Frederick David Ludwig Urmetzer (born 2024)

 Fenella Maria Urmetzer [born 1982, nee Boyle], wife of Dr Florian T. Urmetzer, gave birth to a son, Frederick David Ludwig, 15 May, 2024, a brother for Leonora Rose,  who was born 23 March, 2021.

Florian Urmetzer is a son of Mr & Mrs Ludwig Urmetzer, of Bad Krozingen, Germany.

Fenella Urmetzer is a scion of the Earls of Shannon, daughter of David Spencer Boyle [born 23 April, 1942], of Duns Tew, Oxfordshire, by his wife the former Melanie Georgiana Foster. Fenella is a great-great granddaughter of Henry Bentinck Boyle, 5th Earl of Shannon [1833-1890].

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Sir Keir Starmer's first peerages announced

 Mr Richard Hermer KC has been appointed Attorney General. He is a barrister with an impressive legal career. He has been involved in many high-profile cases heard by the English Courts over the past two decades. As a renowned practitioner in public law, he handles significant human rights and civil liberties cases in the UK. On his appointed as Attorney General for England and Wales and Advocate General for Northern Ireland, he will receive a life peerage, yet to be gazetted. His expertise spans both domestic and international spheres, making him a key figure in legal matters1.

Sir Patrick Vallance, KCB, has been appointed Minister of State (Minister for Science) in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. The new life peer (born 17 March 1960[2]) is a physician, scientist, and clinical pharmacologist. He served as the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government of the United Kingdom from 2018 to 2023. On stepping down, he became chair of the Natural History Museum in London.

Mr James Timpson OBE (born 17 September, 1971), has been appointed Minister of State (Minister for Prisons, Parole and Probation) in the Ministry of Justice. A member of the Timpson shoe family, he is known for advocating the employment of former prisoners, he was the Chair of the Employers Forum for Reducing Re-offending (EFFRR) until 2016, and became Chair of the Prison Reform Trust that same year. He also founded the Employment Advisory Board network across the prison estate, which links prisons with employers to improve the employment opportunities for ex-offenders upon release.

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Sir Patrick Macdonnell Salt, 7th Baronet 1932-2024

Sir Patrick Salt, 7th Baronet, of Langham, near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, died 12 June, 2024. He was 91.

Sir Patrick, whose baronetcy, created in 1869, descends from Sir Titus Salt (1803-76), a manufacturer, politician and philanthropist in Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, who is best known for having built Salt's Mill, a large textile mill, together with the attached village of Saltaire, West Yorkshire.

Patrick Macdonnell Salt was born 25 September, 1932, the third son of Sir John William Titus Salt, 4th Baronet (1884-1953), and his wife the former Stella Houlton Jackson (who died 2 Aug, 1974); and was a younger brother of Sir Savid Salt, 5th Bt (1930-78), and Sir Anthony Salt, 6th Bt (1931-91), and succeeded to the baronetcy on his brother's death, in 1991.

He was educated at Summer Fields, Oxford and Stowe School; and was a Director of Cassidy Davis Members Agency Ltd 1983-92. His home was at Hillwatering Farmhouse, Langham, Suffolk.

Sir Patrick married in 1976, Ann Elizabeth Mary Kilham Roberts, widow of Denys Kilham Roberts, OBE, and daughter of Thomas Kay Maclachlan, and his wife the former Sarah Hodgson Nelson.

The baronet was childless and the baronetcy now passes to his third cousin once removed, Daniel Alexander Salt (born 15 Aug, 1943).

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Dissolution honours list revealed

 Former prime minister Theresa May has been given a life peerage in the dissolution honours list released by prime minister Rishi Sunak. The honours, which came out in the hour before polls closed in the General Election, also featured Mr Sunak's right-hand man Liam Booth-Smith, who was given a peerage.

Booth-Smith had been Mr Sunak’s chief of staff in Downing Street. Ex-Cabinet minister Chris Grayling, former chairman of the Conservative backbench 1922 committee Sir Graham Brady and Mrs May will also take seats in the House of Lords.

Former deputy speaker Dame Eleanor Laing and ex-MP Craig Mackinlay, who has battled sepsis which cost him his hands and feet, have also been given peerages. Former Cop26 president and Cabinet minister Sir Alok Sharma has also been made a peer.

Labour veterans Dame Margaret Beckett, Harriet Harman and Dame Margaret Hodge will also take seats in the House of Lords. Sir Keir Starmer’s nominations in the dissolution honours include former Parliamentary Labour party chairman John Cryer.

There are also peerages for former minister Kevan Jones, who has played a prominent role in campaigning for justice for sub-postmasters caught up in the Horizon scandal, former deputy speaker Dame Rosie Winterton and veteran ex-whip John Spellar.

The 7th Earl of Rosebery, DL 1929-204

The Earl of Rosebery, DL, who died 30 June, 2024, aged 95, was the 7th earl in the peerage of Scotland, and was a grandson of the Victorian prime minister, the 5th Earl.

Lord Rosebery, of Dalmeny House, South Queensferry, West Lothian, was a deputy lieutenant for Midlothian from 1960. His grandfather, the 5th Earl, KG, KT, PC, was the Liberal statesman and prime minister, 1894-95, who married the heiress Baroness Hannah de Rothschild, and inherited the vast estate at Mentmore, Buckinghamshire.

Neil Archibald Primrose was born 11 February, 1929, son of then then Albert Edward Harry Meyer Archibald Primrose, styled Lord Primrose (born 8 Jan, 1882), and his second wife the former Hon Eva Isabel Marian Strutt, DBE (1892-1987), former wife of the Hon Algernon Strutt, 3rd Baron Belper, and scion of the Barons Aberdare. Neil's father succeeded to the earldom on the death of his father, 21 May, 1929, and was 2nd Lieut, Grenadier Guards; Member of Parliament (Liberal) for Midlothian 1906-10; assistant Military Secretary to Lord Allenby in World War I 1914-17; MC 1916; DSO 1918; Lord Lieutenant of Midlothian 1929-64; Ensign, Royal Company of Archers 1936-45, Lieutenant 1945-74 and Captain 1948-74; Regional Commissioner for Scotland 1941-45; Secretary of State for Scotland 1945; Privy Councillor 1945; Knight of the Thistle 1947.

He married 22 January, 1955, Alison Mary Deirdre Reid (born 1931), 1st daughter of Ronald William Reid (1910-94), of Crepping Hall, Wakes Colne, co. Essex, and his wife the former Elinor Mary Stuart, a descendant of the Chaytor baronets.

Neil Primrose, was styled Lord Primrose from 11 Nov 1931 until the death of his father, 31 May, 1974, when he succeeded as 7th Earl of Rosebery (Scotland, let. pat. 10 Apr 1703), 3rd Earl of Midlothian (United Kingdom, let. pat. 3 Jul 1911), 7th Viscount of Rosebery (Scotland, let. pat. 1 Apr 1700), 7th Viscount of Inverkeithing (Scotland, let. pat. 10 Apr 1703), 3rd Viscount Mentmore, of Mentmore in the County of Buckingham (United Kingdom, let. pat. 3 Jul 1911), 7th Lord Primrose and Dalmeny (Scotland, let. pat. 1 Apr 1700), 7th Lord Dalmeny and Primrose (Scotland, let. pat. 10 Apr 1703), 4th Baron Rosebery (United Kingdom, let. pat. 26 Jan 1828), 3rd Baron Epsom, of Epsom in the County of Surrey, (United Kingdom, let. pat. 3 Jul 1911),9th Baronet, styled "of Carrington" (Nova Scotia, let. pat. 1 Aug 1651), Chief of the Name and Arms of Primrose.

The 7th Earl leaves issue, a son Harry, and four daughters, Lady Lucy (born 1955), Lady Jane (born 1960), Lady Emma (born 1962), and Lady Caroline (born 1964). The only son, Harry Ronald Neil Primrose, styled Lord Dalmeny (from 1974), now succeeds to the peerages and baronetcy and chief of the name and arms of Primrose. He was born 20 November, 1967.

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Du Toit/Morris-Jones engagement

 The engagement was announced 3 July, 2024, between Wessie B. Du Toit, younger son of Dr Pieter and Susanne Du Toit of Crowthorne, Berkshire, & Lydia Iona Morris-Jones (born 1991), second daughter of Nigel Morris-Jones (born 1959), of Liverpool, Merseyside, and his wife the Hon Jane Elizabeth Stirling Howard (born 23 January, 1955), daughter of the 4th Baron Strathcona & Mount Royal (1923-2018).

The bride-to-be-Royal descent:-

King James II > Henrietta FitzJames > James, 1st Earl Waldegrave > John, 3rd Earl Waldegrave >George, 4th Earl Waldegrave > William, 8th Earl Waldegrave > William, Viscount Chewton > 11th Earl Waldegrave > Geoffrey, 12th Earl Waldegrave > Lady Jane Waldegrave > Hon Jane Howard > Lydia Morris-Jones

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Claire Godfrey-Faussett 1930-2024

 Claire Godfrey-Faussett, who died 30 May, 2024, aged 93, was a scion of that landed gentry family, formerly of Heppington; born 4 June, 1930, the only daughter of Brigadier Bryan Trevor Godfrey-Faussett, CB, DSO, OBE, MC (1896-1970), of The Old Rectory, Badlesmere, Faversham, Kent, sometime ADC to HM King George VI, by his wife the former Katherine Monica Paterson (1899-1987). She was unm.

Her great-uncle, Capt Sir Bryan Godfrey-Faussett, GCVO, CMG, RN (1863-1945), was Equerry-in-Ordinary to the Prince of Wales 1901-10, and to King George V 1910-36, & Extra Equerry to King Edward VIII 1936.

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Lady Louise Windsor & Felix da Silva-Clamp: some background

 Lady Louise Windsor, 20,  has officially made a sparkling debut at the Sandringham Horse Driving Trials, racing her way to a silver medal as the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh watched on – alongside a close university friend, Felix Robert da Silva-Clamp, 19. 

Kensington-born Felix (his birth was registered in Aug 2004, in Kensington & Chelsea), is the son of Kensington solicitor, Jonathan Charles William da Silva-Clamp (born February 1971), who has also served as a Conservative councillor. 

Felix's father married 2 Oct 1998, an Australian Kendall Anne Searle (born Aug 1971).

Felix's paternal grandfather Robert I. Clamp (born 1935), married at Kensington in 1963, Maria E.P.P. da Silva. His great-grandparents were Robert J. Clamp (born 21 Dec, 1911, died 1967), and his wife Nessie Hood (1914-2007).

Twenty-year-old Lady Louise is a skilful carriage driver, having inherited a love of the sport from her late grandfather, Prince Phillip, who bequeathed her his own carriage after his death in 2021. Indeed, the trials at Sandringham were established in 1982 by Prince Philip himself after the Prince found himself unable to play polo as he entered his 50s. In a touching tribute to her grandmother, Lady Louise competed in the dressage event with one of the late Queen Elizabeth II’s horses.

The talented young royal was in high spirits as she was joined in her carriage by Felix da Silva-Clamp, with whom it appears she has fostered a firm friendship as they both continue their studies at St Andrews University in Scotland. Felix was driven to the event by Lady Louise Windsor’s mother, the Duchess of Edinburgh, and the two were seen enjoying some relaxed conversation as they watched the races at Norfolk.

Lady Louise and Felix performed together in a play _Dragon Fever_ the first student-written play to be performed by the Byre Theatre at St Andrews. The plot was an ambitious cross between an Agatha Christie mystery and Tolkien’s The Hobbit; a story of nine strangers on a quest to slay a dragon, that unfolds into a murder mystery full of riddles, twists, and love affairs. 'Louise Mountbatten-Windsor' as she was cast played Rigeon, a Don Quixote and Don Juan-like figure. Lady Louise, we are told, displayed impressive physicality and gave a compelling performance. Standout performances came from Rupert Carter and Felix Da Silva-Clamp as Mr Owl and Grant, both of whom had plenty of stage presence and performed convincingly, despite the over-the-top natures of their characters.

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Peter Scawen Blunt 1937-2024

 Peter Scawen Blunt, who died 23 June, 2024, aged 87, was a scion of that landed gentry family, of Crabbet Park, the only son of Brigadier Jasper Scawen Blunt (1898-1968), of Frittenden, Kent, and his wife the former Doreen Marguerite Parsons (1903-1978), descended from the Macnaghten baronets; and married in 1964, Belinda Sara Usborne Archer, daughter of Kenyon James Archer (1908-97), of Pershore, Worcestershire, by his wife the former Margaret Frances Usborne Moore (1908-84), by whom he had issue, sons, Henry, Samuel, and Adam.

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