Publishing ISBN 978190514227 :2014.

·                     Lois Sturt, Wild Child. A Glance at Hon. Lois Ina Sturt, Viscountess Tredegar Book Midden Publishing ISBN 978190514319: 2014.

·                     Evan, Lord Tredegar, Selected Letters, Prose and Quotations. The Mystic Muse of Evan Frederic Morgan. . Book Midden Publishing ISBN 9781905914333 : 2015.

·                     The Engagement Diaries of Hon. Lois Sturt, 1919-1924 Book Midden Publishing ISBN 9781905914340 : 2015. ( 2016).

·                     Carnarvon, Carter and Tutunkhamun Revisted. The hidden truths and doomed relationships. Book Midden Publishing ISBN 9781905914364 . 2016. ( Release date November, 2016).

·                     Sketches of Evan, Viscount Tredegar 'Lord of the Lies' As seen by friends, foes and lovers. Book Midden Publishing ISBN 9781905914463 . 2017.

·                    Myths About The Morgans of Tredegar House, Newport, South Wales. Busting the History Fraudsters Book Midden Publishing ISBN 9781905914425 . 2018.

·                    An album of sexually explicit verses and jokes. From the Collection of Lois Ina Sturt and Reggie Pembroke Book Midden Publishing ISBN 9781905914401 . 2018.

·                     The Morgans of Tredegar House. Great War Roll of Honour: The Hoare, Lindsay and Mundy Great Grandsons of the First Lord and Lady Tredegar Who Died During the 1914-1918 War Book Midden Publishing ISBN 9781905914487 2018.

·                     Prince Victor Duleep Singh & the Curse of the Carnarvons Book Midden Publishing ISBN 9781905914357 2019.

·                     Tredegar House Weekend Parties, Frolics and Fun Book Midden Publishing ISBN 9781905914531 2019.

·                     Footprints on the Sands of Time. A glance at Welsh born photographer Angus McBean Book Midden Publishing ISBN 9781905914579 2020.

·                    More Sketches of Evan, Viscount Tredegar: 'Lord of the Lies' Book Midden Publishing ISBN 9781905914470 2020.

·                     Beechwood A Story of Childhood Book Midden Publishing [ ISBN 9781905914173 ]] 2021.

·                    The Moles of Intriguer House, Bassaleg Fields, South Wales  Book Midden Publishing [ ISBN 9781905914708 ]] 2021.

·                     Tails of Phoebe and Mags Worthington of The Mews, Belgravia. Short Stories With Two Darn Cats Book Midden Publishing ISBN 978-1905914593 2021.

·                     More on Prince Victor Duleep Singh & the Curse of the Carnarvons : The Final Twists Book Midden Publishing ISBN 9781905914739 2022.

·                    Lies, Damned Lies and the Carnarvons Book Midden Publishing ISBN 9781905914777 2022.

·                    More Tails of Phoebe and Mags Worthington of The Mews, Belgravia. Short Stories With Two Darn Cats Book Midden Publishing ISBN 978-1905914784 2022.

·                    Lady Winifred Burghclere and Her Troublesome Daughters. Book Midden Publishing ISBN 978-1905914418    Released  2022.

·                     Highclere Insider-David Sox : The Man Who Knew Too Much Book Midden Publishing [ ISBN 9781905914746] ( Release date late 2023.)

·                    Rosemary and Alastair : Everything is More Beautiful Because We're Doomed. Book Midden Publishing ISBN 9781905914289. 2017. ( Release date 2024).

 

ENQUIRIES

PLEASE EMAIL WILLIAM CROSS

williecross@aol.com

 

 Writing Partners William Cross and Monty Dart at the grave of Hon. Gwyneth Morgan at St Basil's Churchyard, Bassaleg near Newport,. South Wales.

Co- Authors of   "A Beautiful Nuisance : The Life and Death of Honourable Gwyneth Ericka Morgan"  (2012) and "Aspects of Evan" ( 2013)  - with a transcript of the Court Martial of Evan, Viscount Tredegar for offences against the Official Secrets Acts in WW2.   

 ENQUIRIES

PLEASE EMAIL WILLIAM CROSS

williecross@aol.com

Monty Dart, William Cross and Mary Anstey

Performing in an Arts Festival 

NEWPORT :  SOUTH WALES

The Moles of Intriguer House, Bassaleg Fields, Newport, South Wales

                           

The Moles of Intriguer House,

Bassaleg Fields, South Wales

In the book “The Flower Beneath the Foot” ( from 1922), the fantasy writer Ronald Firbank ( whose family for generations made a home in Newport, South Wales ) first parodied the local squires, the Morgans of Tredegar House, as the “Intriguers of Intriguer House”.

Now, meet the Moles of Intriguer House : a carnivorous collection of poor-sighted creatures who’ve masqueraded for centuries as ‘top dogs” (well, top moles) with dominion over the other creatures who made their home in Bassaleg Fields and Intriguer Park.

These Moles have burrowed above & below the lush grasses adjoining Intriguer House the ancient home for 500 years of Lord & Lady Intriguer. And these little beasts have endured all kinds of turmoil right across the world in parallel lives with their human counterparts, and have survived the passage of time and the changes in modern Society.

The book contains many short profiles of the Moles, very loosely drawn on some real life characters in the infamous Morgan family and recalled to life by William Cross, author of many books on the Lords and Ladies Tredegar and the Morgans.

In what William Cross calls “ a fictitious flirt” he offers up some delicious, devious cameos, with a dastardly blend of history, tragedy and comedy and puts the lives of the Moles of Intriguer House under the spotlight in some skilful takes, making deliberate stabs at hypocrisy, Morgan myths and at those tasked to keep the Morgan story alive but who seem far from capable of fulfilling the task.

ISBN 10 1905914709 ISBN 13 9781905914708
Published by William P. Cross
Book Midden Publishing
58 Sutton Road
Newport Gwent NP19 7JF, United Kingdom
CONTACT WILLIAM CROSS
BY EMAIL
williecross@aol.com

Tredegar House - Newport Visitor Attendance : 2012-2020

Tredegar House Visitor Attendance and The National Trust

 Under the Freedom of Information Act, Newport Council has revealed  attendance figures at Tredegar House for the past 7 years.

 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

The Trust began well but failed to pursue an agenda with successful attractions to secure increased  public support. There is a repeated failure to capture increases to attendance in ANY of the last 3 years compared with the best year, 4 years ago.

 The rot was there before the pandemic which saw the House close. 

 The Lease Agreement  of the Council and Trust ( £10m payable between 2012 and 2062) provided  for the sum of £150,000 per annum to be paid to the Trust as long as visitor numbers at Tredegar House fell below 120,000 per annum, to run to 2025.

 Since it was unlikely the 120,000 visitor target would ever be reached the Council and Trust subsequently agreed a settlement of £750k, cashed by the Trust 9 April 2020, to end the Lease commitment. 

 A  pay-out  when Newport was locked down & facing life-death issues that continue. How does Newport benefit from this?

 Freedom of Information  REQ08381 REQ08448 REQ08496 refer.

 More Sketches of Evan, Viscount Tredegar

Lord of the Lies

As seen by friends, foes and lovers

A NEW BOOK FROM WILLIAM CROSS, FSA Scot

INFORMATION RELEASE : NEW BOOK

 

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

As seen by friends, foes and lovers ”

 

Book Midden Publishing  : ISBN 9781905914470

 

·        A new book about Evan Morgan, the last Viscount Tredegar was  published on 9  November 2020.

 

·        The book is from  Newport  writer  William Cross,  Evan Morgan’s  biographer, and author of 8 other books featuring the notably eccentric Welsh peer.

 

·        The book  is a compilation of  reminiscences of how  the last Viscount Tredegar is recalled by friends, foes and lovers.

 

Some points to note about the Book :

 

·        Veteran Newport historian Jim Dyer  provides a nostalgic introduction. 

 

·        There is an article  entitled  “The Worst of Times” highlighting how COVID 19 has closed Tredegar House but  that the National Trust  were staring at failure on visitor attendances before and during the  March 2020 pandemic lockdown.

 

The  article “The Worst of Times” (by William Cross) highlights :

 

·        A ‘Freedom of Information Enquiry’ (FOI)  under the Freedom of Information Act, to Newport Council  that  gives details of  visitor attendance figures at Tredegar House for the past 7 years and other information.  REQ08381 REQ08448 REQ08496 refers.

 

Other Aspects of the book:

 

·        Several important Morgan artefacts offered for public sale in the last few years, including some remarkable Chinese and Oriental items ( at Bonhams) once owned by Courtenay and Evan Morgan  have been lost to Newport, as  the National Trust  expressed no interest in acquiring them for the Tredegar House Collections. 

 

·        The score of personal  testimonies in the book includes John,  Duke of Bedford,  travel writer  Robin Bryans, journalist Cecil Roberts,  Irish Catholic author, Seymour  Leslie, Evan’s Carnegie cousins,  Writer Aldous Huxley, Zoologist, Julian Huxley,  Rafaelle, Duchess of Leinster ( a guest of Evan’s at Honeywood House, his last home, in Surrey), Charles Austin Sherman ( an American who stayed at Tredegar House as a young boy with his Dodge parents),  and the French bohemian writer/illustrator, Phillipe Jullian.

 

William Cross adds  “ This is the second in a series of books “ Lord of the Lies”  using  unpublished  or little known sources to aim to establish more accuracy, and  truth about Evan Morgan. Evan’s notoriety is misinterpreted, he continues to fascinate, but  too many fictitious tales linger about  his life and legacy.  

 

The  book  reveals how  others saw Evan Morgan. Now more than  70 years after Evan’s death readers have the chance to discover  what  his contemporaries actually had to  say about  him .”    

 

Cross adds “ The book is 100 pages long, with 134 End Notes and contains over  50 images, with several unusual  pictures of Evan Morgan’s life and times that have never been seen before”.

 

 

*  Further Enquiries about the book  etc  please contact

 

 William Cross

 

58 Sutton Newport, Newport, NP 19 7JF

 

Telephone : 01633 779731

[ Note e-mail preferred contact ]

 

FOR EDITORS

 

“More Sketches of  Evan, Viscount Tredegar ‘Lord of the Lies’  As  seen  by  friends, foes and  lovers” by William Cross, Book Midden Publishing  ( 2020)  ISBN 9781905914470

 

Copies of the book printed are for Legal Deposit and private circulation only.  

 

Printed Copies may be available in due course

Via Print on Demand terms ( 8-10 days for printing)

 

Enquiries please e-mail  williecross@aol.com

 

9 November 2020

 

ENDS

 

Review of the Book on Tredegar House Weekend Parties: 1934-1938 : Fun and Frolics

Review of the Book on "Tredegar House Weekend Parties Frolics and Fun" 

House  Guests 1934-1938" by William Cross, FSA Scot

A Monument of Depravity

Book review from  Michael Keyton  : Author of " The Gift"

I think the camera has been a great leveller. A case in point is the interwar years, the thirties especially. Whereas in earlier centuries anyone with money could accord great artists to immortalise them on canvas, the 1930’s saw kings and princes, politicians and minor nobility recorded by amateurs on camera.  They make for a great and evocative record, but it’s the working classes that really shine in this medium. The aristocracy come across as slightly sinister, wooden puppets with their grave expressions, plus fours and tweeds—the women especially, many of them dour and looking like elderly men in drag.

This why Will Cross’s latest book  is such a joy to read for any obsessed with this period.

The cover has a childlike simplicity. It hides, though, a myriad of sins. The book is awash with vintage photographs of the great and the good, pictures that force the eye to linger—especially with the waspish comments that accompany them, which is partly the value of the book.

How many of us have cardboard boxes filled with old black and whites of long dead relatives about whom we know nothing? Will Cross breathes life into these pictures. In some cases, unless you have a strong stomach, you almost wish he hadn’t.

In its heyday, the interwar years, the country house weekend was a ritual of frivolity and class privilege in a grey and socially deprived world. Looking back it brings to mind the butterfly as winter approaches—in this case world war, death duties and a working class with expanding horizons. By examining the notorious parties of Tredegar House, Will Cross has focused on a small but fascinating niche in local history.

The death of Courtney Morgan, Evan Morgan leapt from his father’s oppressive shadow into a world of sunshine and excess, and in doing so helped bankrupt an ancient and vastly wealthy estate. His house parties were legendary, attracting Russian princesses, Greek royalty, and . . . H G Wells, lecherous and unashamedly parasitic. Guests mingled amongst rent boys and spies—which makes for wonderful gossip—and there is plenty of that in the book.

What gives this slim volume its heft is the meticulous research gleaned from what records there are of actual guests, their names and significance and, most importantly, when they attended. It’s a historical record, meaningless to many, but fascinating to the historian.

Amongst the names that crop up were two I found of particular interest: Evan Morgan’s factotum, Captain Henry (Harry) Ware, and the Marchesa Luisa Casati.

If I were to rewrite ‘The Gift’ I’d incorporate Captain Ware as the satanic familiar acceding to his master’s lubricious desires—for a price. Ware was Evan Morgan’s procurer-in-chief, haunting docksides and pubs for rent-boys that his master went through like  tissues Evan Morgan’s infatuations were brutally brief, usually ending with cash or a present and a warning to disappear—or else. And with Captain Ware the warning was real. Several disappeared never to be seen again.

Of another guest the Marchesa Luisa Casati, who was neither dour or dowdy. The Marchesa brought much more joy to the world—unless you shared Evan Morgan’s proclivities. She gate-crashed several of his house parties, and as one prone to ‘parading with a pair of leashed cheetahs and wearing live snakes as jewellery,’ she invariably made her presence known.. Not for the prudish perhaps, one contemporary referring to her as ‘that international monument of depravity.’ 

Rent boys or an ‘international monument of depravity’ A choice I’ve yet to encounter and perhaps never will—certainly not in Tredegar House, currently owned by the National Trust.

MICHAEL KEYTON

Enquires about the book, please e-mail the Author William Cross

williecross@aol.com

" Oh, my dear, after being at Evan Morgan's Weekend Party our names will just  be mud, mud, mud"

“ TREDEGAR HOUSE :WEEKEND PARTIES, FROLICS AND FUN” : EVAN MORGAN’S HOUSE GUESTS 1934-1938

“ TREDEGAR HOUSE :WEEKEND PARTIES, FROLICS AND FUN” :  EVAN MORGAN’S HOUSE GUESTS 1934-1938

 From William Cross, FSA Scot

In the years 1934 - 1949 Evan Morgan Viscount Tredegar held court at his Welsh mansion, Tredegar House, an impressive 17th century red brick building set in 100 acres of parkland near Newport. Invitations to Evan's country house weekends were highly prized. But how many house guests passed through the gates of Tredegar House in the Evan years? Who actually stayed there and when? What of the legends of Evan's séances, outrageous parlour game of charades, riotous drinking and orgies to compare with Caligula's Rome? What is the truth, and what are the myths about these crazy weekends? In this book William Cross, author of previous Morgan books reveals the identity of the scores of people who were Evan's guests. Here are the good, bad and the downright disgraceful whom Evan brought together under one roof. The historical icons of the era, male prostitutes, spivs, spies, and traitors as well as a sizable collection of stage and literary figures, politicians, Catholic luminaries and Evan's relatives including his Royal cousins. Evan was a generous host, an excessive party giver, a man whose wealth in theory could support his foibles for pleasure seeking, for indulging in a complex homosexual life style, having footmen wear powdered wigs, and running a large zoo in the Estate grounds comprising wild and exotic birds and animals. But beneath the surface of fun, folly and farce it was a dynasty in decay, the Morgan coffers were crumbling fast under the burden of death duties, heavy taxation and the changing attitude in Society to service and employment on the landed estates. Evan was also a sick man crippled with poor health, moreover he ploughed a dangerous furrow especially during the war years and was subject to surveillance from on high.”

Essential reading for those interested in Newport’s most famous family and their history  and those who want to know the truth about Evan’s hospitality and who he invited to stay under his 500 year old roof during his early years as the lord of the Manor.

The book is 150 pages long, over 55,000 words with over 400 End Notes. The main text  contains  over  100 images. There is also a  directory of over 300 guests whom Evan entertained, with biographical details, and dates when they visited Tredegar House,  some entries have photographs ”. Enquiries William Cross 58 Sutton Newport, Newport, NP 19 7JF  e-mail  williecross@aol.com

“Evan Morgan, Lord Tredegar's House Guests 1934-1938. “  Compiled by  William Cross. ISBN 9781905914531.  ( 2019) Copies of the book can be obtained direct from the Author.  Also on Amazon/ e-bay. The book will shortly revert to Print on Demand

https://lord-carnarvon.blogspot.com/2019/09/tredegar-house-weekend-parties-frolics.html

William Cross, FSA Scot is the author /co-author of several books on the Morgans of Tredegar House, Newport

An illustrated  talk is available from Will Cross about the book

Notorious House Parties at Tredegar House: 1934-1938

Tredegar House : Weekend Parties, Frolics and Fun

 Evan Morgan, Lord Tredegar's

House Guests  1934-1938 

A NEW BOOK FROM WILLIAM CROSS

In its heyday of the 1920s and 1930s the country house weekend house party was an example in Britain of the 20^th century oozing class and propping up the flagging class structure. It was a ritual full of  frivolity.   Often, as in the case of South Wales, there were hundreds of families within a stone’s throw of the large mansions houses (like Tredegar House) who were struggling in poverty. [i] Two different worlds in the same town.

Evan  Morgan, the Lord of the Manor at  Tredegar  House, Newport  was one of  those who  staged  these large, lavish and lazy  weekend parties, whilst in the nearby hamlets of  Pill and Duffryn the unemployed tried to make ends meet.  In history,  the era was dubbed  “The Marching Thirties”.    

Evan’s parties are a  legend,  a  part of  the Evan - legacy  between 1934 and 1949  when he reigned supreme  as  the  last  Viscount  Tredegar .

In this book Newport Historian William Cross reveals the hundreds of people who were guests of Evan Morgan, Viscount Tredegar.

The book is available direct from the Author and on E-BAY and AMAZON.

CONTACT THE AUTHOR BY E-MAIL

williecross@aol.com

An illustrated talk is available on the book.

  

---

[i] A good example of this comes from Christmas 1934  when  a concert was staged at the Olympia Cinema in Skinner Street , Newport on behalf of the Mayor of Newport’s Distress Fund for the poor in the town.