Ruperra Castle 200 Years Ago
You would be wrong to think that John Morgan the Merchant of Machen and his nephew John had secured the separation of the two estates, giving Tredegar to William and Ruperra to his younger brother Thomas, then just 19 years old.
Disaster struck! The glamorous Sir William Morgan died young leaving four children but only a daughter survived to adulthood. His widow, Lady Rachel pursued a hugely expensive legal battle for the inheritance, but in the end the settlement gave both estates to Sir Thomas of Ruperra. He, by now, was the wealthy “Judge Advocate General” but he knew his three aged sons would die unmarried!
The Morgan family name was saved by Sir Thomas’ daughter Jane, whose marriage to the amazing Sir Charles Gould had already produced several children. To preserve the Morgan name, Sir Thomas insisted that Charles’ name should be changed to Charles Gould Morgan which he did by royal decree at great speed.
Meanwhile the “Judge Advocate General” whose London home was his office at 12 Downing Street, was proudly caring for the gardens and landscape of Ruperra, planting an avenue of oaks known as the General’s Walk from what is now a dairy farm on the Cefn Mably road to the Castle. A two-story summer house was built on the top of Coed Craig Ruperra with walks to enhance the view of the estate.
His son in law’s life was a success story. A long serving president of the newly set up Equitable Life Insurance Company, he invested in coal mines and ironworks, while his “Golden Mile” provided lucrative tolls on every ton of coal travelling to Newport Docks between Pye Corner in Bassaleg and Ebbw Bridge, in Tredegar Park.
When Sir Charles’ daughter married Samuel Homfray, owner of the Penydarren Ironworks in Merthyr, he gave his son in law a favourable lease of mineral land along the Heads of the Valleys to found a new ironworks. And so the town of Tredegar was born.
Thus the wealthy Morgan family could employ the famous architect Thomas Hardwick to design the rebuilding of Ruperra Castle, after a fire which had burnt out the interior in 1792. J P Neale’s etching in 1820 placed them amongst other owners of great houses, showing the new fashionably ‘Gothick’ appearance. Was the delicate charm of the original design lost?
Jane Morgan lived to see the castle restored but her husband Sir Charles Gould Morgan died before achieving his heart’s desire – to become a lord.
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