The Baron Cormack, DL, FSA, FRHistS 1939-2024

 The Lord Cormack, a Conservative life peer, politician, historian, journalist and author, died 25 February, 2024. He was 84.

Patrick Thomas Cormack, served as an MP for 40 years, from 1970 to 2010, as Tory MP for Cannock at the 1970 general election. Following boundary changes he was elected for South West Staffordshire in 1974, renamed South Staffordshire in 1983. He was elected chair of the Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee in 2005. He was also twice a candidate for the Speakership of the House of Commons. After standing down from the House of Commons in 2010, he served as an active life peer in the House of Lords.

Prior to 1970, Cormack was a member of the Bow Group and the Conservative Monday Club, resigning from both at the end of 1971.

Cormack took an active interest in historical issues, particularly those related to English Heritage. He was also a knowledgeable Parliamentary historian. He wrote many books on subjects ranging from the history of Parliament, British castles, English cathedrals, and a book on William Wilberforce.

Lord Cormack was a trustee of the Churches Preservation Trust from 1972 until his death. He was a council member of British Archaeology since 1979, and was also a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Glaziers and Painters of Glass for the same length of time. From 1983 to 1993, he was Trustee on the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust. He was a consultant and adviser to FIRST, an international affairs organisation, since 1985. He was a vice-president of the Royal Stuart Society and the Heritage Crafts Association. A committed Christian, Cormack was a rector's warden at Parliament's parish church, St Margaret's, Westminster, from 1978 to 1990. He served as president of the British Association of Friends of Museums from 2023 until his death in 2024. He was a longstanding Vice President of the National Churches Trust, and was President of the Prayer Book Society for many years.

Cormack was created a life peer on 18 December 2010, as Baron Cormack, of Enville in the County of Staffordshire. He sat on the Conservative benches in the House of Lords. Cormack opposed the Coalition's plans to reform the House of Lords, speaking out against them numerous times in the chamber.

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Mary Grizel Sackville Hamilton (nee Boyle) 1924-2024

 (Mary) Grizel Sackville Hamilton, who died at York, 9 February, 2024, aged 99, was a scion of the Boyle Earls of Glasgow.

Mary Grizel Boyle was born 2 November, 1924, the elder daughter of Colonel Cecil Alexander Boyle DSO (1888-1941), and his wife the former Gladys Mary Benn (who died 1976); and married 10 December, 1947, Lieutenant-Colonel James Berkeley Sackville-Hamilton (1923-2014), of Acklam Grangle, near Malton, scion of the Viscounts Boyne, son of Colonel Sackville William Sackville Hamilton (1882-1956), and his wife the former Margaret Dowell Hester (died 1993), by whom she had issue, three sons, Charles, Andrew and Nigel, and a daughter, Patricia.

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Iona, Duchess of Argyll 1945-2024

 Iona, Duchess of Argyll, widow of the 12th duke, and former chatelaine of Inveraray Castle, died 22 February, 2024, aged 78.

For almost 30 years she was chatelaine of the Scottish ancestral seat of the Campbells, and presided over the restoration of much of the castle’s interior after a catastrophic fire in the 1970s. The Gothic-revival mansion is set within 60,000 acres of moorland and farmland.

The society beauty was born 22 June, 1945, as Iona Mary Colquhoun, the only daughter of Sir Ivar Colquhoun of Luss, 8th Baronet (1916-2008), Scottish landowner, and his wife the former Kathleen Nimmo Duncan (who died 17 Apr, 2007); and she married 4 July, 1964, Ian Campbell, styled Marquess of Lorne (born 28 Aug, 1937),  son of the 11th Duke of Argyll (1903-73) and his second wife, Louise Hollingsworth Morris Clews (who died 10 Feb, 1970). The 11th duke’s third wife was the notorious Margaret Whigham, from whom he was divorced in 1963.

Her husband succeeded his father, 7 April, 1973, as 12th Duke of Argyll. He died of complications following surgery, 21 April, 2001.

The duchess leaves issue, a son Torquhil, the 13th Duke of Argyll (born 29 May, 1968), who is married to Eleanor Cadbury, and a daughter, Lady Louise Burrell (born 26 October, 1972).

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Thomas Henry Robin Kingston 1978-2024

A tragedy for the Kent branch of the Royal Family. Tom Kingston, husband of Lady Gabriella Windsor, has died aged 45. 

Thomas Henry Robin Kingston was found dead at his Gloucestershire home, 26 February, 2024. The coroner has been informed and an inquest will take place.

Queen Elizabeth II was present at the marriage which took place on Saturday 18 May, 2019, at St George's Chapel, Windsor, of Mr Kingston [born 22 June, 1978], son of Mr [William] Martin Kingston, QC [born 1949] by his wife the former Jill Mary Bache [born 1950], & the Lady Gabriella Marina Alexandra Ophelia [Ella] Windsor [born 23 April, 1981], only daughter of HRH Prince Michael of Kent [b 4 July, 1942], by his wife the former Baroness Marie-Christine Agnes Hedwig Ida von Reibnitz [b 20 Jan, 1945].

The couple had no children. 

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Sir (James) Andrew Gardiner Baird, 11th Baronet 1946-2024

 Sir Andrew Baird, 11th Baronet, died 18 February, 2024. He was 77.

James Andrew Gardiner Baird, was born 2 May, 1946, son of Sir James Richard Gardiner Baird, 10th Baronet (1913-1997), and his wife the former Mabel Ann (Gay) Tempest Gill (who died 2010), daughter of Algernon Gill, of Toronto; and succeeded to the baronetcy (cr 1696) on his father's demise, 13 March, 1997.

He married in 1984 (div 1988), Jean Margaret Jardine (born 2 March, 1951), daughter of Brigadier Sir Ian Liddell Jardine, 4th Baronet (1923-1982), and his wife Priscilla Daphne Scott-Phillips (who died 13 April, 2012), by whom he leaves issue, one son, Alexander Baird (born 28 May, 1986), who now succeeds as 12th baronet.

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The 4th Baron Rothschild, OM, GBE, CVO 1936-2024

 The Lord Rothschild, OM, GBE, CVO, fourth Baron in the Peerage of the UK, died 26 February, 2024, aged 87.

Jacob Rothschild broke with his family bank to found his own financial empire in the City of London, and was a philanthropist, seated at Stowell Park, near Marlborough, Wiltshire.

Nathaniel Charles Jacob Rothschild was born 28 April 1936, son of the 3rd Baron Rothschild, GBE, GM (1910-1990), and his 1st wife the former Barbara Judith Hutchinson.

He succeeded his father, 20 May, 1990, as fourth Baron Rothschild in the peerage of the UK (created 1885) and as the 5th Baronet (created 1847), and as the 6th Baron Rothschild in the Austrian Empire (created 1822).

Lord Rothschild was appointed GBE in 1998, and was appointed to the Order of Merit by Queen Elizabeth II in 2002, and in 2020 he was appointed CVO.

He married 20 October, 1961, Serena Mary Dunn (1935-2019), scion of the Dunn baronets, daughter of Sir Philip Gordon Dunn, 2nd Baronet, and his wife the former Lady Mary Sybil St Clair-Erskine, a daughter of the 5th Earl of Rosslyn.

Lord Rothschild leaves issue, a son the Hon Nathaniel Philip Victor James Rothschild (born 12 July, 1971), and three daughters, Hannah, Beth and Emily.

His only son succeeds to the the baronies and baronetcy.

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Charles John Burnett 1940-2024

 Charles John Burnett, KStJ, who died 23 February, 2024, aged 83, was Scottish antiquarian and former officer of arms.

Burnett was born 6 November, 1940, in Sandhaven, Aberdeenshire, and educated at Gray's School of Art in Aberdeen, and the University of Edinburgh.

He worked for a number of museums, including: Letchworth Museum, the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland, the Scottish United Services Museum at Edinburgh Castle, and Duff House, Banff.

Burnett was appointed Dingwall Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary in 1983 and promoted to Ross Herald of Arms in Ordinary in 1988. He retired as an officer of arms in ordinary in 2010 and was appointed Ross Herald Extraordinary for a period of five years, demitting office on 31 December 2015. His 1992 M.Litt thesis at the University of Edinburgh was entitled The Officers of Arms and heraldic art under King James Sixth & First 1567-1625. He was also the president of the Heraldry Society of Scotland.

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Earl of Bective engaged

 The engagement was announced 24 February, 2024, between Thomas Rupert Charles Christopher Taylour, styled Earl of Bective (born 18 June, 1989), son and heir of the 7th Marquess of Headfort (born 1959), of Oxfordshire, and his late wife the former Susan Jane Vandervell (1960-2008), & Florence Lucy Greensted (born 1993), daughter of Jonathan (Jack) Greensted (born 1963), also of Oxfordshire, and his wife the former Shelley Edgson (born 1960).

The Marquess of Headfort (who was born 10 Feb, 1959) is a peer of the UK as Baron Kenlis. The marquesate was created in 1800 in the Peerage of Ireland.

It was the fourth marquess who famously wed, in 1901, the Irish Gaiety Girl Rosie Boote (1878-1958). The marriage of the peer  with the comely actress caused something of a stir in Edwardian high society.

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Hon Peggy Repard (née Bowyer) 1925-2024

The Hon Peggy Repard, who died 17 February, 2024, aged 88, was a scion of the Barons Denham.

She was born 18 May, 1925, daughter of the then George Edward Wentworth Bowyer, MC, DL (born 16 January, 1886), Conservative MP for Buckingham 1918-1937, and his wife the former Hon Daphne Freeman-Mitford (1895-1996), scion of the Barons Redesdale. Her father was created a baronet in 1933, and raised to the peerage, as Baron Denham, 1937. She married 24 April, 1947, Commander (John) David Latimer Repard, OBE, DSC, RN (1921-2011), son of William John Repard, of Many Waters, Bexhill, Sussex, by whom she had issue.

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Lady Middleton 1926-2024

Lady Middleton, who died 10 February, 2024, aged 97, was the widow of Sir Lawrence Middleton, 10th (and last) Baronet (1912-1999).

The former Primrose Adams was born in 1926, daughter of Capt Lawrence Haynes Adams (c1881-1949), of Margate, Kent, by his wife the former Muriel Annie Staples Morbey (1886-1975); and married firstly, 1950 (div) Alexander Douglas Frederick Campbell (1927-2004), by whom she had issue; married 2ndly, 1984, Norman George Westcombe; and married 3rdly, in March, 1984, the then Lawrence Monck Middleton (born 23 Oct, 1912), of Belsay Castle, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, son of Hugh Jeffrey Middleton (1879-1914), and his wife the former Mary Katharine Long (1878-1949). Her husband succeeded as 10th baronet, in 1993, on the death of his elder brother, Sir Stephen, 9th Bt, and he died 16 March, 1999 when the baronetcy (created in 1662) became extinct.

Lady Middleton leaves issue, Alex, Katie and Niall, from her marriage to Alexander Campbell.

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Michael Rhodes is on holiday

 To regulars who look in on this blog — please note I am away from my desk, reference books, and English newspapers until approximately March 8, 2024. My sincere apologies. Normal services will be resumed in March.

Ruth Porter's life peerage has been gazetted

 The life peerage recently awarded to Ruth Porter has been gazetted in the name, style and title of Baroness Porter of Fulwood, of Fulwood in the City of Sheffield.

Ruth Oates Porter is a former political adviser who served as Downing Street Deputy Chief of Staff under Prime Minister Liz Truss from September to October 2022. She previously worked as a special adviser in various government departments. Baroness Porter spent several years working for think-tanks including the Maxim Institute in New Zealand where she was a policy analyst from 2004 to 2007 and then as Communications Manager from 2007 to 2009. She was the Programme Manager at techUK from July 2009 to February 2010 and then was the Communications Director at the Institute of Economic Affairs from March 2010 to December 2013. She became the Head of Economics and Social Policy at Policy Exchange in January 2014 and held the position for 8 months until August of the same year.

Porter was a special adviser between 2014 and 2017, in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to Environment Secretary Liz Truss from 2014 to 2015, then to Leader of the House of Commons Chris Grayling from 2015 to 2016, and then returned to Truss in the Ministry of Justice from 2016 to 2017.

From September to October 2022, Porter served as the Downing Street Deputy Chief of Staff under Liz Truss. She had previously run the Truss election campaign alongside Mark Fullbrook.

Porter was nominated by Liz Truss for a life peerage in her list of resignation honours. She was created Baroness Porter of Fulwood, of Fulwood in the City of Sheffield, on 13 February 2024.

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Life peerage conferred on Chief of the Clan Cameron

 The King has been pleased to approve the following appointment:

Donald Cameron of Lochiel MSP as a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Scotland Office. Cameron (born 26 November, 1976), is the 28th Chief of the Clan Cameron, son of the late Donald Angus Cameron 27th of Lochiel (1946-2023), and his wife the former Lady Cecil Nennella Therese Kerr (born 22 April, 1948), daughter of the 12th Marquis of Lothian (1922-2004).

His Majesty has been pleased to confer a peerage of the United Kingdom for Life on Donald Cameron.

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New political peerages announced

 The King has been graciously pleased to signify His intention of conferring the following Peerages of the United Kingdom for Life.

From:

Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street

Published

9 February 2024

The King has been graciously pleased to signify His intention of conferring Peerages of the United Kingdom for Life upon the undermentioned:

Nominations from the Leader of the Conservative & Unionist Party:

Charles Banner KC - Barrister at Keating Chambers and interim chair of the Joint Nature Conservation Committee.

Peter Booth – Design and Retailing businessman and National Chairman of the Conservative National Convention.

Cllr John Fuller OBE – Leader of South Norfolk Council and Chairman of Brineflow Limited.

Paul Goodman – Journalist and former MP for Wycombe. Former Shadow Minister for Communities and Local Government.

Cllr James Jamieson – Councillor on Central Bedfordshire Council and Former Leader. Former Local Government Association Chairman.

Stuart Marks CBE – Technology entrepreneur, philanthropist, and Senior Treasurer of the Conservative Party.

Rosa Monckton MBE – Founder of Tiffany & Co in the UK, and of the learning disability charity Team Domenica.

Franck Petitgas – Former President of Morgan Stanley International. Special Adviser to the Prime Minister on Business and Investment.

Nominations from the Leader of the Labour Party:

John Hannett OBE - General Secretary of the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers and a member of ACAS.

Ayesha Hazarika MBE – Political commentator and broadcaster. Former special adviser to Gordon Brown, Harriet Harman and Ed Miliband.

Jane Ramsey - Chair of the Young Epilepsy. Formerly Senior Adviser on Standards and Ethics to the Labour Party.

Gerald Shamash – Partner at Edwards Duthie Shamash’s Parliamentary, Electoral and Media Law practice and solicitor to the Labour Party.

Nominations from the Leader of the Plaid Cymru:

Carmen Smith – Public Affairs Adviser. Former Chief of Staff for the Welsh Senedd group

Matthew Elliott's life peerage gazetted

 The life peerage recently awarded to Matthew Elliott, has been gazetted in the name, style, and title of Baron Elliott of Mickle Fell, of Barwick-in-Elmet in the City of Leeds.

Elliott was nominated by Liz Truss for a life peerage in her list of resignation honours. His nomination resulted in complaints to the House of Lords Appointments Commission over the funding of one of his pro-Brexit campaigns.

Matthew Jim Elliott (born 12 February 1978), is a British political strategist and lobbyist who has served as the chief executive of a number of organisations and been involved in various referendum campaigns, including Vote Leave. Elliott was the founder and has served as chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance in 2004, Big Brother Watch and Business for Britain. He has also worked as a political strategist, acting as campaign director for the successful NOtoAV campaign in the 2011 Alternative Vote referendum. In 2015, Elliott became the chief executive of Vote Leave, the official organisation advocating for a 'leave' vote in the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum. He was described as "...one of the most successful political campaigners in Westminster today." In 2018, The Guardian described him as a central figure in "a network of opaquely funded organisations", mostly based at 55 Tufton Street, that "centre around... the TaxPayers’ Alliance – a pressure group that he founded – and Brexit Central, an anti-EU website of which [he was then] editor-in-chief".

Lord Elliott has been described by the BBC as "one of the most effective lobbyists at Westminster", and in 2010 was named by Total Politics as one of the top 25 political influencers in the UK. In 2017 he was placed at number 85 in commentator Iain Dale's list of the "Top 100 Most Influential People on the Right". Since 2014, Elliott has been married to Sarah Elliott (née Smith), who became the chairwoman of Republicans Overseas UK in 2017. The couple have two daughters and live in South London as of 2019. Elliott was previously married to Florence Heath from 2005 to 2012.

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Hon Ivo Adam Rex Mosley 1951-2024

 The Hon Ivo Mosley, who died 31 January, 2024, aged 72, was a scion of the Barons Ravensdale and Mosley baronets. He was a writer, poet and potter, and grandson of the politician Sir Oswald Mosley.

Ivo Adam Rex Mosley was born 14 April, 1951, the second son of the 3rd Baron Ravensdale (1923-2017), and his first wife the former Rosemary Laura Salmond (1928-1991); and married 10 September, 1977, Xanthe Jennifer Grenville Oppenheimer (born 13 July, 1958), daughter of Sir Michael Bernard Grenville Oppenheimer, 3rd Baronet (1924-2020), and his wife the former Laetitia Helen Lucas-Tooth (1926-2022), scion of the Lucas-Tooth baronets, by whom he had issue, four sons, Nathaniel (born 1982), Felix (born 1985), Scipio (born 1988), and Noah (born 1990).

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Baron Moynihan of Chelsea, OBE - life peerage gazetted

 The life barony awarded to Jonathan Patrick Moynihan, has been gazetted in the name, style and title of Baron Moynihan of Chelsea, of Chelsea in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, 6 February 2024.

Jon Moynihan (born 21 June 1948), is a British businessman,  & venture capitalist. He served as the CEO and executive chairman of PA Consulting Group from 1992 to 2013.Moynihan was the main fundraiser of Liz Truss's leadership campaign in the July–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election, which led to Truss becoming prime minister in September 2022. 

Moynihan was against the view that a budget could not be produced without an accompanying Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast. He said: "This whole idea that you have to get the tick of approval from the OBR, which has been consistently wrong in its financial forecasts is, in my view, anti-democratic." The bypassing of the OBR was said to be one of the causes of the failure of Truss's and Kwarteng's September 2022 mini-budget, which attempted to rip up decades of "Treasury orthodoxy". In a commentary Moynihan asserted that the prime cause of market disruption at the time was the Bank of England's bungling. Moynihan was nominated by Truss for a life peerage in her list of resignation honours.

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Elfreda Violet van Straubenzee (born 2024)

Daisy Philippa van Straubenzee [nee Jenks, born 1991], wife of Charles Anthony van Straubenzee [born 1988], scion of that landed gentry family, gave birth to a daughter, Elfreda Violet, 30 January, 2024, a sister for Clover Kitty, who was born 26 February, 2020, and for Henry Alexander, born 10 October, 2021.

Charlie van Straubenzee is a son of Alexander Henry van Straubenzee [born 1951], by his wife the former Claire Sonia Fenwick [born 1954], scion of that landed gentry family, and a descendant of the 6th Duke of Manchester [1799-1855].

Daisy van Straubenzee is a daughter of Philip Richard Jenks [born 1963], by his wife the former Alexandra Ulrike Wilson-Nicol [born 1963], daughter of Alexander James Wilson-Nicol [born 1933], by his wife the former Christiane F. von Canstein.

The infant is named Henry in honour of father Charlie's later brother, Henry, who died tragically in December, 2002, aged 18.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex attended the wedding of Charlie van Straubenzee and Daisy Jenks in 2018.

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Evelyn Duchess of Sutherland 1929-2024

 Evelyn, Duchess of Sutherland, who died 27 January, 2024, aged 94, was the widow of the 6th Duke of Sutherland (1915-2000), of Mertoun, St Boswell's, Roxburghshire.

She was the former Evelyn Mary Moubray, born 20 October, 1929, the eldest daughter of Major Robert Moubray, DL (1895-1961), head of that Scottish landed gentry family, and his wife the former Claire Wilhelmina Maud Morrison-Bell (1907-2004), scion of the baronets of that name; and married 16 August, 1979, as his second wife, John Sutherland Egerton, 6th Duke of Sutherland (born 10 May, 1915), son of the 4th Earl of Ellesmere (1871-1944), and his wife Lady Violet Lambton (1880-1976), scion of the Earls of Durham. 

Her husband died 21 September, 2000. He was 6th Duke of Sutherland (United Kingdom, let. pat. 28 Jan 1833); 8th Marquess of Stafford (Great Britain, let. pat. 1 May 1786); 9th Earl Gower (Great Britain, let. apt. 8 Jul 1746); 6th Earl of Ellesmere (United Kingdom, let. pat. 6 Jul 1846) 9th Viscount Trentham, of Trentham in the County of Stafford; (Great Britain, let. pat. 8 Jul 1746); 6th Viscount Brackley, of Brackley in the County of Northampton; (United Kingdom, let. pat. 6 Jul 1846); 10th Baron Gower, of Sittenham in the County of York (England, let. pat. 16 Mar 1702/3); 14th Baronet, styled "of Sittenham, co. York" (England, let. pat. 2 Jun 1620)

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Viscount Melgund engaged

 The engagement was announced 1 February, 2024, between Gilbert Francis Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, styled Viscount Melgund (born 15 August, 1984), son and heir of the 7th Earl of Minto (born 1 Dec, 1953), of Minto, Hawick, Roxburghshire, and the Countess of Minto (nee Diana Barbara Trafford, born 1953); and Kirsty Ramshaw (born 1989), daughter of Paul Ramshaw, of Jarrow, Tyne & Wear, and his wife the former Karen Hayes.

Viscount Melgund is heir to the earldom of Minto (Peerage of the UK,  cr 1813), to the viscountcy of Melgund (Peerage of the UK cr 1813), the Barony of Minto (Peerage of GB cr 1797), and the baronetcy of Headshaw (cr Nova Scotia, 1700).

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