TV programme reveals Rhodri Morgan’s hunt for a ‘spy in the family’

IN THE months before his death last year, Wales’ former First Minister Rhodri Morgan travelled to the Swiss city of Zürich to retrace the steps of a remarkable relative who had worked as a spy for the British Empire.

His quest was to find out whether his great uncle Morgan Watkin had actually met Lenin during his exile in Zürich before he became the revolutionary Soviet leader.

And did Watkin obtain key information from the Communist about the German enemy via his Russian network of spies?

S4C cameras followed the charismatic, engaging late Labour politician during his time there and the fascinating documentary Rhodri Morgan: Ysbïwr yn y Teulu (Rhodri Morgan: A Spy in the Family) is as much a tribute to the former Cardiff West MP and AM as it is a fascinating portrayal of his multi-talented great uncle.

Rhodri Morgan said in the programme: “If anyone mentioned Lenin in any discussion at the dinner table, I could say that I had an uncle who met Lenin in Zürich during World War One.

“I would like to find out exactly what Morgan Watkin did. To think it is possible he came across Lenin and received information from him that he could then feed back to the authorities in Great Britain... if that is true, then it’s a totally astounding story.”

The programme reveals more about the life story of Rhodri Morgan’s great uncle Morgan Watkin, a farmer’s son from the Swansea Valley who left school at 12 to become a miner but ended up a gentleman spy as well as a brilliant academic.

It tells how Watkin (1878-1970) went to Zürich during the World War One, seemingly to complete a PhD comparing French and Welsh medieval literature, but also to work for the then Cabinet Minister David Lloyd George’s inner circle, communicating messages and reports in Welsh back home from Switzerland, mainly to by-pass the Foreign Office.

On his journey to Zürich, Rhodri Morgan was accompanied by his cousin, historian Nia Powell, who has studied Watkin’s papers, including his letters back home from Switzerland.

There are also key contributions from another historian, Rhodri’s brother, Professor Prys Morgan, among others.

Switzerland, a neutral country, was full of spies from many countries during the World War One and Zürich, in particular, was teeming with them.

There is no doubt that Watkin, later to become a celebrated Cardiff University professor, was a British spy, like a number of other Welsh speakers favoured by the Welsh-speaking wartime Cabinet Minister David Lloyd George, who became Prime Minister in 1916.

But did Morgan Watkin actually meet Lenin in a Zürich barber shop to share intelligence, and did the great revolutionary really give him vital information about the morale and health of the German population suffering under a British naval blockade?

The programme shows Rhodri Morgan being shaved in a barber’s shop very similar to the one in which his great uncle is said to have met Lenin. He said: “It was quite an emotional experience to sit there in a barber’s chair, just as Morgan would have done.

“I came here knowing I was safe. But how much courage did it take to be a spy?”

For Lenin, Zurich was a safe haven. He had fled Russia and was on the Tsar’s most wanted list. With his network of spies, he was in a good position to find out about the resilience of the Kaiser’s regime in Germany.

The programme reveals how Morgan