Jane Claire Warde-Aldam (née Ashton) 1928-2024

Jane Claire Warde-Aldam, who died 24 July, 2024, aged 96, was the widow of Christopher Warde-Aldam (1928-1995), scion of that landed gentry family of Hooton Pagnell Hall.

She was a scion of the Ashton landed gentry family, born 22 April, 1928, the elder daughter of Sir Hubert Ashton, KBE, MC, MP (1898-1979), and his wife the former Dorothy Margaret Gaitskell (1899-1983); and married 10 September, 1955, Christopher Ralph Warde-Aldam (1928-1995), scion of that landed gentry family, second son of Lieutenant-Colonel John Ralph Patentius Warde-Aldam, TD (1892-1973), and his wife Joyce Etheline (1891-1973), widow of Richard Edward Clifton Gordon, and daughter of Percy Sandford Nevile (1840-1914), head of that landed gentry family of Skelbrooke Park, Yorks, and his wife the former Etheline Radcliffe (1852-1941).

She leaves issue, two sons, Guy (born 24 June, 1958), and Mark (born 28 September, 1960), and a daughter, Annabella (born 5 July, 1956).

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Colonel Sir James Stirling of Garden, KCVO, CBE, TD 1931-2024

 Colonel Sir James Stirling of Garden, KCVO, CBE, TD, who died 22 July, 2024, aged 93, army officer, and Lord Lieutenant of Stirling & Falkirk, 1983-2005.

He was educated at Rugby and Trinity College, Cambridge; commissioned into the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders in 1950; served in Korea and was wounded and transferred to the 7th Bn, TA; he was a chartered surveyor in private practice, partner in K. Ryden and Partners 1962-89; Hon Sheriff of Stirling, 1998; Deputy Lieutenant 1970, Vice-Lieutenant 1979-83; Chairman, Highland TAVR Assoc 1982-87 (President 1992); Hon Colonel 3/51st Highland Volunteers, TA 1979-1986; Knight of St John 1987 (sometime Prior, Order of St John, Scotland).

He was born 8 September, 1930, son of Colonel Archibald Stirling of Garden, OBE (1885-1947), and his wife the former (Amelia) Marjory Lily MacLaren Stewart of Ardvorlich (1902-2002).

He married in 1958, Fiona Janetta Sophia Wood Parker (born 1937), daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Douglas Alwyn Charles Parker, OBE, TD (1911-1968), scion of that landed gentry family, by his wife the former Janetta Verona Lockett (1911-1984), scion of that landed gentry family, by whom he had issue, two sons and two daughters.

Sir James's home was at Garden, Buchlyvie, Stirlingshire. He was appointed CBE in 1987, and made a Knight of the Royal Victorian Order in 2006 following his retirement as Lord Lieutenant.

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Andrew Edward Buxton 1935-2024

Andrew Edward Buxton, who died 27 July, 2024, aged 89, was a scion of the Buxton baronets. 

He was born 3 March, 1935, the elder son of Major Desmond Gurney Buxton, DL (1898-1987), a High Sheriff of Norfolk, by his wife the former Rachel Mary Morse (1906-1994), scion of that landed gentry family; and married  30 March, 1967, Barbara Anne Lloyd (1932-2022), daughter of Capt Cyril Gascoigne Lloyd (1887-1965), and his wife the former Violet Madge Preston (1896-1979), scion of the Preston baronets, by whom he had issue, a son, Harry (born 23 Oct, 1972), and two daughters, Laura (born 31 May, 1968), and Nicola (born in 1971).

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Michael Edward Deschamps Chamier 1941-2024

  Michael Edward Deschamps Chamier died in Luxembourg, 20 July, 2024, aged 83.

He was born in 1941 son of Major Saunders Edward Chamier (1897-1990), and his wife the former Mary Frances Isabella Chapman (1909-2008), a granddaughter of Sir George Dunstan Sherston Baker, 4th Baronet (1846-1923). He married in 1977, Deborah Mary Unwin (born 1950), by whom he had issue, a son, Richard, and two daughters, Alexandra and Rosalind.

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Lady Fraser 1932-2024

 Lady Fraser, who died 20 July, 2024, aged 91, was the widow of General Sir David Fraser, a scion of the Lords Saltoun.

The former Julia Frances Oldridge De La Hey was born in 1932, a daughter of Cyril James Oldridge de la Hey (1897-1936), and his wife the former Catherine Isabel Sturges-Jones (1904-1976); and married in 1957, as his second wife, General Sir David William Fraser, GCB, OBE (1920-2012), who served as Commandant of the Royal College of Defence Studies from 1978 until his retirement from military service in 1980. He was also a prolific author, publishing over 20 books mostly focused on the history of the Second World War.

Her husband was a son of Brigadier the Hon William Fraser (1890-1964), and hia wife the former Pamela Cynthia Maude (1893-1975), scion of the Viscounts Hawarden, and was a grandson of the 19th Lord Saltoun (1851-1933).

 She leaves issue, two sons, Alexander and Simon, and two daughters, Lucy and Arabella.

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Malcolm Ralph Cochrane, MBE, DL 1938-2024

Malcolm Ralph Cochrane, MBE, DL, who died 24 July, 2024, aged 85, was a scion of the Barons Cochrane of Cults.

He was born 8 August, 1938, the second son of Air Chief Marshal the Hon Sir Ralph Alexander Cochrane, GBE, KCB, AFC (1895-1977),  perhaps best known for his role in Operation Chastise, the famous "Dambusters" raid, by his wife the former Hilda Frances Holme Wiggin (1901-1982); and married 5 August, 1972, Mary Anne Scrope (born 22 October, 1945), scion of that landed gentry family, daughter of Ralph Henry Scrope (1905-1981), and his wife the Lady Beatrice Savile (1910-1973), daughter of the 6th Earl of Mexborough (1868-1945), byh whom he had issue, a son, William Ralph (born 1974), and two daughters, Alice (born 1976), and Harriet (born 1979).

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Henrietta Mary St Aubyn 1931-2024

 Henrietta Mary St Aubyn (nee Studholme), who died 12 July, 2024, aged 92, was a scion of the Studholme baronets.

She was born 24 December, 1931, daughter of Sir Henry Gray Studholme, 1st Baronet, CVO, MP (1899-1987), and his wife the former Judith Joan Mary Whitbread (1898-2002), scion of that landed gentry family. Her father, created a baronet in 1956, was Conservative MP for Tavistock, 1942-1966.

She married 21 November, 1953, Major Thomas Edward St Aubyn, CVO (1923-2012), scion of the Barons St Levan, third son of the Hon Lionel Michael St Aubyn (1879-1965), and his wife the Lady Mary Theresa Parker (1881-1932), daughter of the 3rd Earl of Morley (1843-1905), by whom she had issue, three daughters, Sarah (born 28 June, 1955), Caroline (born 12 Sept, 1957), and Judith (born 14 September, 1962).

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Bickford/Stanley engagement

 The engagement was announced 27 July, 2024, between Dr Benjamin Joseph Thomas Bickford (born 1992), son of Christopher Jack Sumner Bickford (born 1967), of Melbourne Beach, Florida, & his wife the former Mary Jane Hookham (born 1962), & Ruth Mary Frances Stanley (born 1987), scion of the Earls of Derby, daughter of Christopher Geoffrey Awdrey Stanley (born 18 March, 1949), of Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire, and his wife the former Anita Jane Keogh (born 1949).

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Strutt/Silva engagement

The engagement was announced 27 July, 2024, between Richard Alistair Robert Strutt (born 1986), scion of the Barons Rayleigh, son of Major Paul Alistair Strutt (born 6 September, 1944), of West Tytherley, Hampshire, and his wife the former Charlotte Yvonne Lanyon (born 20 February, 1955), descended from the Barons Amherst of Hackney, & (Buddhi) Maneesha Silva (born 1990), daughter of Jayanthi Silva of Sheffield, and Athulath Mudali.

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Dawnay/Franklin engagement

 The engagement was announced 26 July, 2024, between Ms Charlotte Millicent Dawnay (born 1994), scion of the Viscounts Downe, daughter of Ivo Nicholas Payan Dawnay (born 9 December, 1952), and Ms Rachel Sabiha Johnson (born 1965), & Ms Jessica M. Franklin, daughter of Mr John Franklin and Ms Caroline Griffiths of De Beauvoir, London.

Charlotte Dawnay is a niece of the former Prime Minister the Rt Hon Boris Johnson (born 19 June, 1964), and descended from the Royal House of Hanover.

George II, King of Gt Britain & Ireland > Frederick, Prince of Wales > Princess Augusta of Gt Britain & Ireland > Princess Auguste Caroline Friederike Luise of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel >Prince Paul Heinrich Karl Friedrich August of Württemberg > Karolina von Rottenburg > Hubert Freiherr von Pfeffel >Marie Luise Freiin von Pfeffel > Irene Williams > Stanley Johnson > Rachel Johnson > Charlotte Dawnay

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Earl of Brecknock, 58, to marry Dinah Hillsdon, 36

 The engagement was announced 27 July, 2024, between James William John (Jamie) Pratt, styled Earl of Brecknock ( born 11 December, 1965), elder son and heir of the 6th Marquess Camden (born 13 August, 1930), and his first wife the former Virginia Ann Finlaison (now Mrs Michael Clark), & Dinah Louise Walpole Hillsdon (born 1988), daughter of Thomas D. Hillsdon (born 1957), and his wife the former Gina L. Walpole.

The Earl of Brecknock, 58, is heir to the several peerages of his 93 year-old father:-

Marquess Camden (United Kingdom, let. pat. 7 Sep 1812); Earl Camden (Great Britain, let. pat. 13 May 1786); Earl of Brecknock (United Kingdom, let. pat. 7 Sep 1812); Viscount Bayham, of Bayham Abbey in the County of Kent (Great Britain, let. pat. 13 May 1786); Baron Camden, of Camden Place in the County of Kent (Great Britain, let. pat. 17 Jul 1765)

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Mitchell/Morrison engagement

 The engagement was announced 26 July, 2024, between Jack P. Mitchell, son of Mr and Mrs John Mitchell, of Lincolnshire, & Amber Belinda Morrison (born 1993), scion of the Barons Margadale, daughter of the Hon Hugh (Hughie) Morrison (born 7 November, 1960), and his first wife the former Cecilia Jane Jenks (now Mrs Paul Hearn).

Amber Morrison is a granddaughter paternally of the 2nd Baron Margadale (1930-2003), and niece of the 3rd Baron (born 4 Apr, 1958).

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Allright/Leslie Melville engagement

 The engagement was announced 26 July, 2024, between James Jonathan (Jake) Allright (born 1992), son of Jonathan Edward Allright (born 1965) and Mrs Laura Lawrence (nee Laura-Jo Newton), & Joanna Julia Leslie Melville (born 6 July, 1994), scion of the Earls of Leven & Melville, third daughter of the Hon Archibald Ronald (Archie) Leslie Melville (born 15 September, 1957), & his wife the former Julia Mary Greville Fox.

Joanna's father is heir presumptive to his nephew the 17th Earl of Leven & Melville (born 29 Nov, 1984).

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Cormac Dáithí Ring Waldegrave (born 2024)

 The Hon Harriet Horatia Waldegrave, scion of the Earls Waldegrave, and her husband David Ring have had a son, Cormac Dáithí Ring, 18 July, 2024, a brother for Saoirse Cara, who was born 29 September, 2021.

Harriet Waldegrave (born 1988), is a daughter of the Baron Waldegrave of North Hill, PC (life peer - born 15 Aug 1946), of Chewton Mendip, Somerset, by his wife the former Caroline Linda Margaret Burrows (born 14 Aug 1952). Her father, Lord Waldegrave of North Hill, as William Waldegrave MP, was a Cabinet minister in the Thatcher and Major administrations between 1990 and 1997.

Harriet Waldegrave is a granddaughter of the 12th Earl Waldegrave, KG, GCVO (1905-95).

David W.R. Ring is a son of Mr and Mrs Dave Ring, of Dublin.

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Daphne Astor (nee Warburg) 1949-2024

 Daphne Astor, who died 14 July, 2024, aged 74, the artist & poetry editor, was a scion of the Croesus-rich Warburg banking dynasty, and wife of Micky Astor, scion of the English branch of the Astor family.

The American-born British conservationist and farmer worked with literary and visual arts organisations in the UK from 1977. In 2016 she founded and curated Poetry in Aldeburgh, and was the chairperson of C4RD and was a long-term trustee of the Poetry School. Her poetry has appeared in several anthologies and magazines including Magma, Finished Creatures and Coast to Coast to Coast. She was also publisher and editor of Hazel Press.

She was born Daphne Warburg in New York, 22 December, 1949, the only daughter of Edward Mortimer Morris 'Eddie' Warburg (1908-1992), of Westport, Conn, USA, a prominent philanthropist, collector and patron of the arts who co-founded the American Ballet and the School of American Ballet, and donated many works to the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Her paternal grandmother was a Schiff — probably an even wealthier family than the Warburgs. Her mother was Mary Whelan Prue (1908-2009).

She married in 1979, Michael Ramon Langhorne Astor (born 29 September, 1946), son of Major the Hon Sir Jacob Astor, MBE (1918-2000) a grandson of the Virginian-born society hostess Nancy Viscountess Astor (1879-1964), who became the first female MP to take her seat in parliament, and her husband, the 2nd Viscount (1879-1952). 

Daphne and Micky adopted three children, Jessica, Luke and Eloise, and settled at Hatley Park, in Cambridgeshire, a Georgian mansion with 1,800 acres of land.

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Alexander Evelyn Michael Waugh 1963-2024

Alexander Waugh, the writer, critic and journalist, who died 22 July, 2024, aged 60, was the son of Auberon Waugh and a grandson of the great Evelyn Waugh.

Alexander Evelyn Michael Waugh was born 30 December, 1963, the elder son of Auberon Alexander Waugh (1939-2001), and his wife the former Lady Teresa Lorraine Onslow (born 26 February, 1940), daughter of the 6th Earl of Onslow (1913-1971).

Among other books, he has written Fathers and Sons: The Autobiography of a Family (2004), about five generations of his own family, and The House of Wittgenstein: A Family at War (2008) about the Wittgenstein family. He is an advocate of the Oxfordian theory, which holds that Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford was the real author of the works of William Shakespeare.

Alexander was the brother of Daisy Waugh and the grandson of Evelyn Waugh. He was educated at Taunton School, the University of Manchester and the University of Surrey, where he gained degrees in Music. Alexander Waugh was the chief opera critic of The Mail on Sunday (1990–1991) and of the Evening Standard (1991–1996). His books on music include Classical Music: A New Way of Listening (1995) and Opera: A New Way of Listening (1996).

Waugh's biography Fathers and Sons: The Autobiography of a Family (2004), written at the suggestion of Sir Vidia Naipaul after his father died, is a portrait of the male relations across five generations in his own family. Described as "breezily irreverent" by John Banville in The New York Review of Books, it formed the basis of a BBC Four television documentary, presented by the author, which was broadcast in 2006. He was the general editor of The Complete Works of Evelyn Waugh (43 volumes planned), a project which began in 2009 with the first four volumes appearing in 2017 published by the Oxford University Press.

Waugh's biography of the Wittgenstein family (The House of Wittgenstein: A Family at War) was published in 2008. Terry Eagleton in a review for The Guardian found it an "eminently readable, meticulously researched account of the Wittgenstein madhouse". Although he thought Waugh wrote less about Ludwig Wittgenstein than he would desire, he "certainly casts some light" on the philosopher's "extraordinary contradictions." Philosopher Ray Monk in his review for Standpoint magazine commented that Waugh, in his account of a substantial portion of the Wittgenstein family fortune ending up with the Nazis, uses "much hitherto unknown documentation" and "Waugh's version is more authoritative and fuller than previous accounts." Monk writes that concert pianist Paul Wittgenstein gains the largest share of the text and much of the book is written from his viewpoint.

His other books include Time: From Microseconds to Millennia; A Search for the Right Time (1999) and God (2002). In Evelyn Waugh: Fictions, Faith and Family, Michael G. Brennan described Time as being "one of the most intriguing books produced by" any of his later family. "Ranging through religious, classical and renaissance scholarship, it blends past beliefs and theories, often in gently subversive ways, with more recent scientific thought."

Waugh was an advocate of the Oxfordian theory, which contends that Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, wrote the works of William Shakespeare. He discovered what he claims to be surreptitious allusions embedded in 16th- and 17th-century works revealing that the name William Shakespeare was a pseudonym used by Oxford to write the Shakespeare oeuvre. Of one example which gained coverage in October 2013, Shakespearean scholar Professor Stanley Wells told The Sunday Times: "I’m mystified that an intelligent person like Alexander Waugh can see any significance in this kind of juggling with letters."

Waugh's book, Shakespeare in Court (2014) takes the form of a fictional trial which draws the conclusion that Shakespeare was a front for others but, on this occasion, does not propose another candidate. He was elected chairman of the De Vere Society in spring 2016 for a three-year term.

In late October 2017, The Guardian reported that Waugh believed the title and dedication of the William Aspley edition of Shakespeare's sonnets of 1609 hold encrypted evidence of the final resting place of the author: de Vere's grave in Westminster Abbey's Poets' Corner.

Waugh married 3 November, 1990, Elizabeth Beatrice 'Eliza' Chancellor (born 1964), scion of that landed gentry family, daughter of the journalist Alexander Surtees Chancellor (1940-2017), and his wife the former Susanna Elizabeth Debenham (born 20 September, 1943), scion of the Debenham baronets, by whom he had issue, three children, a son, Auberon (born 21 April, 1998), and two daughters, Mary (born 1993), and Sally (born 1995).

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Hon Christopher Melville McLaren 1934-2024

 The Hon Christopher Melville McLaren, who died 11 July, 2024, aged 90, was a scion of the Barons Aberconway.

He was born 15 April, 1934, the 3rd son of Henry McLaren, 2nd Baron Aberconway, CBE (1879-1953), a barrister 1903; Member of Parliament (Liberal) for West Staffordshire 1906-10 and for Bosworth 1910-22; Parliamentary Private Secretary to the President of the Board of Trade 1906-08 and to the Chancellor of the Exchequer 1908-10; and his wife the former Christabel Mary Melville Macnaghten (died 7 Aug 1974), 2nd dau. of Sir Melville Leslie Macnaghten CB, by his wife Dora Emily Sanderson, 1st dau. of Rev Canon Robert Edward Sanderson DD, &c; and married 31 Oct 1973, Mrs Jane Elizabeth Field (nee Barrie, born 1939), daughter of James Matthew Barrie (1913-2000), of Highgate Village, London, and his wife the former Nesta Reid (1915-1981), by whom he had issue, a son, Robert Melville (born 1974), and a daughter, Lara Jane Christabel (born 1976).

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Charlotte Susan Caroline Greenaway (born 2024)

 Lady Greenaway [born 1986], wife of Sir Thomas Edward Burdick Greenaway, 4th Baronet [born 3 April, 1985], gave birth to a daughter, Charlotte Susan Caroline, 2 July, 2024, a sister for Oliver Burdick Cecil, who was born 28 June, 2022.

Lady Greenaway is the former Claire Gillian Anne Floyd [born 1986], scion of the Floyd baronets, daughter of David Henry Cecil Floyd [born 2 Apr, 1956], of Bowerchalke, co Wiltshire, by his wife the former Caroline Anne Beckly.

Sir Thomas Greenaway, Bt, who succeeded to the baronetcy, 16 March, 2015, is the son of the late Sir John Michael Burdick Greenaway, 3rd Baronet [1944-2015], by his wife the former Susan Margaret Birch.

The 6th Marquess of Exeter > Lady Gillian Cecil > David Floyd > Claire Floyd > Charlotte Greenaway

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Alexander Randall (Sasha) Crawley (born 2024)

 Alice Sophie Crawley (nee Rugge-Price, born 22 May, 1985), wife of Aidan Harold Winston Crawley [born 22 October, 1983], gave birth to a son, Alexander Randall (Sasha), 12 July, 2024, a brother for Athena Lyra, who was born 8 October, 2022.

Aidan Crawley is a son of the late Randall Stafford Crawley [1950-88], and his wife the former Marita Georgina Phillips [born 28 May, 1954] [now Mrs Marita Knight].

Alice Crawley, former wife of Archibald David Keswick [born 1980], scion of that landed family, is a daughter of James Keith Alan [Jamie] Rugge-Price [born 10 Oct, 1944], scion of the Rugge-Price baronets, and his former wife Alexa Crookshank [now Mrs Alexa Vere Nicoll].

The infant is descended from the Royal House of Russia, via the Wernher baronets.

Nicholas I, Tsar of Russia > Grand Duke Michael of Russia [d 1909] > Grand Duke Michael of Russia [d 1929] > Anastasia [Zia] de Torby > Georgina Wernher > Marita Phillips > Aidan Crawley > Alexander Crawley 

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Close-Smith/Gravell engagement

The engagement was announced 22 July, 2024, between Lieutenant James Robert Close-Smith, RN (born 26 July, 1996), scion of the Lords Kinloss, son (twin with sister Isobel) of Christopher Paul Close-Smith (born 6 December, 1962), of Stowe, Buckinghamshire, and his wife the former Charlotte Nina Brace (born 1964), & Xenia Isobel Gravell (born 21 November, 1995), eldest daughter of Humphrey William Gravell (born 1965), of Great Somerford, Wiltshire, & Alexandra Joan (Alicky) Llewellen Palmer (born 1964), scion of that landed gentry family, descended from the extinct Marquesses of Lincolnshire.

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The 15th Baron Dudley 1930-2024

 The 15th Baron Dudley died 20 June, 2024, aged 93.

The peer, of Little Grange, Napleton, Kempsey, Worcestershire, was fifteenth holder of the barony in the peerage of England created by writ, 15 Feb 1439/40.

The first baron, Sir John Sutton, KG, carried the Standard at the funeral of King Henry V 1422; WAS Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 1428-30; Constable of Clun Castle 1435; in the wars with France; taken prisoner with King Henry VI at the Battle of St Albans 1455; Knight of the Garter 1459; Steward of the Lordship of Montgomery 1459/60; Constable of Wigmore Castle 1460; Constable of the Tower of London 1470-83; & Joint Chamberlain to Queen Elizabeth Wydville, consort of King Edward IV.

The 15th Baron was born Jim Anthony Hill Wallace, 9 November, 1930, the eldest son of Guy Raymond Hill Wallace (who died 16 March, 1967), by his wife Barbara Amy Felicity Smith, suo jure the (14th) Baroness Dudley (1907-2002). He succeeded to the barony on his mother's decease, 27 May, 2002.

Lord Dudley married 16 Jun 1962, Nicola Jane Dunsterville, daughter of Lt Col Philip William Edward Leslie Dunsterville, by whom he had issue, two sons, Jeremy and Nicholas. The elder son, the Hon Jeremy William Guilford Wallace (born 12 Sept, 1964), succeeds as 16th Baron Dudley.

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Obit: Jeannie, Lady Wolseley, widow of Sir Charles Wolseley, 11th Bt

 Imogene, Lady Wolseley, who died 11 July, 2024, aged 80, was the widow of Sir Charles Wolseley, 11th Baronet.

She was the former Imogene (Jeannie) May, of Dayton, Ohio, USA, and married in 1984, as Mrs Imogene E. Brown, Sir Charles Garnet Richard Mark Wolseley, 11th Baronet (born 16 June, 1944), son of Stephen Garnet Hubert Francis Wolseley (1918- killed in action 31 Aug, 1944), by his wife the former Pamela Barry (who died 16 Nov, 2002), and was a grandson of Sir Edric Wolseley, 10th Baronet (1886-1954). Sir Charles Wolseley, Bt, who succeeded his grandfather, 17 September, 1954, died 5 March, 2018.

Jeannie, Lady Wolseley, leaves a daughter, Janet, from her first marriage to ____Brown.

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Gertrude Joan Cline (nee Hamilton) 1936-2024

 Gertrude Joan Cline, who died 8 July, 2024, aged 87, at Manitoba, Canada, was a scion of the Barons Belhaven & Stenton.

She was born in 1936, third daughter of Richard Terrick Hamilton (1912-2003), and his wife the former Muriel McLeod (who died in 1997); and married in 1955, Neil Cline (who died in 2020), by whom she had five children.

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Hon Mrs Nigel Parker 1937-2024

The Hon Mrs Nigel Parker, who died 4 July, 2024, aged 86, was widow of the Hon Nigel Parker, scion of the Earls of Morley, and a scion of the Devitt baronets.

Georgina Jane Devitt was born 6 October, 1937, the eldest daughter of Lieutenant-Col Sir Thomas Gordon Devitt, 2nd Baronet (1902-1995), and his second wife the former Lydia Mary Beloe (1909-1995); and married 23 April, 1965, the Hon Nigel Geoffrey Parker (1931-2019), third son of the Hon John Holford Parker (1886-1955), and his wife the former Hon Marjory Katharine Elizabeth Alexandra St Aubyn (1893-1987), scion of the Barons St Levan, and was a younger brother of the 6th Earl of Morley (1923-2015). She leaves issue, a son, Edward (born 15 Oct, 1967), and a daughter, Theresa (born 5 March, 1966).

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Rupert Ivo Charles Gladitz 1969-2024

 Rupert Ivo Charles Gladitz, who died 10 July, 2024, at his home in Brazil, aged 54, was descended from the Bellville landed gentry family; born 10 December, 1969, son of Alfred Charles Gladitz (1922-2014), and his wife the former Patricia Barbara Bellville (1931-2015). He leaves a husband, Israel.

Mr Gladitz was descended from the 19th Baron Stourton :-

19th Baron Stourton (1802-72) > Hon Albert Stourton (1835-1902) > Maj Herbert Stourton (1873-1932) > Barbara Stourton (1900-80) > Patricia Bellville (1931-2015) > Rupert Gladitz (1969-2024)

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Wilson/Vavasour engagement

The engagement was announced 20 July, 2024, between Nicholas J. Wilson, elder son of Mr Michael Wilson of Brisbane, Queensland and Mrs Sally Wilson of The Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, and Rosie Charlotte May Vavasour (born 5 August, 1993), scion of the Vavasour baronets, elder daughter of Dr Simon Mark Andrew Vavasour (born 12 May, 1966), of Norwich, and Mrs Sarah Lucy Vavasour (nee Jacques), of Kensington.

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Thomson/Irving engagement

 The engagement was announced 20 July, 2024, between Archibald William Boverton Thomson (born 1995), eldest son of Capt Patrick MacDonald Thomson (born 1967), of Brewham, Somerset, and his wife the former Anna Kathryn Redwood (born 6 January, 1967), and Emma Grace H. Irving (born 1995), daughter of David Irving, of the Isle of Bute, and his wife the former Karen Hollingsworth.

Archibald Thomson is descended from the Redwood baronets:-

Sir Peter Redwood, 3rd Baronet (born 1937) > Anna Redwood (b 1967) > Archibald Thomson (b 1995)

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Melhuish/Moore engagement

 The engagement was announced 20 July, 2024, between Mr E.J.Ralph Melhuish, son of the late Jeremy Melhuish and Mrs Melhuish, of Winterslow, Wiltshire, and Fenella Kate Moore (born 14 May, 1993), third daughter of Sir Richard William Moore, 4th Baronet (born 8 May, 1955), of Barton St David, Somerset, and his wife the former Karyn L. Furness (born 1959).

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Valentine Guinness, 65, weds Vanya Eadie, 58

 The marriage has taken place between the Hon Valentine Guy Bryan Guinness (born 9 March, 1959), second son of the 3rd Baron Moyne (born 16 March, 1930), and his first wife the former Ingrid Olivia Georgia Wyndham (later Baroness Kelvedon) (1931-2009), scion of the Barons Leconfield, & Vanya Eadie, an actress (born circa 1966).

Valentine Guiness is heir to his father's peerage (Peerage of the UK, cr 1932), and married firstly, in 1986 (div 2013), Lucinda Jane Rivett-Carnac (born 29 May, 1960 (the handbag designer 'Lulu Guinness') by whom he has issue, two daughters, Tara Victoria (born 29 Nov, 1991), and Madeleine Rose (born 16 January, 1997).

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Guile/Barry engagement

 The engagement was announced 20 July, 2024, between Trevor S. Guile, elder son of Eric and Sheila Guile, of Halifax, Canada, & Lucy Arabella Frances Tress Barry (born 1987), scion of the Barry baronets, elder daughter of Nicholas Mark Francis Tress Barry (born 22 October, 1957), of Hothfield, Kent, and his wife the former Fiona Mary Rankin (born 1957).

Lucy Barry is a granddaughter of Maj Sir Rupert Rodney Francis Tress Barry, 4th Baronet (1910-1977).

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Hon Oliver Walston 1941-2024

 The Hon Oliver Walston, who died 14 July, 2024, aged 83, was born 11 June, 1941, son of Henry Walston, later the life peer, the Baron Walston, CVO (1912-1991),  a farmer turned politician, first for Labour and then the Social Democratic Party, who originated from a New York Jewish family called Waldstein.

His mother was Catherine Macdonald Crompton (1916-1978), a glamorous American who embarked on a 13-year affair with the novelist Graham Greene during Oliver’s childhood. 

Oliver Walston had a brief first marriage in 1966 (div), to Leslie, daughter of Milton Gordon, of Manhattan, New York, and married 2ndly, in 1969, Anne Lowell Dunbar, daughter of William Dunbar, of Washington DC, by whom he had a son and two daughters.

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Chaplin/Rowan Hamilton engagement

 The engagement was announced 19 July, 2024, between Jack Chaplin (born 1995), scion of the Viscounts Chaplin, youngest son of Mervyn Henry Chaplin (born 1 March, 1958), of East Carlton, Leicestershire, and his wife the former Nicola E. Copeman, & Tamara Mary-Ann Rowan Hamilton (born 17 August, 1995), scion of that Irish landed gentry family, daughter of Hamish Rowan Hamilton (born 5 May, 1961), of Somerset, and  Mrs Venetia Rowan Hamilton (nee Carter, born 1961), of Hertfordshire.

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Boscawen/Rossitter engagement

 The engagement was announced 19 July, 2024, between the Hon Archard Hugh (Archie) Boscawen (born 10 June, 1998), a younger son of the 10th Viscount Falmouth (born 13 May, 1955), of Tregothnan, Cornwall, and his 2nd wife the former Katharine Helen Maley, & Katie Megan Rossitter (born 1996), daughter of Dr David A. Rossitter (born 1963), of Eltisley, Cambridgeshire, and his wife the former Susan J. Walker.

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Elsmore Dodsworth/Chartres engagement

 The engagement was announced 19 July, 2024, between John Simon B. Elsmore Dodsworth (born 1988), son of Simon Dodsworth and his wife Felicity Elsmore (born 1950), of North Walsham, Norfolk, and the Hon Clio Catherine V. Carew Chartres (born 1993), scion of that landed gentry family, younger daughter of the life peer the Rt Rev Baron Chartres, GCVO, former Bishop of London (born 11 July, 1947), of Wilton, Wiltshire, and his wife the former Caroline Mary McLintock, scion of the baronets of that name.

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Sidney Bernard Hope Henderson (born 2024)

Katharine Elizabeth (Katie) Henderson (nee Grimshaw, born 1986), wife of George Ian Henry Hope Henderson (born 1987), scion of the Barons Faringdon, gave birth to a son, Sidney Bernard Hope, 14 July, 2024, a brother for Percy Ewing Hope (born 21 February, 2020), and Merlin Ian Hope (born 9 March, 2022).

George Henderson is the third son of Ian Ramsay Hope Henderson (born 6 January, 1949), a scion of the Barons Faringdon, by his wife the former Virginia Phyllis Theresa Freeman (born 24 Oct, 1949), descended from the Dukes of Norfolk.

The 15th Duke of Norfolk (1847-1917) > Lady Winefride Fitzalan-Howard (1914-2006) > Virginia Freeman (b 1949) > George Henderson (b 1987) > Sidney Henderson (b 2024)

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Caroline Angela Elaine Strang Steel 1938-2024

 Caroline Angela Elaine Strang Steel (née Carter), who died 14 July, 2024, aged 87, was the widow of Robert Stanley Strang Steel (1934-2011), scion of the baronets of that name; born in 1938, a daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel (William) Hugh Carter, of Tain, Ross-shire; she married Robert Strang Steel, 26 April, 1958, by whom she had issue, two sons, David (born 24 Oct, 1961), and Richard (b 28 Aug, 1963). Her husband who died 20 April, 2011, was the fourth son of Sir Samuel Strang Steel, 1st Baronet (1882-1961).

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The Baroness Howard De Walden 1935-2024

 The Baroness Howard De Walden, who died 13 July, 2024, aged 88, was a peeress in her own right, the 10th holder of the peerage, created by Queen Elizabeth I in 1597.

 The barony of Howard de Walden was created by writ of summons in 1597 by Queen Elizabeth I for Admiral Lord Thomas Howard, a younger son of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, by his second wife, the Honourable Margaret Audley, daughter of Thomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Walden. The title was reputedly granted for the admiral's role in the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588.

The 10th holder of the peerage was born (Mary) Hazel Caridwen Scott-Ellis, 12th August, 1935, the eldest of the four daughter of the 9th Baron Howard de Walden, and 5th Baron Seaford (1912-1999), by his wife Countess Irene Maria Rosario Pauline von Harrach of Rohrau and Thannhausen (who died 1975), 5th daughter of Count Hans-Albrecht von Harrach of Rohrau and Thannhausen by his wife Countess Helene von Arco-Zinneberg.

Her father, a renowned racehorse owner, died 9 July, 1999, when his Barony of Howard de Walden (created by Writ) fell into abeyance between his four daughters, Hazel, Susan, Jessica and Camilla, and the Barony of Seaford (Peerage of the UK, cr 1826) passed to a male heir.

On 25 June, 2004, the Barony of Howard de Walden was called out of abeyance in favour of the 9th Baron's eldest daughter.

Lady Howard de Walden married 20 Nov, 1957, Count Joseph Czernin von und zu Chudenitz (1924-2015), only son of Count Franz Joseph Czernin von und zu Chudenitz (1878-1963), by whom she had issue, one son, Peter, and five daughters, Charlotte, Henrietta, Alexandra, Philippa and Isabelle. Her only son, the Hon Peter John Joseph Czernin, (Count Czernin von und zu Chudenitz), who was born 1 January, 1966, now succeeds as the 11th Baron Howard De Walden.

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Charles Henry Thomas James 1976-2024

 Charles Henry Thomas James, who died 5 July, 2024, aged 47, was a scion of the Barons Northbourne.

He was born 16 October, 1976, the second son of Antony Nigel James (1944-2016), of North Balwyn, Victoria, Australia, and his wife the former Therese McCormack.

Walter James, 2nd Baron Northbourne (1846-1923) > Lt-Col Hon Cuthbert James (1872-1930) > Maj Thomas James (1906-1976) > Antony James (1944-2016) > Charles James (1976-2024)

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Andrew John Faviell Pace 1948-2024

 Andrew John Faviell Pace, who died 24 June, 2024, aged 75, was descended from the Russell baronets.

He was born 15 December, 1948, the elder son of Capt Lawrence Noel George Pace (1918-1993), of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, by his wife the former Sheila Helen Russell (1921-1994), scion of the Russell baronets; and married 10 February, 1973, (Elizabeth) Jane Bunting, daughter of Roger Michael Hartley Bunting (1917-1995), and his wife the former Valerie Dennison (1918-1990), by whom he had three sons, James Andrew Faviell (born 1973), Dominic Henry Faviell (born 1976), and Hugo Alexander Faviell (born 1980).

Sir Alec Charles Russell, 2nd Baronet (1894-1938) > Sheila Helen Russell (1921-94) > Andrew Pace (1948-2024)

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Nicholas Anthony William Mancroft Garthwaite 1952-2024

 Nicholas Anthony William Mancroft Garthwaite, who died 30 June, 2024, aged 72, was a scion of the Garthwaite baronets.

He was born 26 March, 1952, the son of Anthony William Garthwaite (1917-1972), and his wife the Hon Waveney Mancroft Samuel (1916-1986), scion of the Barons Mancroft; and married in 1982, Caroline C. Willbourne, daughter of Thomas William Willbourne and his wife the former Nellie Adams, by whom he had three sons, Oliver Julian (born 1986), Felix Sebastian (born 1987), and Piers Marcus (born 1990).

Nicholas Garthwaite was a grandson of Sir William Garthwaite, 1st Baronet (cr 1919) (1874-1956), and a grandson of the 1st Baron Mancroft (1872-1942).

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Caroline Anne Romaine Dennistoun (nee Long) 1946-2024

 Caroline Anne Romaine Dennistoun (nee Long), died 30 June, 2024. She was 78. She was descended from the Marling baronets.

She was born 4 April, 1946, daughter of Commander Richard Oliver Bruce Long (1914-1982), and his wife the former Marion Charlotte Marling (1915-1978), scion of the Marling baronets; and married 11 November, 1983, Christopher John Dennistoun (born 1949), son of Major John Dennistoun, MBE, and his wife the former Nancy Mary Court (1909-1990), by whom she had issue, a daughter, Felicity Helen (born 21 September, 1985).

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Graham-Watson/Edsell engagement

The engagement was announced 15 July, 2024, between Archibald Edward Graham-Watson (born 1990), scion of that landed gentry family, only son of Hugh Colin Graham-Watson (born 1961), of Reswallie, Angus, and his late wife the former Alexandra Mary Scott (1965-2001), & Pollyanna Victoria Edsell (born 1992), only daughter of David Malcolm E.L. Edsell (born 1945), of Worton, Wiltshire, and his wife the former Lucy Elizabeth Armstrong-Payn (born 1952).

Archibald is a descendant of the Barons Spens:

The 1st Baron Spens (1885-1973) > Capt Hon Robert Richard Patrick Spens, MC (1916-1942) > Charmian Helen Spens (b 5 Oct, 1940) > Alexandra Scott (1965-2001) > Archibald Graham-Watson (b 1990)

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Ellingworth/Riley marriage

 The marriage took place 13 July, 2024, at St Mary's Church, Yarlington, Somerset, between Joseph William Vincent Ellingworth (born 2 December, 1992), descended from the Earls Mountbatten of Burma, the second son of Charles Vincent Ellingworth (born 7 February, 1957), and his wife the former Lady Amanda Patricia Victoria Knatchbull (born 26 June, 1957), & Bridie Anne Riley (born 1991), daughter of Peter Riley and Margaret Andrews.

HM Queen Victoria > Princess Alice > Princess Victoria of Hesse > Louis, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma > Patricia, Countess Mountbatten of Burma > Lady Amanda Knatchbull > Joseph Ellingworth

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Ralli/Revill engagement

The engagement was announced 13 July, 2024, between Charles Roderick Ralli (born 20 July, 1998), scion of the Ralli baronets, elder son of Luke Robert Charles Ralli (born 8 July, 1969), of Cretingham, Suffolk, and his wife the former Alice Walker, & Eleanor Frances M. Revill (born 1998), daughter of David Edward Revill  (born 1966), of Little Witley, Worcestershire, and his wife the former Sara Dawn Noott.

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Lord George Carnegie to marry Matilda St Aubyn

 The engagement was announced 10 July, 2024, between Lord George William Carnegie (born 23 March, 1992), second son of the 4th Duke of Fife (born 3 May, 1961), of Kinnaird Castle, Brechin, Angus, and the Duchess of Fife (nee Caroline Anne Bunting, born 13 Nov, 1961), and Matilda Elizabeth St Aubyn (born 19 January, 1994), scion of the Barons St Levan, the elder daughter of the late Michael Piers St Aubyn (1959-2002), and his wife the former Astrid Elizabeth Lumley (now Mrs James Findlay), of Watership Down, Hampshire.

Lord George is a third cousin once removed of King Charles III.

 Lord George is descended from the Royal House:-

King Edward VII > Princess Louise, Duchess of Fife > Princess Maud of Fife > the 3rd Duke of Fife > 4th Duke of Fife > Lord George Carnegie

Matilda is descended from the Barons St Levan:-

The 1st Baron St Levan > Hon Lionel St Aubyn > Geoffrey St Aubyn > Michael St Aubyn > Matilda St Aubyn

George and Matilda are related thus:-

Matilda Elizabeth St Aubyn → Michael Piers St. Aubyn (her father) → Lt.-Cdr. Geoffrey Piers St. Aubyn (his father) → Lady Mary Theresa Parker (his mother) → Margaret, Countess of Morley (her mother) → Mary Anne Lindsay (her mother) → Anne Lindsay (her mother) → Sir Coutts Trotter, 1st Baronet (her father) → Archibald Trotter (his father) → Jean Steuart (his mother) → Sir Robert Steuart of Allanbank,1st Baronet (her father) → Helen Stewart (his daughter) → Andrew Elliot, of Greenwells (her son) → Agnes Murray Carnegie (his daughter) → Sir James Carnegie, 5th Baronet (her son) → James Carnegie, 9th Earl of Southesk (his son) → Charles Noel Carnegie, 10th Earl of Southesk (his son) → Charles Carnegie, 11th Earl of Southesk (his son) → James Carnegie, 3rd Duke of Fife (his son) → David Charles Carnegie, 4th Duke of Fife (his son) → Lord George William Carnegie (his son)

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Mary Felicity Gladstone 1926-2024

(Mary) Felicity Gladstone, who died 25 June, 2024, aged 98, was a scion of the Gladstone baronets and a great-granddaughter of the Victorian prime minister, William Ewart Gladstone.

She was born 24 March, 1926, the elder daughter of Stephen Deiniol Gladstone (1891-1965), and his wife the former Mary St Claire Davidson (1892-1976), and was unmarried.

She had siblings, Stephen Charles Gladstone (1924-2006), Anne Robson (1928-2015), & John Neville Gladstone (born 24 July, 1932).

Sir John Gladstone, 1st Bt > William Gladstone > Rev Stephen Gladstone > Stephen Deiniol Gladstone > Felicity Gladstone 

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Dr Christopher David Drewe 1942-2024

Dr Christopher David Drewe, who died 30 June, 2024, aged 81, was head of that landed gentry family formerly of Castle Drogo, Devon.

Drewe, together with his father, donated the Castle Drogo estate to the National Trust in 1974. Castle Drogo is a country house and mixed-revivalist castle near Drewsteignton, Devon, England. Constructed between 1911 and 1930, it was the last castle to be built in England. The client was Julius Drewe, the hugely successful founder of the Home and Colonial Stores. Drewe chose the site in the belief that it formed part of the lands of his supposed medieval ancestor, Drogo de Teigne. The architect he chose to realise his dream was Sir Edwin Lutyens, then at the height of his career. Lutyens lamented Drewe's determination to have a castle but nevertheless produced one of his finest buildings. The architectural critic Christopher Hussey described the result: "The ultimate justification of Drogo is that it does not pretend to be a castle. It is a castle, as a castle is built, of granite, on a mountain, in the twentieth century".

The castle was given to the National Trust in 1974, the first building constructed in the twentieth century that the Trust acquired. 

The Old Etonian was born 16 August, 1942, son of Major Anthony Haselden Drewe, MC (1920-1991), and his wife the former Margaret Emma Lindsay (1916-2002). He qualified as a doctor in 1968.

His only sibling is a sister, Ruth (known as Bunny), born 24 December, 1945, wife of Patrick R.C. Johnstone.

Christopher Drewe married in 1998, as her second husband, Cicely Elizabeth Theodosia Hesketh-Prichard (1942-2016), formerly wife of Martin Charles Jacoby, and daughter of Major Michael Hesketh-Prichard (1909-1988), and his wife the former Venetia Alice Green (1915-1992).

He leaves a step-son, Charles Jacoby, and step-daughter, Katherine.

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Nell Rose Susan Buchanan (born 2024)

 Georgia Rose E. Buchanan (born 28 February, 1993, nee Rothman), wife of Rory Alexander Hamilton Buchanan (born 30 June, 1992), scion of the Carrick-Buchanan landed gentry family, gave birth to a daughter, Nell Rose Susan, 27 June, 2024, at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi.

Georgia is a daughter of James D.H.B. Rothman, and his wife the former Lucy V. Middlemas.

Rory is the elder son of Alexander David Hamilton Buchanan (born 3 April, 1961), and his wife the former Emma Susan Kottler (born March, 1964).

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Viscount Garnock engaged to Lady Violet Manners

 The engagement has been announced between William James Lindesay-Bethune, styled Viscount Garnock [born 30 Dec, 1990], son and heir of the 16th Earl of Lindsay [born 19 Nov 1955], of Lahill, Upper Largo, Fife, and his wife the Countess of Lindsay [nee Diana Mary Chamberlayne-Macdonald, born 12 September, 1961], scion of that landed gentry family, & the Lady Violet Diana Louise Manners [born 18 August, 1993], eldest daughter of the 11th Duke of Rutland [born 8 May, 1959], of Belvoir Castle, and the Duchess of Rutland [nee Emma Louise Watkins, born 2 September, 1963].

Bill Garnock is destined to become Earl of Lindsay [Peerage of Scotland, cr 1633], Viscount Garnock [Peerage of Scotland cr 1703], Lord Lindsay  of the Byres [ Scotland 1445], Lord Parbroath [cr 1633], and Lord Kilbirnie, Kingsburn and Drumry [Scot. 1703]

Lady Violet has younger sisters, Lady Alice (born 1995), and Lady Eliza (born 1997), and two brothers, Charles, styled Marquis of Granby (born 1999), heir to the dukedom, and Lord Hugo Manners (born 2003).

Viscount Garnock's siblings are: a brother, the Hon David Lindesay-Bethune (born 12 May, 1993), and three sisters, Lady Frances Gabinsky (born 1986), Lady Alexandra Coleman (born 1988), and Lady Charlotte (born 12 May, 1993 twin with her brother David) now HRH The Duchess of Noto, wife of His Royal Highness Prince Jaime of Bourbon Two Sicilies, Duke of Noto [born at Madrid, 26 June, 1992], eldest son of HRH Prince Pedro Juan Maria Alejo Saturnino y todos los Santos, Duke of Calabria (born Madrid, 16 October, 1968), by his wife HRH The Duchess of Calabria [nee Sofia Landaluce y Melgarejo, born Madrid, 23 Nov, 1973]. 

Both Viscount Garnock and Lady Violet have numerous ties of blood in that vast aristocratic web, and are descended in a direct legitimate line from the founder of the Royal House of Tudor King Henry VII. The couple also have a descent from The ‘Merrie Monarch’ King Charles II, via his illegitimate offspring. They are sixth cousins once removed, both are descended from Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford (1721-1803).

Lady Violet’s ancestor, the 8th Duke of Rutland, married Marion Margaret Violet Lindsay, scion of the Earls of Crawford & Balcarres, kinsmen of the Earls of Lindsay.

William Garnock’s ancestor, the 13th Earl of Lindsay [1872-1943] married in 1900, US heiress Ethel Tucker [who died in 1942], daughter of William Austin Tucker [1850-1931], banker of New York and Boston.

Unions between the top aristocratic families are few and far between these days. The current Duke of Roxburghe married, and then divorced, a daughter of Lord Beaverbrook. The Earl of Lichfield married a daughter of the Marquess Conyngham. Viscount Grimston, heir to the Earl of Verulam, married the Duke of Roxburghe’s sister Lady Rosanagh Innes-Ker.

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Stephenson/Aspinall engagement

The engagement was announced 6 July, 2024, berween Augustus William Malcolm (Gus) Stephenson (born 1994), eldest son of Oliver George Stephenson (born 6 Oct, 1962), of Middleton-by-Youlgreave, Derbyshire, and his wife the former Fiona Alice Jane Malcolm (born 4 Aug, 1962), scion of the Malcolm baronets, & Sophia Rose Aspinall (born July, 1993), daughter of Martin Mark Charles Aspinall (born April, 1951), of Pendleton, Lancashire, and his late wife the former Annette Katerina Taylor (1954-2011).

Gus Stephenson is a grandson of Sir David Peter Michael Malcolm of Balbedie, 11th Baronet (1919-1995)

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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 Simon Hermer KC (born Sept, 1968), 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 John Thompson Vallance, KCB (born 17 March, 1960), 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.

The Rt Hon Jacqui Smith (Jacqueline Jill Smith, born 3 November 1962) is a British broadcaster, political commentator and Labour Party politician, has been appointed a Minister of State in the Department for Education. She served as Labour MP for Redditch from 1997 to 2010. She served as Home Secretary under Gordon Brown from 2007 to 2009 and was the first woman to hold the position.

The Rt Hon Sir David George Hanson (born 5 July 1957, an MP from 1992 to 2019 and a Minister of State from 2005 to 2010) is now a Minister of State in the Home Office.

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 David 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.

Nominations from the Leader of the Conservative Party:-

The Rt Hon Sir Graham Stuart Brady PC b 20 May 1967 m - Lately Member of Parliament for Altrincham and Sale West, and Chairman of the 1922 Committee.

The Rt Hon Christopher Stephen Grayling PC b 1 Apr 1962 m - Lately Member of Parliament for Epsom and Ewell, and former Secretary of State for Transport, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice and Leader of the House of Commons.

The Rt Hon Dame Eleanor Laing DBE PC b 1 Feb 1958 div - Lately Member of Parliament for Epping Forest, lately Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons.

Craig Mackinley JP b 7 Oct 1966 m - Lately Member of Parliament for South Thanet.

The Rt Hon Theresa Mary May PC b 1 Oct 1956 m - Lately Member of Parliament for Maidenhead, former Prime Minister and Home Secretary.

The Rt Hon Sir Alok Kumar Sharma KCMG PC b 7 Sep 1967 m - Lately Member of Parliament for Reading West and former Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Secretary of State for International Development and President for COP26.

Liam Booth-Smith b 1987 m - Lately No10 Downing Street Chief of Staff.

Nominations from the Leader of the Labour Party

The Rt Hon Dame Margaret Mary Beckett GBE PC b 15 Jan 1943 w - Former Foreign Secretary and former Deputy Leader of the Labour Party.

John Robert Cryer b 11 Apr 1964 m - Lately Member of Parliament for Leyton and Wanstead.

The Rt Hon Harriet Ruth Harman KC PC b 30 Jul 1950 m - Lately Member of Parliament for Camberwell and Peckham, and formerly Deputy Leader of the Labour Party.

The Rt Hon Dame Margaret Eve Hodge DBE PC b 8 Sep 1944 w - Lately Member of Parliament for Barking and former Minister of State for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

The Rt Hon Kevan David Jones PC b 25 Apr 1964  - Lately Member of Parliament for North Durham and former Minister for Veterans at the Ministry of Defence.

Barbara Mary Keeley b 26 Mar 1952 m - Lately Member of Parliament for Worsley and Eccles South and formerly Shadow Minister for Music and Tourism.

The Rt Hon John Francis Spellar PC b 5 Aug 1947 w - Lately Member of Parliament for Warley and formerly Comptroller of the Household in the Whips’ Office.

The Rt Hon Dame Rosie [Rosalie] Winterton DBE PC b 10 Aug 1958  - Lately Member of Parliament for Doncaster Central and former Deputy Speakers in the House of Commons.

Nominations from the Liberal Democrat Party

Caroline Valerie Pidgeon MBE b 29 Sep 1972 m - Lately Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the London Assembly.

Nominations from the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP)

Thomas Elliott MLA b 11 Dec 1963 - Member of the Legislative Assembly for Fermanagh and South Tyrone and former leader of the Ulster Unionist Party.

Nominations for Crossbench Peerages

Minette Bridget Batters b 28 May 1967 div - Former President of the National Farmers’ Union of England and Wales.

Dr Hilary Dawn Cass OBE FRCN FRCGP b 19 Feb 1958 - Former president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.

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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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