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Thursday, October 03, 2024

The Baron Ouseley 1945-2024

  The Lord Ouseley, who died 2 October, 2024, aged 79, was a life peer who ran public authorities, including local councils and was an adviser and reviewer of public services organisations.

Herman Ouseley had expertise in equality and diversity issues and was the Chairperson of several charitable organisations as well as being a Patron for dozens of organisations. He was at the forefront of challenging institutional racism in organisations and was an advocate on behalf of individuals from disadvantaged and deprived backgrounds. He sat in the House of Lords as a crossbencher from 2001 until his retirement in 2019. He was also included in the 2003 list of "100 Great Black Britons". The peer was a local government officer between 1963 and 1993. He was appointed as the first principal race relations advisor in local government. From 1981, he served as Principal Race Relations Adviser and head of the Greater London Council's Ethnic Minority Unit. He later became Chief Executive of the London Borough of Lambeth and the former Inner London Education Authority (the first black person to hold such an office), responsible for over 1000 schools and colleges across the capital. Ouseley was chair and chief executive in the Commission for Racial Equality from 1993 to 2000.

Herman George Ouseley was born 24 March, 1945. He was knighted in 1997, and raised to the peerage for life in 2001 as Baron Ouseley, of Peckham Rye, in the London Borough of Southwark.

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Wednesday, October 02, 2024

Christopher Harry (Kit) Cator 1942-2024

 Christopher Harry (Kit) Cator, who died 20 September, 2024, aged 82, was a scion of that landed gentry family, of Woodbastwick, Norfolk.

He was born 9 September, 1942, the second son of Lt-Cdr Peter Harry Cator, VRD, RNR (1908-79), and his wife the former Kythe Susan Blofeld (1909-94), scion of that Norfolk landed gentry family; and married in 1967, Caroline E. Green, by whom he had issue, a son, (James) Ralph Albemarle Cator (born 1971), and a daughter, Isabel Mary Cator (born 1969).

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William Francis Fisher 1935-2024

 William Francis Fisher died 26 September, 2024, aged 89.

He was born in 1935, son of Brigadier Arthur Francis Fisher, CBE, DSO (1899-1972), and his wife the former Margaret Charlotte Kirkpatrick (1904-1986), scion of that Irish landed gentry family. He married 2 June, 1962, Alexandra Goudime-Levkovitsch (born 3 March, 1940), daughter of Paul Goudime-Levkovitsch (1910-84), and his wife the former Sheila Violet McNeill (1908-1986), a descendant of the Merrie Monarch King Charles II, and from the 6th Duke of Marlborough.

'Bill' Fisher leavers a widow and three children.

King Charles II > 1st Duke of Grafton > 2nd Duke of Grafton > Lord Augustus FitzRoy > 1st Baron Southampton > Hon Georgiana FitzRoy > Hon Charlotte Ponsonby > Fanny Talbot > Charles McNeill > Sheila McNeill > Alexandra Goudime-Levkovitsch

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The 6th Duke of Marlborough > Lady Clementina Spencer-Churchill > Evelyn Green > Paul Goudime-Levkovitsch > Alexandra Goudime-Levkovitsch

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Tuesday, October 01, 2024

The 13th Marquess of Lothian, PC, KC, DL 1945-2024

 The 13th Marquess of Lothian, PC, KC, DL, who died 1 October, 2024, aged 79, was the first Catholic to become a Scottish Conservative MP; better known as Michael Ancram, he was also one of the architects of peace in Northern Ireland and went on to serve as party chairman under William Hague and deputy leader to Iain Duncan Smith and Michael Howard. Ancram won and lost two Scottish seats before his election in 1992 for Devizes, which he continued to represent after succeeding to his title in 2004. He stood down in 2010.

A most unstuffy grandee, Ancram was a member of the British ski team, and a folk singer who had busked his way round Italy as a student. For Malcolm Rifkind’s 50th birthday party he impersonated Buddy Holly, and at William Hague’s much ridiculed 1997 Shadow Cabinet “bonding session” at Eastbourne, he accompanied a singalong Bridge Over Troubled Water on acoustic guitar.

Michael Andrew Foster Jude Kerr was born 7 July, 1945, the son of the 12th Marquess of Lothian, KCVO (1922-2004) and the former Antonella Newland (1922-2007), daughter of Maj Gen Sir Foster Reuss Newland KCMG CB (1862-1943), of Ditchingham Hall, co. Norfolk, by his wife Donna Nenella Salazar y Munatones, dau. of Conte Michele Salazar.

He was educated at Ampleforth, in Switzerland, at Christ Church, Oxford (where he was a pillar of the Bullingdon Club), and Edinburgh University, where he took an LLB, becoming an advocate in 1970. He was a founder of the Thistle Group, advocating a federal Britain. As the heir to a Marquessate, he was entitled to style himself the Earl of Ancram. Initially, he did, until as a young advocate he found judges addressing him as “my Lord”.

In February 1974 he was elected for Berwickshire & East Lothian, ousting Labour’s Professor John Mackintosh by 540 votes despite a national swing to Labour. That October, Mackintosh won the seat back. By the time Mackintosh died in 1978 and a by-election was called, Ancram – now vice-chairman of the Scottish party – had been adopted for Edinburgh South, where the sitting Tory was retiring.

At the 1979 election Ancram fought off the young Gordon Brown, holding the seat by 2,460 votes. He joined the Energy Select Committee, and from 1980 chaired the Scottish party. He joined Margaret Thatcher’s government after the 1983 election as Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Scottish Office. 

In October 1984 he survived the IRA’s bombing of the Grand Hotel at Brighton. He was in bed when the bomb exploded; rubble blocked the fire escape and it took him some time to get out – discovering three close friends had died.

Michael Ancram became a board member of Scottish Homes. He also chaired Waverley Housing, which managed 1,100 homes, then bought them from Scottish Homes for as little as £1 each. The Public Accounts Committee later ruled the relationship “improper”; Ancram had had no financial interest in it, however.

As Tory fortunes waned in Scotland, Ancram tried for Kensington & Chelsea and Rutland & Melton before being adopted for Devizes, inheriting Charles Morrison’s 20,000 majority; he would champion the constituency’s strong military connections in the House.

Returning to the Commons in 1992, he joined the Public Accounts Committee and chaired the Conservative backbench constitutional committee. He tried to shore up Norman Lamont as Chancellor after “Black Wednesday”, and urged Tories to have the “courage” to support John Major over Maastricht.

Within a year he was back in government, as Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Northern Ireland under Patrick Mayhew; Number 10 called while he was ski-ing at Davos. 

After the Conservatives’ rout in 1997 Ancram backed Hague for the leadership, and became constitutional affairs spokesman as Tony Blair’s government launched its devolution plans and flirted with proportional representation. He accused New Labour of “undermining our constitution in a cynical attempt to consolidate its hold on power”. He became deputy party chairman, then in 1998 chairman. He inherited low morale in the constituencies, and at Central Office following “downsizing” by the party’s chief executive, Archie Norman.

He chaired the Conservatives into the 2001 election, when the party suffered as bad a mauling as four years before. The result was blamed in part on Hague and Ancram turning the election into a referendum on the euro, which in the event Blair’s government never joined.

When Hague stood down Ancram went for the leadership, pledging “a strong, united party with radical policies that will make a difference”. In the first ballot in June 2001, he and David Davis finished joint last with 21 MPs’ votes, against 49 for Michael Portillo, 39 for Duncan Smith and 36 for Kenneth Clarke.

Party rules made no provision for a tie, so a fresh ballot was ordered. This time Ancram polled 17 to Davis’s 18. He then backed Duncan Smith, who overtook Portillo to clinch the leadership. 

Appointed deputy leader and Shadow Foreign Secretary, Ancram castigated Labour’s “shameful inaction” over human rights abuses by Robert Mugabe, and scorned the proposed European Constitution.

When Duncan Smith was forced out in 2003, Ancram was the first senior Tory to commit to Howard, and stayed deputy leader. In the 2005 election his campaigning contributed to the Conservatives finally regaining some ground.

Ancram stayed on, pending the election of David Cameron late that year as Howard’s successor. He also became Shadow Defence Secretary, increasingly critical of Britain’s military presence in Iraq. He returned to the back benches the following year, joining the Intelligence and Security Committee, and in 2010 he left the Commons with a peerage, as Baron Kerr of Monteviot.

Ancram’s elder daughter, Lady Clare, suffered from ME/CFS, until she was successfully treated at the Breakspear Hospital in Hertfordshire. In 2004 he launched the Breakspear Hospital Trust.

He became a Scottish QC in 1996, and deputy lieutenant for Roxburgh, Ettrick and Lauderdale in 1990. He succeeded his father, 11 October, 2004, as 13th Marquess of Lothian, 14th Earl of Lothian, 15th Earl of Ancram, 13th Viscount of Briene, 16th Lord Jedburgh, 14th Lord Newbottle, 15th Lord Kerr of Nisbet, Longnewtoun and Dolphinstoun, 13th Lord Ker of Newbottle, Oxnam, Jedburgh, Dolphinstoun and Nisbet, and 8th Baron Ker, of Kershaugh in the County of Roxburgh.

He was created a life peer in 2010 as Baron Kerr of Monteviot, of Monteviot in Roxburghshire.

As Earl of Ancram he married 7 June, 1975, the Lady Theresa Jane Fitzalan-Howard (born 24 January, 1945), younger daughter of the 16th Duke of Norfolk, KG, GCVO, GBE (1908-75), and his wife the Hon Lavinia Mary Strutt, LG, CBE (who died 1995).

His wife succeeded to the Lordship of Herries of Terregles, 7 April, 2017, inheriting the title from her elder sister. They had three daughters, Lady Sarah Margaret (born and died 13 June, 1976), Lady Clare Therese (born 25 January, 1979), heir to her mother's peerage, and Lady Mary Cecil (born 1981).

He is succeeded as 14th Marquess by his brother, Lord Ralph William Francis Joseph Kerr, born 7 November, 1957. The 14th Marquess lives at the family seat, Ferniehurst Castle, Jedburgh, Roxburghshire, and Melbourne Hall, Derby. He married 5 March, 1988, Marie-Clare Black, 2nd daughter of (Michael) Donald Gordon Black, MC (1932-2009), by his wife the former Priscilla M.A. Holt (born 1937). They have four sons and two daughters.

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Sarah Victoria Caulcutt (née Cottrell) (died 2024)

 Sarah Victoria Caulcutt (née Cottrell), died 20 September, 2024. 

She was born circa 1952, a daughter of David Vernon Swynfen Cottrell (1923-2008), and his wife the former Leontine Mariette Dyson Perrins (1923-2019), scion of that landed gentry family; and married firstly, in 1972, Colin Macinnes; married secondly, in 1991, John Clive Willian Avon Caulcutt  (born 1947), son of John Antony Caulcutt (1918-1966), and his wife the former Elsie O.B. von Hartz.

Sarah's brother Mark Swynfen Cottrell (born 1955), married the Hon Fiona Caroline Mary Watson (born 26 Sept, 1953), daughter of the 3rd Baron Manton (1924-2003).

Sarah Caulcutt leaves two daughters from her first marriage, Alice Helen (born 1975), and Emma Charlotte (born 1977), and a daughter from her second marriage, Sophie Marina (born 1991).

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Charles Stephen Napier Crookenden 1957-2024

Charles Stephen Napier Crookenden, who died 6 September, 2024, aged 67, was a grandson maternally of the late 2nd Baron Kindersley.

He was born 3 February, 1957, the second son of Lieutenant-General Sir Napier Crookenden, KCB, DSO, OBE  (1915-2002), and his wife the Hon Patricia Nassau Kindersley (1922-2010), daughter of the 2nd Baron Kindersley (1899-1976); and married 21 February, 1998, Michelle Lynn Ott, daughter of Joseph Ott, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, United States, by whom he had issue, two sons, Patrick (born 14 May, 2001), and his twin Oliver, and a daughter, Grace (born 2005).

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Second child expected for Princess Beatrice & Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi

Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrice, Mrs Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi [born 8 Aug, 1988], and Mr Edoardo Alessandro M. Mapelli Mozzi [born London 1 November, 1983], are expecting their second child in the Spring of 2025. 

Edo Mapelli Mozzi is the son of Count Alessandro [Alex] Mapelli Mozzi [born 1951], by his former wife the former Nicola Diana Burrows [born Feb 1956] [now Mrs Nikki Williams-Ellis, MBE].

Princess Beatrice is the elder daughter of HRH The Prince Andrew, Duke of York [born 19 February, 1960], by his former wife the former Sarah Margaret Ferguson [born 15 October, 1959].

Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh joined the Duke of York at the scaled down Covid-secure wedding of their granddaughter and Edo Mapelli Mozzi at the Chapel Royal in Windsor Great Park, in July, 2020. Around twenty guests attended the wedding.

The Mapelli Mozzis first child, a daughter Sienna Elizabeth, was born 18 September, 2021.

Edoardo's maternal grandmother, the former Susan Arnot Heath, married firstly, Robert David Burrows [Edo's grandfather], and married secondly, Lieutenant-Col Greville Wyndham Tufnell, CVO [born 1932], of the Grenadier Guards, who has close associations with the Royal Household.

Count Edoardo Alessandro M Mapelli Mozzi (known as Edo) was born in Westminster, 1st November, 1983, son of Count Alessandro (Alex) Mapelli Mozzi, and his former wife the former Nicola Diana [Nikki] Burrows. He has an elder sister Natalia Alice, born in 1981, wife of Mr Tod Yeomans.

His father, who was born in 1951, is a British Olympian, an Alpine skier, took part in several events at the 1972 Olympic Games.

Edo's grandfather was Count Gian Paolo Mapelli Mozzi (1922-80), Italian aristocrat, who married Gigliola Stoppani. Count Gian Paolo was a son of Count Luigi Mapelli Mozzi (1894-1948), who married Nobile Maria Mercedes Baroli.

Count Luigi was a son of Count Paolo Mapelli Mozzi (1854-1921), who married Enrichetta Tarsis dei Conti di Castel d'Agogna (1866-1941). Count Paolo was the son of Count Alessandro Mapelli Mozzi (1815-79) who married Nobile Ippolita Giulino dei Conti di Vialba.

The Mapelli Mozzi name came about from the marriage of Count Alessandro's father, Nobile Gerolamo Mapelli (1785-1842) with Angela Mozzi.

Edo's mother married as her second husband Christopher M.H. Shale, a British businessman and Conservative politician, friend of former prime minister David Cameron. Mr Shale died from natural causes at Glastonbury, in June, 2011. Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie and their parents the Duke and Duchess of York attended Mr Shale's funeral. Mrs Shale married thirdly, the sculptor David Williams-Ellis, a great nephew of Clough Williams-Ellis, the architect.

Mrs Williams-Ellis was awarded the MBE in David Cameron's resignation honours.

Edo has a half-brother, Albemarle Christopher M.H. Shale, ten years his junior.

The Mapelli Mozzi family have several connections to the British aristocracy. Edo's cousin, Edward Ankarcrona, son of Countess Margaretha Mapelli Mozzi, married in 2006, Lady Lucinda Savile, a daughter of the Earl and Countess of Mexborough.

Although he enjoys the title of "Count" he is a British subject and technically cannot use a foreign title in this country. Foreign styles and titles were confined to those who received a Royal Warrant from King George V in 1932.

Edo has a son, Christopher Woolf "Wolfie", born in 2016, from a previous relationship.

The royal baby will be the 14th great-grandchild for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II:-

1. Savannah Anne Kathleen Phillips, born 29 December, 2010

2. Isla Elizabeth Phillips, born 29 March, 2012

3. Prince George Alexander Louis of Wales, born 22 July, 2013

4. Mia Grace Tindall, born 17 January, 2014

5. Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana of Wales, born 2 May, 2015

6. Prince Louis Arthur Charles of Wales, born 23 April, 2018

7. Lena Elizabeth Tindall, born 18 June, 2018

8. Prince Archie Harrison of Sussex, born 6 May, 2019

9. August Philip Hawke Brooksbank, born 9 February, 2021

10. Lucas Philip Tindall, born 21 March, 2021

11. Princess Lilibet Diana of Sussex, born 4 June, 2021

12. Sienna Elizabeth Mapelli Mozzi, born 18 September, 2021

13. Ernest George Ronnie Brooksbank, born 30 May, 2023

14. Baby Mapelli Mozzi 

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Fiona Dawn Cory Vernon 1947-2024

 (Fiona) Dawn Cory Vernon, who died 18 September, 2024, aged 77, was a granddaughter maternally of Sir James Cory, 1st Baronet.

She was born 16 February, 1947, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel William Handley Ferguson (who died 4 Aug, 1972), and his wife the former Jessie Rosalie Cory (1911-1989); and married 17 July, 1969, Greville Edward Mervyn Vernon (born 19 July, 1944), son of Maj Mervyn Sydney Bobus Vernon, MVO (1912-1991), the Grenadier Guards, by his wife the former Lady Violet Mary Baring (1911-1978), daughter of the 2nd Earl of Cromer, GCB, GCIE, GCVO, PC (1877-1953), by whom he had issue, a son, James (born 1971), and two daughters, Zara (born 1973), and Sasha (born 1979).

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Monday, September 30, 2024

Nicholson/McLeod engagement

The engagement was announced 30 September, 2024, between Edward Ivo Nicholson (born 1994), youngest son of Frank Nicholson (born 11 February, 1954), of Co Durham, and his wife the former Lavinia Margaret Grace Stourton (born 1 October, 1962), scion of the Barons Mowbray, Segrave & Stourton, & Madeleine Kate McLeod (b 1994), daughter of Fraser Neil McLeod, (born 1951), of Bristol, and his wife the former Angela Campbell.

The 19th Baron Stourton (1802-72) > Hon Albert Stourton (1835-1902) > Herbert Stourton (1873-1932) > Sir Ivo Stourton (1901-85) > Nigel Stourton (1929-2021) > Lavinia Stourton (b 1962) > Edward Nicholson (b 1994)

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Sir Thomas Lawson-Tancred, 9th Baronet (1870-1945) > Pauline Lawson-Tancred (b 1916) > Frank Nicholson (b 1954) > Edward Nicholson (b 1994)

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Henson/Rodríguez-Legorburu Cabrera-Kábana marriage

 The marriage has taken place in Madrid, in September, 2024, between Jasper Cornelius Richard Henson (born 1994), only son of Rupert Cornelius Brooke Henson (born 1962), of Longworth, Oxfordshire, and his wife the former Caroline Belinda Frisby (born 17 Aug, 1963), scion of that landed gentry family, & Doña Isabel Rodríguez-Legorburu Cabrera-Kábana (born 25 May, 1988), scion of a Spanish aristocratic family, elder daughter of Eduardo Rodríguez y Legorburu, the Condes de Asmir of Madrid, Spain, and his wife the former Isabel Cabrera-Kábana Sartorius.

 Jasper Henson is a brother of the Duchess of Westminster, wife of the 7th Duke.

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Sunday, September 29, 2024

A son for Maddison Brudenell and Bret Kapetanov

Maddison May Brudenell (born 16 May, 1994), partner of Bret Kapetanov (born circa 1994), gave birth to a son, Michael Adam, 6 August, 2024

Maddison, a descendant of Queen Victoria, announced her engagement to Bret in June, 2023. Mr Kapetanov, a millwright, hails from Windsor, Ontario. The couple plan to marry in October, 2024.

Maddison, daughter of the actor Jeremy Alexander Rothwell Brudenell (born 2 April, 1960) and his wife the former Edwina Victoria Louise Hicks (born 24 December, 1961), elder daughter of the late David Nightingale Hicks (1929-1998), by his wife the former Lady Pamela Carmen Louise Mountbatten (born 19 April, 1929), younger daughter of Admiral of the Fleet the late 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (1900-79).

In 2015 Maddison married Olaoluwa Olamide Modupe-Ojo, a musician under the name "Jazz Purple". The marriage ended in divorce.

Maddison has issue from her first marriage, two daughters, Daphne (born 26 Nov, 2016), and  Phoebe (born 15 Dec, 2018), and a son, Moses (b 2020).

The baby is named in honour of Maddison's paternal grandfather, the late John Michael Brudenell (1925-2015), the royal obstetrician.

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Saturday, September 28, 2024

Bowcock/Cornock engagement

The engagement was announced 28 September, 2024, between Dominic Matthew Bowcock (born 1994), son of Matthew Philip Bowcock (born 1956), of Haslemere, Surrey, and his wife Helen, & Pippa Ann Cornock (born 1995), second daughter of Ian Charles Cornock (born 1963), of Hadley, Worcestershire, and his wife the former Diana Elizabeth Vyvyan-Robinson (born 24 July, 1963), scion of the Vyvyan baronets.

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Patrick Rowan Esau Cumming-Bruce (born 2024)

 Henrietta Perpetua Agnes (Hetty) Cumming-Bruce (nee Scrope, born 1991), wife of the Hon George Patrick Roualeyn Hovell-Thurlow-Cumming-Bruce [born 19 March, 1990], scion of the Barons Thurlow, gave birth to a son, Patrick Rowan Esau, 18 August, 2024, a brother for Kester Francis, who was born 3 November, 2022.

Hetty Cumming-Bruce is a scion of the ancient landed family og Scrope of Danby, youngest daughter of Maj. Peter Geoffrey Scrope [born 3 January, 1955], of Great Ayton, North Yorkshire, and his wife the former Penelope Eldrydd Davies [born 31 March, 1955], scion of the Barons Davies.

The Hon George Cumming-Bruce is the younger son of the 9th Baron Thurlow [born 13 April, 1952], of Mapledurham, Oxfordshire, and his wife the former Bridget Anne Julia Cheape.

John Savile, 6th Earl of Mexborough [1868-1945] > Lady Beatrice Savile [1910-73] > Peter Scrope [b 1955] > Hetty Scrope [b 1991] > Patrick Cumming-Bruce (b 2024)

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Friday, September 27, 2024

Ann Mary Muir (née Corbally) 1944-2024

  Ann Mary Muir (née Corbally) died 14 September, 2024, aged 80.

She was born in Oxfordshire, in 1944, scion of a landed gentry family, a daughter of Air Vice Marshal Edward John Corbally, CBE, RAF (1908-1981), and his wife the former Alfreda Clare Sumner (1908-1993), a scion of that landed gentry family; and married 1stly, in 1966 (div) Timothy M. Jenkins (born 1942), by whom she had three sons and two daughters; married secondly, in 1993, as his second wife, Andrew Hugh John Muir (born 28 August, 1943), third son of Sir John Harling Muir, 3rd Baronet (1910-1994), and his wife the former Elizabeth Mary Dundas (1914-2008), scion of the Earls (later Marquesses) of Zetland. Her husband is a younger brother of Sir Richard Muir, 4th Baronet (1939-2023), and Sir Ian Muir, 5th Baronet (born 16 September, 1940).

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Cecilia Marina Campbell de Almeida (born 2024)

 Ishbel Elizabeth Rose Campbell de Almeida (née Campbell, born 30 November, 1988), wife of Marco Silva de Almeida, and scion of the Earls Cawdor, gave birth to a daughter, Cecilia Marina, 16 September, 2024, a sister for Orlando Jorge, who was born 25 October, 2022.

Ishbel is the elder daughter of James Farquhar Robin Campbell (born 26 November, 1958), and his wife the former Marina Caroline Vere Norton (born 6 May, 1961), descended from the Ogilvy baronets.

The 2nd Earl Cawdor (1817-1898) > Capt The Hon Ronald Campbell (1848-1879) > Lt-Col Robert Campbell (1878-1945) > Maj Robin Campbell (b 1927) > James Campbell (b 1958) > Ishbel Campbell (b 1988) > Cecilia Campbell de Almeida (b 2024)

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Victor Jules Barnett 1933-2024

 Victor Jules Barnett, who died 20 September, 2024, aged 91, was a British-American businessman, former executive chairman of Burberry, and member of the wealthy Wolfson family.

Victor Jules Barnett was born in London, in 1933 to Esmond Barnett (1901-1934), of London, and Edith Wolfson (1902-1997), sister of Sir Isaac Wolfson, 1st Baronet (1897-1991).

His father died young, leaving Barnett to be raised by his mother and her siblings, among them Sir Isaac Wolfson, Bt. Moving to New York City after World War II, Barnett graduated from the Horace Mann School and with a bachelor's degree in economics from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

Barnett began his career managing what was then the fledgling American operation of Burberry, a subsidiary of his family's retail conglomerate Great Universal Stores (GUS). He joined Revlon, Inc. in 1961, serving as executive vice president under Charles Revson until 1976. Barnett then returned to help manage the family business, GUS, joining his cousins Leonard (1927-2010), the life peer as Baron Wolfson, and David Wolfson (1935-2021), the life peer as Baron Wolfson of Sunningdale, on the group's board of directors and executive committee. As head of GUS in North America, Barnett led the acquisition and growth of credit agency Experian in 1996.

In 1997, he became executive chairman of Burberry to reinvigorate the house's neglected management. At Burberry, Barnett led a reorganization of the company, hiring Rose Marie Bravo as chief executive, renegotiating deals with Burberry's Japanese licensees, acquiring their licensee in Spain, and driving major real estate purchases including its flagship stores on New Bond Street and East 57th Street. Over Barnett's tenure Burberry's operating profits more than quadrupled and the brand became recognized as a global luxury fashion house. In January 2001, Burberry started to look for a replacement for Barnett. In July 2001, Barnett stepped down as chairman of Burberry.

The family took Burberry public in 2002, and demerged GUS into Home Retail Group and Experian in 2006. Following his retirement from GUS and Burberry, Barnett bought pharmaceutical company Shaklee with his younger son Roger and joined the board of Grey Global Group.

Barnett was married to Helaine M. Barnett, a prominent legal aid attorney and former president of the Legal Services Corporation. They had two sons, Craig Edward (born 1962), an investment banker, and Roger Lawrence (born 1964), CEO of Shaklee.

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