Major Richard Colin Bonham Sampson 1950-2026

Major Richard Colin Bonham Sampson, died 4 April, 2026. He was 76.

He was born 10 February, 1950, son of Major Richard Claude Sampson (1916-2000), and his wife Rosemary Anne Collingridge (1924-2022); and married 26 January, 1985 (div. 2008), Mariana Victoria Magdalen Bray (born 26 January, 1956), daughter of Francis Arthur Michael Bray, DSC (1921-2004), and his wife Victoria Seely (b 1933- died 11 February, 2026), daughter of Sir Victor Basil John Seely, 4th Baronet (1900-1980), by whom he had issue, three sons, George (b 29 Jan, 1986), Charles (b 26 Oct, 1988), and Hugo (b 7 May, 1991).

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Dorothy Frances Fleming 1955-2026

Dorothy Frances Fleming, who died 29 March, 2026, aged 70, was a scion of that landed gentry family of Nettlebed.

She was born 21 June, 1955, the youngest daughter of Major Richard Evelyn Fleming, MC, TD (1910-1977), and his wife the Hon Dorothy Charmian Hermon-Hodge (1913-2001), daughter of the 2nd Baron Wyfold (1880-1942). She was a niece of the 'James Bond' writer Ian Fleming (1908-1964). She was unmarried.

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Andrew Michael Smiley 1952-2026

 Andrew Michael Smiley, who died 17 April, 2026, aged 73, was a scion of the Smiley baronets.

He was born 30 November, 1952, the second son of Major Charles Michael Smiley, CVO (1910-1991), and his wife Lavinia Pearson (1919-1991), scion of the Viscounts Cowdray; and married at Chelsea, in October, 1975, (Sarah) Caroline Coade (born 1956), daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Courtenay Coade (1917-1967), and his wife the former Pauline Violet Ramsden (1927-2002), by whom he had two daughters, Charlotte Sarah (born 1983), and Sarah Miranda (born 1986).

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Rev David Burton Evans 1935-2026

The Rev David Burton Evans died 11 April, 2026. He was 91.

Born circa 1935, son of Thomas Evans, of Shrewsbury, he married 27 September, 1975, Charlotte Antonia Caulfeild (born 17 April, 1939), scion of the Viscounts Charlemont, daughter of Wade Toby Caulfeild (1902-1991), and his wife Philippa Mary Brocklebank (1911-1996), scion of that landed gentry family. No issue of the union.

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The King has made three new appointments to the Order of the Garter on St George's Day

 His Majesty the King has marked St George's Day 2026 by appointing three distinguished members of the House of Lords to the ancient and prestigious Order of the Garter.

England's senior order of chivalry has been bestowed upon historian and former journalist the Baron Hennessy of Nympsfield (born 28 March, 1947). Lord Hennessy is a historian and academic specialising in the history of government. Since 1992, he has been Attlee Professor of Contemporary British History at Queen Mary University of London.

The accolade has also been awarded to the former cabinet secretary the Baron O'Donnell, GCB (born 1 October, 1952), the former senior civil servant and economist, who between 2005 and 2011 (under three Prime Ministers) served as the Cabinet Secretary, the highest official in the British Civil Service.

The third appointment is filled by the former chief justice the Baron Burnett of Maldon, PC (born 28 February, 1958), Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales from 2017 to 2023.

These St George's Day honours bring the number of non royal Knights of the Garter to twenty three. There remains one vacancy in the order of chivalry founded by King Edward III in 1348, reportedly inspired by the tales of King Arthur. The order’s Knights and Lady companions are chosen personally by the sovereign.

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Boyle/Lang engagement

 The engagement was announced 22 April, 2026, between Jocelyn William Rupert Boyle (born 6 April, 1998),  scion of the Earls of Cork & Orrery, third son of Rupert Lancelot Cavemdish Boyle (born 19 September, 1960), of Laxton, Northamptonshire, by his wife the former Sarah Daphne Berry, & Samantha K. Lang, middle daughter of Mr Martin Lang and the late Mrs Alison Lang, of the Cayman Islands.

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Baroness Grainger, DBE

THE KING has been pleased by Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the Realm dated 20 April 2026 to confer the dignity of a Barony of the United Kingdom for life upon Dame Katherine Jane Grainger, D.B.E., by the name, style and title of BARONESS GRAINGER, of Garelochhead in the County of Dunbartonshire.

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Nicoletti/Hill engagement

 The engagement was announced 18 April, 2026, between Carlo Nicoletti, only son of Mr Massimo Nicoletti and Mrs Gisella Franco, of Milan, Italy, and Rosanna Virginia Hill (born 23 November, 1989), scion of that landed gentry family formerly of Hanbury, daughter of Christopher Francis Edward Hill (born 1955), of Holfield Grange, Essex, head of that family, and his wife the former Anna Mary Butcher.

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Burch/Lobanov-Rostovsky engagement

The engagement was announced 18 April, 2026, between Marcus James Burch (born 2 August, 1995), youngest son of Jeremy Ian Burch (born 1962), of Cardiff, Wales, and his wife the former Elisabeth Ann Thomas (born 1965), & Princess Sophia Chariclea Lobanov-Rostovsky (born 10 April, 1996), daughter of Prince Dimitry Lobanov-Rostovsky (born 14 September, 1962), of Wimbledon, London, and his wife the former Jonkvrouw Marina Cecilia Wladimiroff (born 26 April, 1966).

Princess Sophia is descended from the Trench Barons Ashtown.

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Mackenzie/Courage engagement

 The engagement was announced 18 April, 2026, between Alexander Charles Mackenzie (born 10 May, 1995), son of Marcus Charles Mackenzie (born April, 1965), of Putney, London, and his wife the former Joanna Pierce, & Beatrice Millicent Courage (born 14 April, 1995), scion of that landed gentry family, only daughter of Christopher John Courage (born 30 July, 1962), of Weacombe, Somerset, and his wife the former Alexandra Louise Haynes (born 17 March, 1966), a granddaughter maternally of the 10th Baron Vaux of Harrowden (1915-2002).

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Rachel Georgiana Kew (nee Fane de Salis) 1934-2026

Rachel Georgiana Kew, who died 22 March, 2026, aged 91, was a scion of the de Salis family, descended from the Earls of Westmorland.

She was a sister in the community of the Holy Rood, Middlesbrough, then Thirsk, and a partner in Wholeness Through Christ.

She was born 25 November, 1934, as Rachel Georgiana Fane de Salis, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Edmund William Fane de Salis (1894-1980), and his wife the former Katherine (Nancy) Williams (1896-1975), and she married in March, 1999 (div. 2001), Keith Kew (born July, 1962), son of Kenneth Frederick Kew (1926-2002), by his wife the former Elizabeth Coupland.

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Fuller/Tollemache engagement

The engagement was announced 18 April, 2026, between Peter Jack Fuller (born 1997), son of Stephen R. Fuller, of Lewes, East Sussex, and his wife the former Helen M. Gubbin, & Alice Mary Tollemache (born 11 September, 1997), elder daughter of Sir Richard John Tollemache, 8th Baronet (born 4 May, 1966), of Buckminster, Leicestershire, and his wife the former Amanda Louise Phillips (born 1965).

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Bourke-Borrowes/Drysdale engagement

 The engagement was announced 18 April, 2026, between Hubert Alexander Robert Bourke-Borrowes (born 10 June, 1985), son of Kildare Hubert Bourke-Borrowes (born 20 September, 1942), of North Aston, Oxfordshire, and his second wife the former Sarah Louise McCready (born 1952), & Veronica Mary Drysdale (born 12 March 1991), daughter of Robert Drysdale, of Logie, Fife, and his former wife the former Rachel Rosa Smyth-Osbourne (born 31 May, 1961), scion of that landed gentry family (now Mrs Rachel Halvorsen, of Adstone, Northamptonshire).

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Smith/Colliver engagement

 The engagement was announced 18 April, 2026, between George Hector Courtney Smith (born 29 July, 1993), first son of Christopher Hugh Courtney Smith (born 1961), of Thornhill, Stirlingshire, and his wife the former Charlotte Elizabeth Kerr-Smiley (born 17 January, 1963), scion of the Smiley baronets, and Chloe Iona Colliver (born 1993), daughter of the late Neil Anthony Colliver (1960-1995), and Mrs Judith Colliver (nee Smith), of Kew, London.

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The Baron Clarke of Stone-cum-Ebony, PC 1943-2026

 The Baron Clarke of Stone-cum-Ebony, PC, who died 16 April, 2026, aged 82, was a lawyer and one of the first 11 Supreme Court of the United Kingdom Justices and was the first High Court judge to be appointed directly to that court when it came into existence on 1 October 2009.

He was appointed to the Court of Final Appeal of Hong Kong on 11 April 2011 as a non-permanent judge. He was previously Master of the Rolls and Head of Civil Justice in England and Wales. He retired from the Supreme Court in September 2017.

Anthony Peter Clarke was born 13 May, 1943. 

On 15 April 2009, it was announced that he would be created a life peer, & was gazetted on 29 May 2009 with the title of Baron Clarke of Stone-cum-Ebony, of Stone-cum-Ebony, in the County of Kent, and took his seat as a crossbencher in the House of Lords on 1 June 2009.

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Veryan Williams-Wynn 1943-2026

Veryan Williams-Wynn, who died 8 April, 2026, aged 82, was the former wife of the late Sir David Williams-Wynn, 11th Baronet.

She was born in 1943, as Harriet Veryan Elspeth Tailyour, daughter of General Sir Norman Hastings Tailyour, KCB, DSO (1914-1979), and his wife the former Priscilla June Southby (1916-1971); and married as his 1st wife, 26 October, 1968 (div 1981), David Watkin Williams-Wynn (born 18 February, 1940), son of Sir Owen Watkin Williams-UWynn, 10th Baronet (1904-1988), and his 1st wife the former Margaret Jean Macbean (died 4 Sept, 1961).

Her former husband succeeded his father as the 11th baronet, 13 May, 1988, and died 18 Nov, 2023.

Veryan Williams-Wynn leaves issue, two sons, Sir Charles, the 12th Baronet (born 16 Sept, 1970), and Robert (born 10 Sept, 1977), and twin daughters, Lucinda and Alexandra  (born 18 Dec, 1972)

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The Baron Skidelsky 1939-2026

 The Baron Skidelsky, economic historian, author and crossbench life peer, died 15 April, 2026, aged 86.

Robert Jacob Alexander Skidelsky, Baron Skidelsky, was born 25 April, 1939, and was an economic historian, author and crossbench life peer in the House of Lords. He is best known for his award-winning three-volume biography of John Maynard Keynes, regarded as the definitive study of the economist's life and work. Educated at Jesus College, Oxford, he held academic posts in history and political economy at several universities and was Emeritus Professor of Political Economy at the University of Warwick. Beyond academia, Skidelsky was influential in British public policy debates, serving as the founding chairman of the Social Market Foundation and writing extensively on economics, fiscal policy, and the political implications of technological change.

 On 15 July 1991 he was created a life peer as Baron Skidelsky, of Tilton in the County of East Sussex.

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Cage-White/Wingfield Digby engagement

The engagement was announced 17 April, 2026, between Oliver Timothy Cage-White (born 1996), son of Andrew J. White, of Sandwich, Kent, and his wife the former Sarah E. Cage (born 1964), & Emily Venetia Wingfield Digby (born 1999), scion of that landed gentry family, daughter of Jack Wingfield Digby (born 1965), of Hazelbury Bryan, Dorset, by his former wife the former Caroline Denise Parish (born 1971) (now Mrs Caroline Parish, of Chagford, Devon).

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Gilliat-Smith/Melville engagement

The engagement was announced 16 April, 2026, between Bertram Jack Gilliat-Smith (born 15 August, 1998), eldest son of Matthew Jolyon Gilliat-Smith (born 1959), of Kempley, Gloucestershire, and his wife the former Jennifer Jane Collins (born 1966), & Mary Elizabeth (Molly) Melville (born 11 January, 1997), descended from the Earls of Dundee, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel James Landale (Jamie) Melville (born 1963), of Great Wishford, Wiltshire, by his wife the former Sophie E. Marsh.

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Hills/Reynolds engagement

 The engagement was announced 16 April, 2026, between Jack Evelyn Baring Hills (born 26 July, 1998), descended from the Earls of Cromer, son of (John) George Baring Hills (born 24 March, 1966), of St Kew, Cornwall, and his wife the former Harriet Peter-Hoblyn (born 1968), & Emily Charlotte Beresford (Milly) Reynolds (born 1997), daughter of Peter John Beresford Reynolds (born 12 January, 1961), of Letcombe Bassett, Oxfordshire, and his wife the former Jessica R.L. Snell.

The 2nd Earl of Cromer > Lady Rosemary Baring > John Evelyn Hills > George Hills > Jack Hills

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