Myths About The Morgans of Tredegar House
FAKE NEWS
Introduction to new book with Footnotes
"Myths About The Morgans of Tredegar House, Newport, South Wales: Busting the History Fraudsters"
By William Cross, FSA Scot
Fake news is the
scourge of today’s Society.
As a
researcher into the
Morgans of Tredegar House, Newport, South Wales,
and the Author of seven books on
members of that family, I am concerned over fake news, myths,
and bad history about them in the
public domain.
For instance, in 2017
several articles in a local Welsh
newspaper were riddled with inaccuracies about Lady Katharine Carnegie, Viscountess Tredegar
(1867-1949) and John Morgan, last Lord Tredegar (1908-1962). [1]
The newspaper trail in time past also carries fake news. [2]
During 2016,
a film was
shown to visitors at Tredegar House
about a ‘black box’ of secrets
belonging to Evan Morgan, the last Viscount Tredegar. The claim in
the film was that private
documents about or written by Evan, who
died in 1949, had come to light since his death. The assertion continued
that since these items could not be traced elsewhere they must have come from
the mysterious ‘black box’ it is said that Evan left behind.
The film featured
a group of students engaged in a foolish treasure hunt, apparently using
geophysical scanners in the grounds of Tredegar House to try to locate the
‘black box’ buried there. The film ends with nothing being found. The equipment was as phoney as the film; the
consequence was the creation of fake news. [3]
It is for those charged as custodians in preserving the accuracy and integrity of the Morgan family’s legacy (currently, The National
Trust) on behalf of
Newport (as the City owns Tredegar House), to identify and expunge such trite as the above, treated as true history, besides, which, those who guard Morgan history should not be
seen facilitating the erosion and falsifying of that
history. [4]
It is equally paramount to prevent other erroneous
tales being imparted
to the general
public visiting Tredegar House and through
wild
stories appearing in articles, newspapers or books that could
be prevented with monitoring and influence over those responsible. [5]
In the exploits of the Morgans no single
person or
body holds all the
information in every
detail about their rich, chequered lives, their
loves, hates, achievements, successes and failures in their history. [6]
There is always
room for more academic study and other research, for liaison, frank discussion,
argument, differing opinion etc, and lessons from revisiting the family’s vast
array of records and re-appraising the historical interpretations about the
Morgans, but a story that is contrived or distorted is fake
news. Allowing the outpouring
of fake news is reprehensible.
In this short book
the
aim is to
point out some of
the myths and stories secreted over the years into books, web sites and articles
or from those personally heard on public tours at Tredegar House. I offer, in good faith, information
(and sources) to support the
Morgan family’s history in order to bust the
mockery and deceptions
created by myths and fake news.
I would be pleased
to receive any comments/ information/
documents/stories etc from readers
about any of the items in the book on the Morgans or their collaterals that may be suitable for inclusion in a follow-up edition. I would also be happy to correct my errors.
William Cross, Newport South
Wales : 30 April 2018
[1] South Wales Argus: 16th
September 2017 : “The bizarre world of one of Newport 2017 : “The last Lord of
Tredegar, who avoided paying millions, sold Tredegar House and lived as a tax
exile in Monte Carlo South Wales Argus condemning these
articles. Contact the Author for more details, if required including the text
of letters/e-mails.
[2] See Newspaper ‘Wales 5 April 2013 . This carried an article on Evan Morgan,
Viscount Tredegar (1893-1949) headed “The spying Welsh Lord, his occult
secrets, and the dancing kangaroo. A new
book about the notorious Lord Tredegar Evan Morgan aims to tell his outrageous
story for the first time”. The book is
itself a myth, it has not appeared, and the article is full of errors and is
discredited by the research in the books “Aspects of Evan”and“Not Behind Lace
Curtains The hidden world of Evan, Viscount Tredegar” by Monty Dart and William
Cross. Book Midden Publishing. ( 2013).
[3] This matter was the
subject of a complaint by the Author to the National Trust at Tredegar House;
please contact the Author for further details, if required. A short digest of
events is as follows: Comments about the film were left in the feedback system
at Tredegar House but there with no response. The Author wrote to the General
Manager and copied the mail to the National Trust’s Area Manager saying the
film lacked integrity. A meeting followed. The General Manager spoke of having a
five year plan to obliterate myths and tall stories, with the appointment of a
“myth buster”. She left the job soon afterwards. The National Trust
subsequently removed the books written by the Author on the Morgans from the
gift shop for sale to the public. See
also Chapter 12 of this book on Evan’s last papers and documents with the
outcome of recent research on their whereabouts.
[4] See the
Author’s introduction to his book “Sketches of Evan, Viscount Tredegar. ‘Lord
of the Lies’ ” ISBN 9781905914463. A copy of this piece “The Erosion of the
History of the Morgans of Tredegar House, Newport
[5] There seems to
be no policy, clearing system or prohibition for employees of the National
Trust giving interviews to the press or other third parties about the Morgans
of Tredegar House. See the Author’s book
reviews on Amazon, Good Reads and Google. The Author would be pleased to send
any reader a list of titles already in the public domain including several
sourced by guides and volunteers at Tredegar House with fake news, bad history or
bogus stories about the Morgans.
[6] Material on the
Morgans is scattered across various British Archives, the National Library of Wales Kew . Some records
are still in the hands of other archives and in private hands.
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