Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- c.1324-c.1960 / (Creation)
Level of description
Fonds
Extent and medium
16.5 cubic metres (902 loose volumes, 361 large boxes, 293 small boxes, 7 deed presentation boxes, 6 loose rolls, 4 loose bundles, 4 loose envelopes, 2 loose folders).
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
The Morgan family claimed descent from Bledri (d. 1120), the third son of Cadifor Fawr (d. 1089), lord of Cilsant, now in Carmarthenshire. Sixth in line of descent from Bledri was Llywelyn ab Ifor, lord of St Clears and Gwynfe, who married Angharad, daughter and heir of Sir Morgan ap Maredydd, and in her right acquired the estates of Tredegar and Cyfoeth Feredydd in what is now Monmouthshire. His son Morgan (d. 1375x1387) succeeded to Tredegar and St Clears, and Tredegar descended within the Morgan family for almost six centuries. The second son of Sir John Morgan ('Y marchog tew', d. c.1492) was Thomas, an esquire of the king's body (21 Hen. VII), and ancestor of the Morgan family of Machen, which later became the senior branch of the family.
In 1661 William Morgan (d. 1680) of Tredegar married as his first wife Blanche daughter of William Morgan of Dderw in Breconshire, by which marriage that estate came to the Morgan family of Tredegar. He also married (2nd) Elizabeth, widow of Sir Francis Dayrell (d. 1675) of Buckinghamshire, and daughter and coheir of Edward Lewis of the Van, Glamorgan.
The male line of the Morgan family of Tredegar failed with the death without issue of John Morgan (1742-1792), and he was succeeded by his eldest sister and coheir Jane, wife (m. 1758) of Sir Charles Gould (1726-1806). In 1792 Gould was created baronet and changed his surname to Morgan. His grandson Sir Charles Morgan Robinson Morgan (1792-1875), 3rd baronet, was created Baron Tredegar in 1859. His second, but eldest surviving, son Godfrey Charles Morgan (1830-1913), 2nd baron, was created Viscount Tredegar in 1905, but he died unmarried, when the viscouncy became extinct. The barony devolved on his nephew Courtenay Charles Evan Morgan (1867-1934), 3rd baron, the eldest son of Frederick Courtenay Morgan (1834-1909) of Ruperra Castle, the third son of the 1st baron. This 3rd baron was created Viscount Tredegar (2nd creation) in 1926, and was succeeded by his only son Evan Frederick Morgan (1893-1949), 2nd viscount. The viscouncy became extinct on his death, but the barony and baronetcy devolved on his uncle Frederick George Morgan (b. 1873), 5th baron and 7th baronet, the second son of Frederick Courtenay Morgan (1834-1909).
The 5th baron was succeeded by his only son (Frederick Charles) John Morgan (1908-1962), 6th baron, who died childless. The barony became extinct on his death.
Archival history
A memorandum signed by Octavius Morgan on 20 December 1852 which is accompanied by a schedule of 15-18 cent. deeds and papers states that the old 'Evidence Room' at Tredegar was emptied in 1850; that the records were compared with the schedule, notes made of papers of genealogical or Morgan family interest, and that 'many old papers of neither use nor interest were destroyed to lessen the bulk of those which it was necessary to preserve' and that papers missing or destroyed at that time were crossed out in red in the schedule. In 1852 a new fireproof 'Evidence Room' was completed, and the original drawers were arranged in it as nearly as could be to their former order, according to the reference in the schedule.
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
The bulk of the collection was deposited by John Morgan, 6th baron Tredegar, between 1949 and 1962, converting to a donation on his death in 1962 (see DWB 1941-1970, p. 184, col. b). Other groups of records were deposited or donated by the British Records Association between 1969 and 1981 (parcels 1537, 1606, 1706, 1697, 1736, 1897, 2094, 2133 and 2230). NLW purchased a small collection of material relating to the Morgan family of Tredegar, from D. MacCormick of Edinburgh in Nov. 1977.
For details of the successive deposits, donations and purchases see NLW Annual Reports 1949-50, pp. 43-5; 1958-59, pp. 59-65 (these two covering the main archive); 1969-70, p. 58; 1970-71, p. 38; 1975-76, p. 47; 1981-82, p. 58; 1982-83, p. 53; 1985-86, p. 63; 1986-87, p. 66 (these others covering the BRA parcels).
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Records of the Morgan family of Tredegar and Ruperra, later barons and viscounts Tredegar including deeds, 14th-20th cent. of the Tredegar, Ruperra, Dderw and Palleg estates in Monmouthshire, Glamorgan and Breconshire which document much of the growth of the towns of Newport and Cardiff in the 19th century; records of the lordship of Wentlloog (Newport) and many Monmouthshire manors, some 14-16 cent., but mainly 17-19 cent.; records of the manor of Brecon and of other manors in Breconshire, 17-19 cent. including the Great Forest of Brecon; records of industrial interests, mainly coal and iron in Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, 18-20 cent.; records of the Tredegar Wharf Company from 1807; and surveys, audit books, rentals, ledgers and leases for the Monmouthshire, Glamorgan and Breconshire portions of the Tredegar estate, 18-20 cent.; papers relating to Nova Scotia and Canada, 1730-1773, mainly of Richard Phillips, Governor of Nova Scotia, 1717-1749; and rentals and leases for the Mile End and Bow estates in London, 19-20 cent.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Action: All records deposited at NLW have been retained..
Accruals
Accruals are not expected.
System of arrangement
As a result of the archive being deposited at NLW in several tranches between the 1940s and the 1980s, and as a result of much of the archive being catalogued as it arrived rather than as a whole, the archive is now arranged into several groups, namely Tredegar MSS & Documents, Tredegar MSS & Records, Tredegar MSS, Tredegar BRA and Tredegar Estate Records. -- The Tredegar MSS & Docs, numbered 1-1508, are catalogued in 'A schedule of manuscripts and documents deposited by the honourable John Morgan, Tredegar Park', vol. 1 (1950). -- Tredegar MSS & Records, in boxes numbered 1-158, represent some of the estate solicitor or estate agent's original boxes or tin chests of papers. Being based on the estate's own filing system, many of the boxes bring together related material. Some of the original tin chests having been larger than modern archival boxes, some "boxes" extend over several boxes. Boxes 1-143 are listed in a nine-volume "Preliminary schedule of the Tredegar Park muniments" (c.1954-c.1959). Following volume one, they were later given the notional volume numbers 2-10. The last volume of the preliminary schedule also lists Tredegar MSS 1-464, a separate series of volumes. Volume 11 (1986) lists Tredegar MSS & Records, boxes 145-158. The box number 144 was apparently never used. Boxes 1-158 comprise most of the pre-1850 Tredegar material. -- Following on from Tredegar MSS 1-464, the bulk of 18-20 century rentals, ledgers, collection books and other estate administration volumes were numbered MSS 465-1257. These volumes were numbered, but never listed. -- Tredegar BRA represents small groups of records received through the British Records Association, mostly derived from Rider's, Tredegar's London solicitor. -- Tredegar Estate Records A, D, L, M and P comprise the mainly post-1850 material left uncatalogued by Tredegar MSS & Records boxes 1-158, plus most of Tredegar MSS 1-464 and all of MSS 465-1257, resorted and renumbered. As the Tredegar MSS references have been in use for many years, notes have been made of these numbers. Almost all the Tredegar MSS have now been dispersed.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Readers consulting modern papers in the National Library of Wales are required to abide by the conditions set out in information provided when applying for their Readers' Tickets, whereby the reader shall become responsible for compliance with the Data Protection Act 1998 in relation to any processing by them of personal data obtained from modern records held at the Library.
Conditions governing reproduction
Usual copyright laws apply.
Language of material
- English
- Latin
Script of material
Language and script notes
English, Latin.
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Further details relating to manorial records within the archive can be accessed on-line from the National Archives Manorial Documents Register at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/mdr/
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Publication note
Morgan, George Blacker, Collections towards historical and genealogical memoirs of the Morgan family as represented in the peerage of England by the Right Hon. the Lord Tredegar (London: privately printed, 1890); Jones, J. Gwynfor, Gradd, grym a gwehelyth teulu uchelwrol y Morganiaid o Dredegyr (Casnewydd: Pwyllgor Llen Eisteddfod Genedlaethol Casnewydd, 1988); Phillips, Roger, Tredegar: the history of an agricultural estate, 1300-1956 (Upton-upon-Severn: Self Publishing Association, 1990); Dowden, M. J., 'A disputed inheritance: the Tredegar estates in the eighteenth century', Welsh History Review, 16 (1992), pp. 36-46; Dowden, M. J., 'Land and industry: Sir Charles Morgan, Samuel Homfray and the Tredegar lease of 1800', National Library of Wales Journal, 28 (1993), pp. 23-37; Jones, J. Gwynfor, The Morgan family of Tredegar: its origins, growth and advancement, c.1340-1674 (Newport Local History Society, 1995).
Notes area
Note
Title supplied from contents of fonds.
Alternative identifier(s)
Virtua system control number
GEAC system control number
Access points
Subject access points
- Coal mines and mining -- Wales -- Glamorgan.
- Iron mines and mining -- Wales -- Glamorgan.
- Iron mines and mining -- Wales -- Monmouthshire.
- Coal mines and mining -- Wales -- Monmouthshire.
- Administration of estates -- Wales -- Glamorgan.
- Administration of estates -- Wales -- Monmouthshire.
- Administration of estates -- Wales -- Breconshire.
- Manors -- Wales -- Monmouthshire.
- Manors -- Wales -- Breconshire.
- Manorial courts -- Wales -- Monmouthshire.
- Manorial courts -- Wales -- Breconshire.
- Forests and forestry -- Wales -- Breconshire.
- Great Britain -- Colonies -- America.
- Great Forest of Brecon.
Place access points
Name access points
- Tredegar Estate (England and Wales) -- Archives. (Subject)
- Tredegar Wharf Company -- Records and correspondence. (Subject)
- Bow Estate (London, England) (Subject)
- Brecon (Wales: Manor) (Subject)
- Nova Scotia. Governor (1717-1749 : Phillips) (Subject)
- Dderw Estate (Breconshire, Wales) (Subject)
- Mile End Estate (London, England) (Subject)
- Palleg Estate (Breconshire) (Subject)
- Ruperra Estate (Wales) (Subject)
- Tredegar Estate (England and Wales) (Subject)
- Phillips, Richard ca.1661-1750 (Subject)
- Morgan family, Barons Tredegar -- Archives. (Subject)
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
This description follows NLW guidelines based on ISAD(G) Second Edition; AACR2; and LCSH
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
January 2002.
Language(s)
- English
Script(s)
Sources
The following sources were used in the compilation of this record: Clark, George T., Limbus patrum morganiae et glamorganiae (London, 1886); Complete peerage (London, 8 vols, 1887-98); Burke's peerage (London, 1959); Dictionary of Welsh biography down to 1940 (London, 1959); Phillips, Roger, Tredegar: the history of an agricultural estate, 1300-1956 (Upton-upon-Severn, 1990); Dictionary of Welsh biography, 1941-1970 (London, 2001); Ruperra Conservation Trust, http://www.ruperra.org.uk/ (January 2002).
Archivist's note
Compiled by Stephen Benham.