Tredegar House - people - above stairs

Lady Katherine Agnes Blanche Carnegie was born 12 June 1867, the daughter of James, 9th Earl of Southesk. Katherine was the youngest daughter in a family of eleven children. She was artistic, creative and possessed a vivid imagination, inspired perhaps by the tales of her elder brother David, an explorer who travelled through nearly 3,000 miles of previously unexplored country in Australia, only to meet his end in Nigeria in 1900 when he was shot by a poisoned arrow!
On 5 August 1890, Katherine married Courtenay Morgan. The marriage produced two children: Evan Frederic in 1893 and Gwyneth Erica in 1895. Evan went on to succeed his father as Viscount Tredegar but Gwyneth died tragically in 1924 aged 29.
Katherine never lived at Tredegar House, she did not particularly like South Wales (this may not be unconnected with the way she felt about her husband) she preferred living at her own home, Honeywood House in Dorking, Surrey. There she would indulge in her curious hobby of making birds nests. A footman would be sent to collect mud, twigs and bits of straw, these would be presented to Katherine on a silver salver, and with incredible dexterity she would create a highly accurate copy of a birds nest. (kingfisher nests were her favourite). This nest, more often than not, would then be placed in a nearby tree or bush, in the hope that a feathered friend would fly in and make a home there. Katherine always claimed that her hobby was "far better than fishing!"
As she got older, Katherine became more and more eccentric, and it appears that she became quite convinced that she was a bird. Society was awash with tales of Lady Tredegar building giant nests and sitting in them! Her son, Evan, (who looked strikingly avian and was always surrounded by birds) would often invite a friend to come to dinner at Honeywood House saying happily "You must come and meet my mother, she makes the most wonderful birds nests. We are quite a bird family!"
For all the amusement her hobby gave other people, 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 portrait of Katherine you can see in the Portrait Gallery hangs at Tredegar House and is painted by Augustus John, who became a good friend of both Katherine and her son.
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!



people - above stairs


	Katherine Carnegie Lady Katherine Agnes Blanche Carnegie was born 12 June 1867, the daughter of James, 9th Earl of Southesk. Katherine was the youngest daughter in a family of eleven children. She was artistic, creative and possessed a vivid imagination, inspired perhaps by the tales of her elder brother David, an explorer who travelled through nearly 3,000 miles of previously unexplored country in Australia, only to meet his end in Nigeria in 1900 when he was shot by a poisoned arrow! On 5 August 1890, Katherine married Courtenay Morgan. The marriage produced two children: Evan Frederic in 1893 and Gwyneth Erica in 1895. Evan went on to succeed his father as Viscount Tredegar but Gwyneth died tragically in 1924 aged 29. Katherine never lived at Tredegar House, she did not particularly like South Wales (this may not be unconnected with the way she felt about her husband) she preferred living at her own home, Honeywood House in Dorking, Surrey. There she would indulge in her curious hobby of making birds nests. A footman would be sent to collect mud, twigs and bits of straw, these would be presented to Katherine on a silver salver, and with incredible dexterity she would create a highly accurate copy of a birds nest. (kingfisher nests were her favourite). This nest, more often than not, would then be placed in a nearby tree or bush, in the hope that a feathered friend would fly in and make a home there. Katherine always claimed that her hobby was "far better than fishing!" As she got older, Katherine became more and more eccentric, and it appears that she became quite convinced that she was a bird. Society was awash with tales of Lady Tredegar building giant nests and sitting in them! Her son, Evan, (who looked strikingly avian and was always surrounded by birds) would often invite a friend to come to dinner at Honeywood House saying happily "You must come and meet my mother, she makes the most wonderful birds nests. We are quite a bird family!" For all the amusement her hobby gave other people, 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 portrait of Katherine you can see in the Portrait Gallery hangs at Tredegar House and is painted by Augustus John, who became a good friend of both Katherine and her son. 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! Back to Biographies
















people - above stairs

This website is owned by The Friends of Tredegar House. Copyright 2000 Friends of Tredegar House. Design and Administration by Cottage Industries