Rudgwick Preservation Society | The past, present and ...



Chapter 4 - Lady Katherine Agnes Blanche Carnegie ofHoneywood Houseleft233680In 1914, Courtenay Morgan (left) bought Oakwood Grange for his wife, Katherine, youngest of the 11 daughters of the 9th Earl of Southesk, she renaming it Honeywood House. She grew up at Kinnaird Castle in Angus in Scotland, the family seat. On the fringes of royalty (her father was about 14th in line to the throne, or something like that) as a young woman she was one of the more lively members of the Victorian court. She had a great passion for the arts and made friends with many of the great artistic and literary characters of the day.Lady Katharine Agnes Blanche Carnegie had married Courtenay Charles Evan Morgan, the nephew of the then Lord Tredegar of Tredegar Park in South Wales, in 1890. Thus an ancient Scottish family became linked with an ancient Welsh one. The marriage produced two children, Evan Frederick Morgan, and Gwyneth Ericka Morgan who died tragically young at the age of 29. The marriage was not, however, a happy one. The artistic Katherine's temperament clashed with that of her hunting, shooting, fishing husband and the two drifted apart, living in different houses for the most part. That is why Katherine wanted Honeywood House, as a main home, while her husband spent time in Wales. Just before Honeywood was bought, in 1913, Courtenay inherited a title, becoming 3rd Baron Tredegar, and was subsequently made a Viscount in 1926 (reviving an old title), so Katherine became Viscountess. Courtenay died in 1934, the titles then passing to his son, Evan, who became 4th baron and 2nd Viscount. Katherine was now the Dowager Viscountess. Tredegar House came down in the Morgan family line for six centuries, but they claim descent from as far back as Bledri, d. 1120. the Carnegie family claim descent from William the Conqueror, and an earldom created in 1633.Katherine was known as a great eccentric and society was awash with tales of her rather curious hobby. She had a wonderful affinity for birds and made birds nests as a way to pass the time and as a therapy for her arthritic fingers. To her they were like works of art, she would, with great dexterity fashion twigs, moss, string, grass and mud into a quite accurate nest. She could do different kinds. Kingfisher nests being her favourite. Unfortunately as the years went on, she got more and more eccentric and really quite ill. Hating the noise, she became an invalid and her eccentricities grew more pronounced. She once made a birds nest big enough to sit in, and society grabbed such a golden opportunity for excited gossip firmly: it was whispered that at times Lady Tredegar thought she WAS a bird and would sit in a nest. A young Gore Vidal claimed to have heard a rumour that she sometimes sat on eggs and got broody, which let Aldous Huxley tojoke: "If that's the case the biggest thing she ever hatched was Evan!"107951875790left41910For Evan Morgan took after his mother in many ways. He was homosexual, a poet, artist, writer and was totally unpredictable. He also had a remarkable way with birds, and looked strikingly avian himself. His luggage usually contained exotic birds, and his 'familiar' Blue Boy, a large malicious macaw would perch imperiously on its master's shoulder (photo, left, at a Tredegar House garden party). When his father died in 1934, Evan succeeded to the Tredegar titles and estates. It probable he was then the owner of Honeywood House, as it was later disposed of by the estate. His week-end house parties at Tredegar Park became quite legendary as guests such as HG Wells, Augustus John, Aleister Crowley and Nancy Cunard were entertained on a lavish scale by both Evan and his menagerie of animals, which included a boxing kangaroo.-25927052294890Katherine lived on at Honeywood. Quite how accurate the stories are about her are is debatable. Evan used to joke quite openly after an evening's revelry: “You must come back and meet my mother. She makes the most wonderful bird's nests. We are quite a bird family!” Certainly many of the eccentricities were exaggerated, but there was no smoke without fire. The bird obsession is well documented, and I was told that, at Honeywood, Katherine would order that her dog be taken for a 'walk' in the back-seat of her chauffeur driven car. She thought an actual walk far too dangerous for her pet! (Paul Busby, biographer of Evan Morgan) “Katherine herself was a very lonely figure. She suffered from acute insomnia and became an invalid. She did not attend her daughters funeral or her son's wedding and was very rarely seen in public. She had a hatred of noise and would sometimes sit in complete darkness, or even in a closet, to shut out the outside world. She did, however, maintain her passion for art and patronised such figures as Augustus John, Ambrose McEvoy and Gaudier-Brzeska. The portraits of Katherine hang at Tredegar House (top left by Augustus John), who became a good friend of both Katherine and her son. The second (bottom left)is by Ambrose McAvoy, 1920, both on view at Tredegar House, National Trust)Katherine, Viscountess Tredegar died in 1949. In her will she left a work of art to Augustus John, and explicitly stated that her ashes were NOT to be taken to Wales!” The Friends of Tredegar House website“Evan Frederic Morgan, 4th Baron, 2nd Viscount Tredegar, Knight of the Holy Sepulchre, Knight of the Constantinian Order of St George, Knight of St John of Jerusalem, Knight of Malta, Knight of the Cape and Sword to Popes Benedict XV and Pius XI, (among other titles) was born on July 13, 1893.32385855980Evan was the first member of the Morgan family to be Roman Catholic for centuries. He was converted by the Archbishop of Algiers during World War I, and even went to the English College in Rome to study for the priesthood. He never made it however, as he apparently sent his valet into his lectures for him! -10972801054735240474552070Evan married twice (despite his homosexuality), to a film star and a Russian Princess. On April 21 1928 he married Lois Sturt, daughter of Baron Alington (left, engagement 1929 ? National Portrait gallery). Unfortunately she died of a heart attack. His second wife was the Russian Princess Olga Dolgorouky (left, in Tatler), who he married in 1939. They divorced in 1943. Despite his two marriages, Evan had no children” The Friends of Tredegar House website . Drawing of Evan, right, and below a painting, 1935, by Henry Gates. Next page, the last known photo 1949, with his awards and medals. 381381070485After the Second World War (where, among other things Evan was court-martialled and his marriage was disolved) times grew grimmer for the once exuberant, brilliant, Viscount Tredegar. Money problems started to mount and, in 1946 he closed Tredegar Park, the ancestral home, and moved into his London home, 13 South Audley Street, but, within a couple of years, he closed that too, and went to live at Honeywood House with his mother. It was there that Evan died in 1949 aged 56 of pancreatic cancer. In his will he left an 'iron box currently in my library at Honeywood House' containing all his papers and books to two friends so a biography of his exotic life could be written. The recipient's family no longer have the iron box (and indeed have no recollection of receiving it) and I have been unable to trace it. One man who worked at a publishing firm in the 1950s made it very clear that there was NO WAY they could have published an honest account of Lord Tredegar's life then, and even suggested that so scandalous was Evan's life, that the papers in the iron box might well have gone the same way as Byron's, i.e., burnt to a frazzle to protect the not-so-innocent. Katherine died a few months after her son Evan.” Paul Busby -342907620"Evan Tredegar came to our house in Lancing most Sunday afternoons to see Bosie. Sometimes we hired a car to get him from his house 'Honeywood' near Horsham, sometimes I drove up to get him myself. There was a wonderful Japanese (sic, Chinese) room in the House - most beautiful furniture. Sometimes he would bring his week-end guest with him, I remember Terrence Rattigan and Lord Analy, the latter I think was a Master of Foxhounds. Evan quite often brought a bottle of brandy for Bosie.....Apparently one young man arriving at Honeywood said "All this and Evan too!" Extract of letter from Sheila Colman to Paul BusbyThe inimitable Evan Morgan, poet, painter, musician, aristocrat and millionaire. The unique fairy prince of modern life. Aldous Huxley“During World War II the British Secret Intelligence decided to monitor all movements of carrier pigeons in an attempt to uncover any forms of illicit communications with the Nazis. The organization became known as MI8 and consisted of Wing-Commander Walker and Evan Morgan as its commanders. Many people may not realize it, and find it hard to believe, but at this period of the war the question of Nazi pigeons was taken very seriously. MI8 under Evan Morgan even devised a plan to launch a deception over the English Channel when it was believed that a major German offensive was being planned. The goal was to drop thousands of pigeons over the channel and fill the German lofts with more pigeons than the Nazis could handle in the hope that it would totally confuse them, thereby slowing down any information which might be sent by the Nazis spies.The first attempt failed when the pigeons, after being dropped out of RAF bombers, were sucked into the plane's slipstream and 'defeathered.' It was a disaster with thousands of pigeons instantly killed over the English channel. The British did not immediately abandon this operation but instead sought to solve the problem rather than giving up. It appeared the solution was simple. They decided to place each pigeon in individual paper bags before tossing them out of the plane. It was believed that before the pigeons could free themselves they would be well below the aircraft. This seemed to work until it was realized that they were using 'homing pigeons' which did not fly to Belgium and France as planned. Instead they simply followed their instincts and beat the planes back to their own base. This too was a disaster. The whole pigeon operations met its final blow and was soon abandoned when Lord Tredegar was arrested and thrown into the Tower of London for treason. How did this happen? It seems it was through pure stupidity. In 1943 his marriage to Princess Olga, the daughter of Prince Sergei Dolgorouky, had been annulled and Tredegar found himself a bachelor once again. Soon afterwards he was having lunch with some pretty young girl when he decided to show his date around the office where he worked. This of course meant his office at the top secret branch of MI8. It was a sort of personal guided tour. To add further injury, it appears that Morgan even boasted openly about MI8's secret operations regarding the carrier pigeons, knowing that this girl was not 'cleared' by British Intelligence to have knowledge of such secret information. Should this be considered as a smart career move on Evan Morgan's part? In the end another branch of British Intelligence, MI5 intervened on his behalf and got him released but he was forced into retirement. He should have considered himself lucky.” Red Flame websiteA fantasy Nancy CunardThe one person I know who CAN give a party. Aleister CrowleyA little red absurdity, with a beak of a nose, no chin, and with the general likeness to a callow but student bantam cock that has run to legs and neck. Virginia WoolfThe re-incarnation of Rameses. He must possess cosmic secrets. Ronald FirbankA character straight out of fiction. Barbara CartlandA birdlike sort of man. Possibly because his mother, the dowager Lady Tredegar, built the biggest bird's nest in all the world...She apparently hatched nothing in it except - who knows - Evan? Gore VidalThere seems to be much wrong with him. Sir Caspar JohnHe tinkers. H.G. Wells (when asked about Evan's intelligence)Sometimes suffers from a too volatile fancy in conjunction with an overactive tongue. Augustus JohnHe should not have lived in this century. He should have been born in a doge's palace. Sir Walter Monckton190503154680He was a quite extraordinary man. For all those who would sneer and degrade Evan Morgan in his lifetime, there would be an equal or greater army who would defend and sing his praises. They would speak of a man who fought a constant battle against pomposity and dullness and routed the pair of them. They would speak of acts of great kindness. Of an incomparable host, raconteur and friend. Of a man who was always surrounded by laughter, because he generated it himself. Fearless, impetuous and eccentric to the point of madness, he always lived life on his terms. He was the sort of person who made life more interesting, more fun, more exciting. He was a poet, novelist, artist, musician, gourmet, pilot, occultist, papal chamberlain, collector, arts patron, bird tamer, journalist, parliamentary candidate, diplomatic attaché, Major in the military, part of the secret service....the list goes on and on. He preferred fantasy to reality and who could really blame him? His outlook on life seemed to be: on to the next adventure, the next horizon, but, never, ever, stop moving, not for a second. He always moved quickly and was very agile, (Augustus John suggested his movement was very bird-like) and appeared to be constantly restless. Perhaps he was. The lines that best sum up Evan Morgan (and perhaps the era in which he lived) for me, come from Tennyson's Ulysses: “How dull it is to pause, to make an end, To rust unburnished, not to shine in use!” Evan Morgan was never in any danger of rustEvan’s sister “Gwyneth [who was certainly also a visitor to Honeywood], disappeared suddenly in December 1924 from a rented house at The Niche, 2 Lancaster Avenue, Wimbledon, South London. She was last seen alive on 10 December 1924. Her body was only found 5 months later on 20 May 1925, on the River Thames at Pocock Wharf, near Rotherhithe, Southwark.Gwyneth's circle of friends ranged from Buckingham Palace, St George's Chapel Windsor, to many of those across the high ranking scene of Edwardian and later London Society, on the London stage, to the depths of dens in Limehouse's Chinatown.” Monty Dart and Will CrossA Beautiful Nuisance The Life and death of the Hon Gwyneth Ericka Morgan, Monty Dart & William Cross, 2012The Times, 28 April 1949 – an antidote to opinions elsewhere in this chapterVISCOUNT TREDEGAR A MODERN DILETTANTEViscount Tredegar, who died at his home near Horsham yesterday [27 April 1949]at the age of 55, was a man of many parts to whom the word dilettante may appropriately be applied. Sir Evan Frederick Morgan, second Viscount and fourth Baron Tredegar, of Tredegar, in the County of Monmouth, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, and a baronet, was born on July 13, 1893, the only son of the third Lord Tredegar, who in 1926 was created a viscount. His mother was Lady Katherine Agnes Blanche, youngest daughter of the ninth Earl of Southesk. He was educated at Eton and at Christ Church, Oxford, and in 1915 he was gazetted to the Welsh Guards. From 1917 to 1918 he was private secretary to the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Labour, and in 1919 to Sir George (afterwards Lord) Riddell when he represented the British Press at the Paris Peace Conference. In this year he resigned his com- mission owing to ill-health. Shortly after the war he Was received into the Church of Rome, and was in due course made a Privy Chamberlain of the Sword and Cape by Pope Benedict XV and continued in the same office under Pope Pius Xl. In 1929 he contested the Limehouse division of Stepney in the Unionist interest but was not successful, and in 1930 was adopted as Conservative candidate for the central division of Cardiff; he withdrew in favour of the National Labour candidate, Sir Ernest Bennett. For a time he was Hon. Attache at his Majesty's Legation at Copenhagen. In 1934 he succeeded his father as second Viscount Tredegar. The family had large coal interests which he inherited. Not long afterwards, however, he spoke at Newport, Monmouthshire, and strongly advocated the abolition of mining royalties. Lord Tredegar was gifted and versatile. He painted cleverly and when quite young exhibited at the Paris Salon. Having a considerable taste for verse he published several books of poems. He was in addition a good musician. He took, indeed, a wide interest in aesthetic matters and was a keen collector of objets d'art particularly of the period of the Italian Renaissance. In 1936 he founded the Tredegar Memorial Lecture of the Royal Society of Literature. of which he was a Fellow, and delivered the inaugural lecture himself, choosing John Donne as his subject. He was also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a member of the Union Internationale des Beaux Arts et des Lettres. In the 193945 war he was Military County Social Welfare Officer for Monmouthshire and commanded the 3rd Monmouthshire Battalion of the Home Guard. In 1928, he married the Hon. Lois Sturt, younger daughter of the second Lord Alington The wedding, which took place at the Brompton Oratory, was celebrated by the Archbishop of Cardiff. Nine years later Lady Tredegar died suddenly at Budapest while on a holiday tour. Secondly, in 1939, he married Princess Olga, daughter of Prince Serge Dolgorouky. The marriage was annulled in 1943. He leaves no issue and the viscountcy becomes extinct. His uncle the Hon. F. G. Morgan, who was raised to the rank of a baron's son in 1913, succeeds to the barony. He married, in 1898, Dorothy Syssyllt, daughter of Mr. R. T. Bassett. There were two children of the marriage, which was dissolved in 1921, a son and daughter. Why Gwyneth Morgan died is and will remain a mystery, but the odds are on an overdose of drugs in one of the Thames bank opium dens that set up after the criminalization of drugs in 19050-1295401917. She was born in 1895, so was Evan’s younger sister, and 29 years old. She was already in a bad place as for several years she had moved between rented various accommodation, had gambled more than was reasonable for her class, had consorted with those of a distinctly lower class, ignoring warnings from family and friends, and in medical care. This lifestyle did not allow her much time to spend in Rudgwick. Her brother also left a trail of lost lives in his wake. Their generation of aristocratic friends led a life of extraordinary shortness and endings of unfortunate kinds. How Evan escaped both prison and death is itself extraordinary. “By 1949, the Morgans of Tredegar had become one of the most heavily taxed families in the country. Some ?4,500,000 had been paid in death duties in the 20th century. After the death of Evan, Viscount Tredegar, in 1949 (and his burial at Buckfast Abbey) an elderly uncle, Frederic George Morgan, succeeded to the title of Baron Tredegar. Frederic was 76 years old and crippled with osteo-arthritis. The spectre of yet more death duties loomed large. Frederic, to avoid these, immediately passed the Tredegar estate onto his son, John, whilst keeping the title for himself. Indeed, John, The Times announced on 31 May, would go to Honeywood House, which would be his home until further notice. Frederic, 5th Baron Tredegar retired back to his Mayfair flat leaving John Morgan to assess the situation. John decided that "due to death duties, heavy taxation and increasing costs" the ancestral home was to be closed. In 1951 Tredegar House and 200 acres of immediate land were sold to the Sisters of St Josephs, an order of Roman Catholic nuns, who converted it into a school. Most of the contents of the House were sold and John looked for a fresh start abroad. In 1954, the death of his father meant that John became the 6th and last Baron Tredegar. By this time John was married and living in the tax-haven of Monte Carlo.Back home, the remnants of the once mighty Tredegar Estate were being sold-off. J.C Deakin, the final Estate Agent oversaw the sale of the Morgan's remaining property. Along with Tredegar House went Honeywood House in Dorking (sic) and some 53,000 acres of land. In essence it was the liquidation of an estate that had taken the Morgans centuries to obtain. As the Morgan lands were dispersed, the possessions that once sat at Tredegar House and Ruperra Castle auctioned off and the Tredegar Estate offices shut, so the book was closed on a long passage of the history of South East Wales. John Morgan, 6th Baron Tredegar died childless in 1962 aged 54. His death signalled the end of the Morgans of Tredegar.” The Friends of Tredegar House websiteKelly’s Directory 1915 had listed Lord Tredegar as ‘private resident’ at Honeywood House, along with his Clubs, and two London addresses. In later years, the Viscountess is listed in her own right. From study of maps it seems that the Morgans made no obvious additions or changes to the house and other buildings during the 35 years the family owned it. Internally, however, the room in the forward projection of the south wing was decorated with Chinese lacquer panels. These were not removed until the present trustees needed money for re-roofing the entire building, and they were sold as a major contribution to the cost. Though understandable, it is sad to know they have gone. The room has also lost its integrity with a dividing stud wall to create better office accommodation. Fortunately the other principal rooms (entrance hall, staircase, drawing room and dining room) are intact.Chinese Room, Honeywood House, photographed before removal of antique lacquer panels03556003086100355600Honeywood House estate had been offered for sale through Knight, Frank & Rutley as a single lot, (advertisement in The Field, September 1946) three years before the death of Katherine and Evan but did not sell. A second attempt followed (undated sale particulars, below, possibly 1949 – “until recently the home of the late Viscount Tredegar”). At this time, only 6.5 acres were offered with the house, thus excluding even the kitchen garden, a sale for straightened times, possibly for institutional purposes, which of course is exactly what has become of it. The curious reference to demolition of a wing probably refers to the rear wing referred to in Chapter 2 as a possible addition to the servants accommodation by William Renton.Some Images of Honeywood38103810An important photo taken in the sunken rose garden (still there) dated c1945, from the collection of the Carnegie family (Viscountess Tredegar’s family), possibly the only photo of the house to survive from the Tredegar era. The blinds are an interesting feature of the south front. There is as yet no conservatory, added by Miller and Bellord in the 1950s, illustrated below. In the image are, from left, Susan & Andrew Carnegie and Evan, Viscount Tredegar.left0This image comes from the Kinnaird Collection [Kinnaird Castle was the home of the Carnegie family, Earls of Southesk]. It is therefore associated firmly with the Tredegar era. The addition of the conservatory is interesting, as it dates the photo to the ?late Tredegar era, which may suggest the photo above is older than it is stated to be.right0A view south from the terrace and gardens, enjoyed by the Duchess of San Teodoro and her successors. The house is Honey Lane Farm. The foreground was almost certainly part of her estate.The sunken rose garden as it is in recent photographs; one of the millstones, possibly from the former Snell windmill, left.left10795center3810right1079538049202077720190944520777203810381019513553810The stable clock, left, was renewed, “built”, by the Tredegar estate as soon as 1916, and worked until 1939, after which it remained gathering dirt and birds until 1984 when it was taken down, restored, and brought indoors to a corner of the great hall where it resides now. The bell, however, was installed by the Duchess of Teodoro at the time of her renovations and extensions – dated on the bell itself, 1886. The total weight of the whole is ? ton.Above, some curious features remaining in the gardens, which likely date back to the Tredegar years, or earlier. Left, a 3-person stone toilet, a stone seat, a pump at the side of the house.left0center0right0Above, the garages added by Duchess of San Teodoro; stable block with clock tower, dating back to the Renton era, but converted to staff flats by Miller & Bellord; Ernest George’s 1890s solution to access from the north carriage drive to the front of the house was this elegant arch under the servant’s rooms.left1606552336165107315The lodges: left the older South Lodge, right the North (Monks) Lodge, with Teodoro crest in the top of the gable.276542563500063500 What remains of the extensive walled gardens, glasshouses and frames to the north of the house. These would have been in full production to the 1950s, as the photo from the 1954 sale catalogue shows. Water was laid on for the gardeners’ use.38103810The front door is said to be Italian, perhaps installed in the 1890s by the Duchess of San Teodoro.The Sale of the House and EstateComing soon!Record office SP 2269 1949Honeywood House. Photographs, estate planEstate, South & North Lodges, Rose Cottages, Honeybush Cottages SP2269 in W Sussex Record Office details the attempted sale of the whole estate of 170 acres in September 1949, vacant possession except for 52 acres (presumably Mr Sumners tenancy at Honeybush, as in 1954.). It must not have sold in the very difficult market of the post-war years. As a result of the failure of the sale, and the sale of Tredgar Park, John Morgan made a further announcement that Honeywood was his permanent home, 22 August 1950. However, in 1952 he moved to Scotland, leaving the house unoccupied.-15240125730The growing death duty crisis forced a sale in 1954, when the estate of 172 acres was split up into eleven lots. The 1954 Sale Catalogue723901703070081280WEST SURREY-SUSSEX BORDERS. Horsham 5 miles Dorking 12 miles London I5 miles. HONEYWOOD HOUSE ESTATE ROWHOOK A FINE COUNTRY RESIDENCE suitable for scholastic or institutional purposes or for conversion; in an unspoilt position with southerly views; it contains lounge, hall, 4 reception rooms, 17 principal bed and dressing rooms, 6 bath rooms; central heating, mains electricity and water; garages for 12 cars, ample stabling; 2 lodges; 2 cottages; small farm; blocks of productive farmland; valuable woodland. TOTAL AREA 172 ACRES. For SALE by AUCTION, as a whole or in 10 Lots, at the Black Horse Hotel Horsham on Tuesday 20tb July at 3p.m. (unless previously sold privately). Solicitors. Messrs. Rider, Heaton, Meredith & Mills. S New Square, Lincoln's Inn, W.C.2. Auctioneers. KING and CHASEMORE. Horsham (Tel. 111). and KNIGHT. FRANK & RUTLEY.Lot 1, the house with 8? acres of grounds, with lowest acceptable price ?4,500, was sold to new owners who rented to proprietors Messrs Sidney (Jim) Miller and John Bellord who set up a registered charity for a luxury Convalescent Nursing Hotel. The owners subsequently bought another 8 acres (Lot 9?) Lot 2South LodgeLot 3Honeybush Cottage, with 55 acres of farmland and woodland (house and farmland let to Mr J Sumner on a yearly tenancy, rent ?76 pa, woodland in hand)Lot 4 Oakwood Wood and Frenches Copses, 53 acresLot 5North Lodge (purchased in 1954 by Sir Rex Cohen of Ruckmans Farm Estate, which included Monks Farm, for his farm bailiff.Lot 6Woodland area to north west, 4 acresLot 7Woodland area to north west, 4 acres (where Tanglewood is now)Lot 8Farmland and woodland to the south of the house, 35 acres (was Honey Lane Farm, the house not being part of the estate), conveyed to Lord Tredegar in 1914.Lot 9Two grass fields with buildings to the south adjoining Honey Lane, 8 acres (now Honeyghyll Farm), conveyed to Lord Tredegar in 1914.Lot 10A semi-detached cottage with garden, 1 acre, occupied by Mr P Geering, gardener, on a service tenancy (Southern Rose)Lot 11A semi-detached cottage with garden, 3 acres, occupied by Miss Stanford, former employee, life tenancy, rent free (Rose Cottage). ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download