One of my childhood cartoon heroes was Noggin the Nog and his eternal struggle with his villainous uncle, Nogbad the Bad.
In contrast we have a real-life hero, ‘Godfrey the Good.’ Godfrey Charles Morgan, Ist Viscount Tredegar, Lord Lieutenant of Monmouth, 1831 – 1913, could have stepped from the pages of Anthony Trollope.
He embodied everything that Trollope valued: a profound belief in the responsibilities of landownership, continuity, reciprocal rights and duties; in short, he embodied the ideal of landed gentleman.
In his youth he showed valour in the Crimean War, being one of the few survivors of the famed ‘Charge of the Light Brigade.’
He attributed his survival to his horse Briggs, later knighted and given the title of Sir Briggs by his grateful owner. Sir Briggs had been a champion racehorse in his day, which allowed him to jump over the Russian cannons, and he continued to race on his return home. Twenty years later, when he died, Godfrey buried him (reputedly standing up) in the grounds of Tredegar House.
Like a true Trollopian hero, Sir Godfrey Morgan was both decent and modest in his achievements:
‘I am sure the soldiers who fought with the Light Cavalry at Balaclava did not think themselves greater heroes than others in the Crimea who did their duty. Quite recently I read an article in a military magazine, it dealt with the question of the advance of cavalry and the arms which should be given them—the lance, the sword, and the rifle. The article commenced with the statement that it was the business of every soldier to go into action with the determination to try and kill someone. I suppose that is right in its way, but it was hardly the sentiment we went into action with. We went into action to try to defeat the enemy, but the fewer we killed the better. I have to confess that I tried to kill someone, but to this day I congratulate myself on the fact that I do not know whether I succeeded or no. In these days of long-range guns our consciences are saved a great deal, and so far as killing anyone goes I always give myself the benefit of the doubt, so that the charge of murder cannot be brought against me.’
Balaclava Dinner, Bassaleg,
October 29th, 1910.
The portrait shows Godfrey Charles Morgan with his favourite sky terrier 'Peeps,' so called because of the thick hair around his eyes from which he peeped out. When Peeps died, he was buried next to Sir Briggs.
As a great landowner, he took his responsibilities seriously, accepting the concept of reciprocal duties, endowing schools and hospitals and throwing himself wholeheartedly into both rural and urban activities.
‘I have always taken great interest in those who live on my property, it does not matter whether on agricultural land or in the bowels of the earth. A great landowner does not rest on a bed of roses. The loss to a landowner who only owns a small agricultural property, in days of agricultural depression when tenants cannot pay their rent, generally means a few hundred pounds and the reducing of all his expenses. But when it comes …. to owning the land on which our great ironworks, great tinworks, and collieries are situated…. when those interests are depressed, it means (the ruination of whole communities.) And it means occupying (ourselves) night and day in ascertaining how (we) can help to still carry on those great interests which have employed so many hands, and which are so necessary for the welfare of the population of the district.... '
Presentation to Lord Tredegar of Miners' Lamp and Silver Medal at Risca Eisteddfod.
'It is true that I have had more than my share of this world's goods. There is one thing that has always comforted me when this has been thrown in my teeth, and that is that it was a young man who went away sorrowfully because he had great possessions. I believe I have tried, more or less successfully, to help those in difficulties, and to give to many comfort and happiness who otherwise would have been in much distress and suffering; but I am quite sure that there is no person in this hall who would not have done exactly the same under the same circumstances. I have no doubt that I shall be able to find a place in Tredegar House for this picture. It will, I hope, be a monument in Tredegar House to help those who come after me to try and do some good in their generation with the wealth which may be at their disposal. I thank you from the very bottom of my heart for this great tribute you have paid me.'
This Speech was made in December, 1907, in acknowledgment of
Monmouthshire's tribute to Lord Tredegar, which took the
form of an oil painting of himself, a gold cup, an album,
and £2,000, which his Lordship handed over to various
hospitals.
One event Godfrey always looked forward to, almost to the day of his death was the Servants' Ball in Tredegar House.
'I have arrived at the age when to clasp the waist of one of the opposite sex for three hours is not considered the height of human happiness. I remember, however, with pleasure, a time in my younger days when I thought it was so, and perhaps some of those who can indulge in a valse without feeling giddy, or a polka without being "blown," think so now.'
Servants' Ball,
January 14th, 1889.
'I am happy to be able truly and honestly to say that I have not a word of difference with any servant of my establishment. Each year as it rolls onward finds me stiffer in the joints, shorter in the breath, and less able than formerly to perform the double shuffle, but there are others coming on—the younger members of the family—who will be able to kick up their heels as lightly as once I was able to do. As each year rolls round, too, there are always saddening memories, but on an occasion of this sort I will make no allusions to them, ... I hope you will stick to old fashions and old ways. You may be told of new-fangled ways, and be advised to get rid of the old, but I think it will be well if you do not pay too much attention to those advisers. England is like old Tredegar House, and you will find that the customs now prevailing have been in vogue for over 500 years. You will probably be told that the best way to make people happy is to make the poor rich and the rich poor; but, in truth, the richer people are, the better able they are to help the poor.'
Servants' Ball,
January 7th, 1910.
House now and then
Like Trollope, Godfrey was a keen and committed huntsman:
'Nothing tends to brush away the cobwebs so much as a bracing run with the hounds. Fox hunting is an admirable sport, and my neighbours shall enjoy it as long as there is a fox to be found on my estate.'
At Tredegar House, October 30th, 1884.
'I am always delighted to see any member of the Corporation at the meet of my hounds. If they came out horrid Radicals they would go back half Tories.
"One touch of nature makes the whole world kin," and there is nothing like a meet in the open country for setting things right between friends and neighbours.'
Mayor's Banquet, Newport January 15th, 1884.
'A clever satirist has said that nature made the horse and hounds and threw in the fox as a connecting link. In my opinion, fox-hounds and hunting are the connecting links between the landlord and the tenant farmer.
I have made many pleasant acquaintances lately in my hunting expeditions, and I hope we shall always remain on the most amicable terms.'
Alas, like many in Trollope’s world he was succeeded by less worthy men, particular Lord Evan Morgan, pederast and satanist—who you can read about in the Gift Trilogy
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