The engagement was announced 18 January, 2025, between Barnaby Guy B. Curran (born 1994), eldest son of Dominic B. Curran (born 1962), of Ellesmere, Shropshire, and his wife the former Rosemary Ormrod (born 1962), and the Hon Amelia Alexandra Howard (born 4 May, 1996), daughter of the 5th Baron Strathcona & Mount Royal (born 24 June, 1961), of Isle of Colonsay, Scotland, and his wife the former Jane Maree Gibb.
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Alice Victoria R. Bethell (nee Mills, born 1991), wife of Nicholas Bethell [born 1990], a scion of the landed gentry family of Bethell of Rise, gave birth to a son, Cosmo Henry Atticus, 18 November, 2024, a brother for Rudy Casper Ludo, who was born 25 November, 2022.
Alice is the elder daughter of Andrew Mills, of Farthinghoe, Northamptonshire, and his wife the former Vanessa A. Harford. Nicholas Bethell is the third son of Hugh Adrian Bethell [born 23 April, 1952], of Rise, East Riding of Yorkshire, by his wife the former Sarah Elizabeth St Aubyn [born 28 June, 1955], scion of the Barons St Levan. Nicholas's paternal grandfather, Richard Anthony Bethell, married 27 Sept, 1945, Lady Jane Pleydell-Bouverie [1923-2006], daughter of the 7th Earl of Radnor [1895-1968].
On Nicholas's maternal side he descends from the Barons St Levan, of St Michael's Mount, Penzance, and the Earls of Morley, &c.
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Emily Vestey (nee Harris), wife of Thomas Hector Moubray (Tom) Vestey (born 1993), scion of the Vestey baronets, gave birth to a daughter, Tamsin Elizabeth Josephine, 7 January, 2025, a sister for Sebastian.
Tom Vestey is a son of George Moubray William Vestey (born 1964), of Great Thurlow, Suffolk, and Mrs Rachel Philippa Vestey (nee Osborne), of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.
Emily Vestey is a daughter of Patrick Osborne, of Currandooley, NSW, Australia.
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Dame Joan Plowright (The Baroness Olivier), the actress, widow of the great actor Laurence Olivier, died 16 January, 2025, aged 95.
Born at Brigg, Lincolnshire, 28 Oct, 1929. Married 1stly 19, Sept1953 (div 1960) Roger Gage (1928-2018), married 2ndly 1961 Sir Laurence Oliver, who was raised to the peerage for life as Baron Olivier, and died in 1989.
The 6th Viscount Knutsford died 3 January, 2025, aged 98.
Michael Holland-Hibbert was born 27 December, 1926, son of the Hon Wilfrid Knutsford Holland-Hibbert (1893-1961), and his wife the former Isabel Audrey Fenwick (1894-1987).
He succeeded to the family honours, 8 March, 1986, on the death of his cousin the 5th Viscount. The viscountcy (Peerage of the UK) was awarded in 1895 to Henry Holland-Hibbert, secretary of state for the Colonies. He was also Baron Knutsford (Peerage of the UK, cr 1888), and a baronet (cr 1853).
The viscount, of Broadclyst House, Exeter, married 8 May, 1951, the Hon Sheila Constance Portman (1927-2018), daughter of the 5th Viscount Portman (1898-1942), and his wife the former Hon Sybil Mary Douglas-Pennant (who died 1975), daughter of the 3rd Baron Penrhyn (1864-1927), &c.
Viscount Portman leaves issue, two sons, Henry and James, and a daughter, Lucy. The elder son, the Hon Henry Thurstan Holland-Hibbert, who was born 6 Apr, 1959, succeeds to the viscountcy, barony and baronetcy. He is married to Katherine Ropner (born 16 Apr, 1964), scion of the baronets of that name, and they have issue, two sons and two daughters.
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Sir George Earle, 6th Baronet, died 1 January, 2025, aged 92.
Hardman George Algernon Earle was born 4 February, 1932, son of Sir Hardman Alexander Mort Earle, 5th Baronet (1902-1979), and his wife the former Maie Drage (1906-1986), and succeeded to the baronetcy on his father's death, 17 September, 1979.
He married 24 January, 1967, Diana Gillian Bligh St George (born 24 March, 1939), scion of the St George baronets, daughter of Colonel Frederick Ferris Bligh St George (1908-1970), by his wife the former Meriel Margaret Radcliffe (1908-1966), a descendant of the Earls of Macclesfield, by whom he had issue a son, Robert George Bligh Earle, born 24 January, 1970, and a daughter, Katherine, born 8 July, 1968.
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The engagement was announced 13 January, 2025, between Jago George Anthony Clive (born 19 January, 1997), scion of the Viscounts Boyd of Merton, eldest son of the Hon Edward George Clive (born 39 March, 1968), of Whitfield, Herefordshire, and his wife the former Tamsin Szerina Hitchens, & Thais Emily Hitchins (born 1997), daughter of Jonathan R. Hitchins, of Boddington, Gloucestershire, and his wife the former Rita D. (Cassie) Bretas Ferreira.
Jago was born surnamed Lennox-Boyd. His father assumed the surname of Clive in lieu of his patronymic, in 2003.
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Leonora Katherine Ziana Sichel [born 1988, nee de Ferranti], wife of Charles Julius Sylvester Sichel [born 1981], gave birth to a son, Julius Charles Adrian, 28 December 2024, a brother for Alexander and Theodore.
Charles Sichel is a son of John Henry Sylvester Sichel [born 1947], of Oxford and the Isle of Wight, by his wife the former Diana E.J. [Dee] Ferguson [born 1950].
Leonora is a daughter of Adrian Ziani de Ferranti [born 1956], of Ellisfield, Hampshire, by his wife the former Christian L. Roome [born 1957], and a granddaughter of Basil Reginald Vincent Ziani de Ferranti [1930-1988], by his wife the former Susan Sarah Gore [born 1935].
Leonora's grandmother, Susan Gore, descends from the Earls of Eglinton & Winton.
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Sarah Elizabeth Dalrymple Hamilton (born 1990, nee Burnford), wife of Major Edward J.R. Dalrymple Hamilton, the Scots Guards (born 1986) scion of the Earls of Stair, gave birth to a son, George William John, 2 January, 2025, a brother for Arthur Charles North, born 6 January, 2019, and for Rose Beatrice Elizabeth, born 4 June, 2020, and for twins Beatrice Cecilia Alice and Florence Henrietta Coco, born 8 October, 2022, sisters for
Maj Dalrymple Hamilton is the second son of Colonel (North) John Frederick Dalrymple Hamilton, OBE, of Bargany, Ayrshire, by his wife the former Sally-Anne How.
Sarah Dalrymple Hamilton is the elder daughter of Mr Michael J. Burnford, of Itchenor, West Sussex, by his wife the former Anne Carter.
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The engagement was announced 11 January, 2025, between Edmund B. Fulford (born 1996), scion of that landed family of Great Fulford, second son of Francis Fulford (born 1957), of Great Fulford, Devon, and his wife the former Kishanda Tulloch, & Lulu F.M. Wallis, eldest daughter of Mr & Mrs Stephen Wallis, of Withersfield, Suffolk.
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Diana M.I. Scarisbrick (nee Wood) died 30 December, 2024, aged 96.
She married in 1955, Peter Ewald Scarisbrick, Grenadier Guards (born 1923, who died 27 July, 2018), son of Capt Charles Scarisbrick and his wife the former Evelyn Aird (died 27 Feb, 1957), scion of the Aird baronets, by whom she had issue, a daughter, Sophie.
Her husband was a grandson maternally of Maj. Sir John Aird, 2nd Baronet (1861-1934).
Her daughter Sophie married in 1982, the Hon John Peter Robin Hood Hastings-Bass (born 5 June, 1954), scion of the Earls of Huntingdon, son of Peter Robin Hood Hastings-Bass (1920-64), and his wife the former Priscilla Victoria Bullock (1920-2010). Sophie's husband is a younger brother of the 17th Earl of Huntingdon (born 30 Jan, 1948).
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Sir Thomas Dunne, KG, KCVO, who died 6 January, 2025, aged 91, was a long serving lord lieutenant of Hereford and Worcester and a Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.
Thomas Raymond Dunne was born 24 October, 1933, a scion of a landed gentry family, son of Philip Russell Rendel Dunne (1904-1965) of Gatley Park, Herefordshire, and his wife the former Margaret Anne Walker, only child of Thomas Hood Walker, of Crosbie Tower, Troon, Ayrshire, and was educated at Eton College, and the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst.
He married 17 July, 1957, Henrietta Rose Crawley (born 1937), third daughter of Maj Cosmo Crawley, of Littledene, Glynde, Sussex, by whom he had issue, two sons, Philip Martin (b 14 Aug, 1958), former Conservative MP for Ludlow, and a godson of Princess Alexandra, the Hon Lady Ogilvy; and Nicholas Dunne, who is married to Lady Jasmine Cavendish, daughter of the Duke of Devonshire, KCVO, and a daughter, Camilla Rose (b 21 Mar, 1968), wife of the Hon Rupert Soames, a great-grandson of Sir Winston Churchill, KG, &c, and Letitia Dunne (deceased).
Dunne was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Hereford and Worcester in 1977, three years after the administrative counties of Herefordshire and Worcestershire were merged to form Hereford and Worcester. In 1995, he was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order. In 1998, Hereford and Worcester reverted to its original counties, and Sir Thomas became Lord Lieutenant of Herefordshire and Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire. He retired from the latter on 31 July 2001. He was Chairman of the Lord Lieutenants Association.
In 2008, he was made a Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter, England's highest order of chivalry.
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Christopher Brian Amery, late the Blues & Royals, died 8 January, 2025, aged 92.
He was a son of Richard Gregory Gill Amery (1903-1986), and his wife the former Lynda May Hodges (1900-1994); and married 13 September, 1973, Kathryn Gabriel Hely Hutchinson (born 25 March, 1944), scion of the Earls of Donoughmore, fourth of the five daughters, of Lieutenant-Col the Hon David Edward Hely Hutchinson (1911-1984), and his wife the former Barbara Mary Wyld (1913-2000), by whom he had issue, two sons, Edward (born 24 Mar, 1975), and Nicholas (born 21 Jul 1979).
Christopher's wife is a granddaughter of the 6th Earl of Donoughmore (1875-1948).
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Jane Eve Phillips (nee Shakerley), who died 2 January, 2025, aged 94, was a scion of the Shakerley baronets.
She was born 6 April, 1930, the daughter of Maj Sir Cyril Holland Shakerley, 5th Baronet (1897-1970), and his wife the former Elizabeth Averil Eardley-Wilmot (1905-1990), scion of that landed family, and she was a sister of the society photographer Sir Geoffrey Shakerley, 6th Baronet (1932-2012), who married the Lady Elizabeth Anson (1941-2020), a cousin of Queen Elizabeth II.
She married 1 May, 1963, Capt David William Phillips, RAFVR (who died 2016), son of Capt Percival Phillips, of Paignton, Devon, by whom she had issue, a daughter, Katherine (born 16 Feb, 1966).
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