John Morgan, 6th Baron Tredegar

Frederic Charles John Morgan, 6th Baron Tredegar (26 October 1908 — 17 November 1962), was a Welsh peer and landowner. On 21 August 1954, he succeeded to the titles of 6th Baron Tredegar and 8th baronet following the death of his father, Frederic George Morgan, 5th Baron Tredegar. His own death in 1962 saw the extinction of the Tredegar barony and the Morgan baronetcy and his previous liquidation of the entirety of his family's Welsh estates brought to an end a social and political dynasty that had dominated South East Wales for 500 years.

Ancestors
The Morgans claimed descent from Welsh princes, and were among the most powerful families in South Wales, their fortunes having been established by William Morgan, who was a politician, and acquired substantial landholdings throughout Monmouthshire, Glamorganshire and Breconshire. His descendants continued the family's political and social ascent; Charles Morgan becoming a baronet in 1792, and another Charles becoming 1st Baron Tredegar in 1859. His second son, Godfrey Morgan fought in the Charge of the Light Brigade in the Crimean War and was made 1st Viscount Tredegar in 1905. Never marrying, Godfrey was in turn succeeded by his nephew Courtenay Morgan, and the Tredegar viscountcy was revived in his favour in 1926. Evan Morgan succeeded his father in 1934. Having no children of his own, his heir was his uncle, Frederic Morgan, father of John.

Early life
Frederic Charles John Morgan was born on 26 October 1908 to Frederic George Morgan, 5th Baron Tredegar and Dorothy Syssyllt Bassett. Named after his father, whose nickname for him was "Pinhead", Morgan preferred to be known as John. Following family tradition, he was educated at Eton College but did not attend university. Morgan's parents divorced in 1921. His mother remarried in the same year, but died in 1929, when John was 21.

During World War II he fought in the Middle East between 1939 and 1945, gaining the rank of 2nd Lieutenant of the 24th London Regiment and officer of the King’s Own Scottish Borderers.

Inheritance
Evan, 2nd Viscount Tredegar died without children in 1949. His life was unconventional; despite his homosexuality, he married twice; enjoyed a long friendship with the occultist Aleister Crowley; and spent extravagantly. While his relationship with his uncle Frederic was poor, he and his cousin, John, loathed each other. Evan also failed to undertake any estate planning prior to his death, meaning his uncle inherited the Welsh estates, the barony, the baronetcy and an inheritance tax bill of £1,000,000.

Frederic, who described himself as an "arthritis cripple" decided to immediately transfer the entire Welsh estate to his son, John, to avoid the payment of a second set of death-duties on his own demise. This occurred in 1954 and John Morgan inherited a £1,150,000 fortune without liability of tax. At the time, John told the Western Mail that he was prepared to live at Tredegar Park on "a very modest scale in view of the prevailing conditions". As a recent Catholic convert, Morgan went to Lourdes for guidance as to what to do with his inheritance.

Disposal of Tredegar House
Despite indicating his intention to remain at Tredegar, Morgan spent little time there during his ownership. In his father's final years, he had already begun selling off parts of the once 88,000 acre estate, significantly reducing it in an attempt to recover the family's lost fortune. In 1950, he announced "with great regret" that death duties, taxation and costs had made it necessary for him to close Tredegar House, and in December 1950, he agreed to sell the house and its remaining 200 acre parkland to the Sisters of St. Joseph for £40,000, asserting that the sale was "good for his bank balance, and his soul". Morgan directed Stephenson & Alexander, a firm of auctioneers, to dispose of the contents of the house in sales on 11-12 July 1951. On the sale of the house, Morgan asked the nuns to hang portraits of his family and ancestors in one room to ensure that a Morgan presence remained in the house after his departure.

The house was used as a Catholic girls' school until 1974. Today it is owned by Newport City Council, and managed by the National Trust, via a 50-year-lease agreement.

Disposal of the remaining Welsh estates
In 1956 Morgan sold the family's second seat and weekend hunting lodge, Ruperra Castle, to the Eagle Star Insurance Company for around £25,000. The castle had been damaged by its second fire during the military's control of the property throughout World War II. Today, it continues to deteriorate. By this time the entire remaining 53,000 acre, Tredegar, Ruperra and agricultural Morgan Estates had been sold, a process allegedly accelerated by Morgan's decision to sever all family links to South Wales after he failed to receive an invitation to meet Queen Elizabeth II during a royal trip to Newport.

Marriage
Morgan remained a bachelor until the age of 46. On 21 December 1954, he married Joanna Russell, in London. The new Lady Tredegar had been married twice previously and Morgan became step-father to two daughters, one from each of Joanna's marriages.

In 1955, Lord and Lady Tredegar featured in The Tatler, alongside Lady Tredegar's daughter, Bridget at St. Moritz. The following year Lady Tredegar visited Tredegar House for the first time, accompanied by her husband. They thanked staff working at the house and met retired, former employees.

Exile and death
Morgan first moved to Edinburgh, but quickly changed his mind, choosing to spend married life in Monte-Carlo, Monaco, as a tax exile. Here, he pursued his passion for art, producing several works which are now owned by the National Trust and displayed in Tredegar House. He also enjoyed yachting and golf.

In 1957, Morgan embarked on a 2000-mile journey on his motor-yacht, the Henry Morgan, named after his distant ancestor, Sir Henry Morgan. When the Henry Morgan became at risk of sinking during the voyage, Lord Tredegar allegedly went below-deck asserting, "there is nothing I can do about it; wake me when the fuss is over".

In the same year, Morgan deposited his family's manuscripts and papers to the National Library of Wales, so that they would be preserved in the event of him dying without an heir.

In 1962, he became ill, and returned to the Middlesex Hospital in London as he did not trust the local doctors. Although the operation was successful, he succumbed to septacemia, and died suddenly and without issue, aged 54. On his death, his wife donated more family portraits and some of John's artwork to the nuns of St. Joseph, in his memory. The works include a portrait of her husband, by Leonard Fuller and dating from 1950, which is on display at Tredegar House. As neither Morgan nor his sister, the Hon. Syssyllt Avis Gurney (neé. Morgan), had children, his death marked the extinction of the Morgan baronetcy and the Barony of Tredegar, bringing an end to a dynasty that had existed in South Wales for some 500 years.