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Thursday, October 03, 2024

The Baron Ouseley 1945-2024

  The Lord Ouseley, who died 2 October, 2024, aged 79, was a life peer who ran public authorities, including local councils and was an adviser and reviewer of public services organisations.

Herman Ouseley had expertise in equality and diversity issues and was the Chairperson of several charitable organisations as well as being a Patron for dozens of organisations. He was at the forefront of challenging institutional racism in organisations and was an advocate on behalf of individuals from disadvantaged and deprived backgrounds. He sat in the House of Lords as a crossbencher from 2001 until his retirement in 2019. He was also included in the 2003 list of "100 Great Black Britons". The peer was a local government officer between 1963 and 1993. He was appointed as the first principal race relations advisor in local government. From 1981, he served as Principal Race Relations Adviser and head of the Greater London Council's Ethnic Minority Unit. He later became Chief Executive of the London Borough of Lambeth and the former Inner London Education Authority (the first black person to hold such an office), responsible for over 1000 schools and colleges across the capital. Ouseley was chair and chief executive in the Commission for Racial Equality from 1993 to 2000.

Herman George Ouseley was born 24 March, 1945. He was knighted in 1997, and raised to the peerage for life in 2001 as Baron Ouseley, of Peckham Rye, in the London Borough of Southwark.

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Wednesday, October 02, 2024

Christopher Harry (Kit) Cator 1942-2024

 Christopher Harry (Kit) Cator, who died 20 September, 2024, aged 82, was a scion of that landed gentry family, of Woodbastwick, Norfolk.

He was born 9 September, 1942, the second son of Lt-Cdr Peter Harry Cator, VRD, RNR (1908-79), and his wife the former Kythe Susan Blofeld (1909-94), scion of that Norfolk landed gentry family; and married in 1967, Caroline E. Green, by whom he had issue, a son, (James) Ralph Albemarle Cator (born 1971), and a daughter, Isabel Mary Cator (born 1969).

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William Francis Fisher 1935-2024

 William Francis Fisher died 26 September, 2024, aged 89.

He was born in 1935, son of Brigadier Arthur Francis Fisher, CBE, DSO (1899-1972), and his wife the former Margaret Charlotte Kirkpatrick (1904-1986), scion of that Irish landed gentry family. He married 2 June, 1962, Alexandra Goudime-Levkovitsch (born 3 March, 1940), daughter of Paul Goudime-Levkovitsch (1910-84), and his wife the former Sheila Violet McNeill (1908-1986), a descendant of the Merrie Monarch King Charles II, and from the 6th Duke of Marlborough.

'Bill' Fisher leavers a widow and three children.

King Charles II > 1st Duke of Grafton > 2nd Duke of Grafton > Lord Augustus FitzRoy > 1st Baron Southampton > Hon Georgiana FitzRoy > Hon Charlotte Ponsonby > Fanny Talbot > Charles McNeill > Sheila McNeill > Alexandra Goudime-Levkovitsch

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The 6th Duke of Marlborough > Lady Clementina Spencer-Churchill > Evelyn Green > Paul Goudime-Levkovitsch > Alexandra Goudime-Levkovitsch

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Tuesday, October 01, 2024

The 13th Marquess of Lothian, PC, KC, DL 1945-2024

 The 13th Marquess of Lothian, PC, KC, DL, who died 1 October, 2024, aged 79, was the first Catholic to become a Scottish Conservative MP; better known as Michael Ancram, he was also one of the architects of peace in Northern Ireland and went on to serve as party chairman under William Hague and deputy leader to Iain Duncan Smith and Michael Howard. Ancram won and lost two Scottish seats before his election in 1992 for Devizes, which he continued to represent after succeeding to his title in 2004. He stood down in 2010.

A most unstuffy grandee, Ancram was a member of the British ski team, and a folk singer who had busked his way round Italy as a student. For Malcolm Rifkind’s 50th birthday party he impersonated Buddy Holly, and at William Hague’s much ridiculed 1997 Shadow Cabinet “bonding session” at Eastbourne, he accompanied a singalong Bridge Over Troubled Water on acoustic guitar.

Michael Andrew Foster Jude Kerr was born 7 July, 1945, the son of the 12th Marquess of Lothian, KCVO (1922-2004) and the former Antonella Newland (1922-2007), daughter of Maj Gen Sir Foster Reuss Newland KCMG CB (1862-1943), of Ditchingham Hall, co. Norfolk, by his wife Donna Nenella Salazar y Munatones, dau. of Conte Michele Salazar.

He was educated at Ampleforth, in Switzerland, at Christ Church, Oxford (where he was a pillar of the Bullingdon Club), and Edinburgh University, where he took an LLB, becoming an advocate in 1970. He was a founder of the Thistle Group, advocating a federal Britain. As the heir to a Marquessate, he was entitled to style himself the Earl of Ancram. Initially, he did, until as a young advocate he found judges addressing him as “my Lord”.

In February 1974 he was elected for Berwickshire & East Lothian, ousting Labour’s Professor John Mackintosh by 540 votes despite a national swing to Labour. That October, Mackintosh won the seat back. By the time Mackintosh died in 1978 and a by-election was called, Ancram – now vice-chairman of the Scottish party – had been adopted for Edinburgh South, where the sitting Tory was retiring.

At the 1979 election Ancram fought off the young Gordon Brown, holding the seat by 2,460 votes. He joined the Energy Select Committee, and from 1980 chaired the Scottish party. He joined Margaret Thatcher’s government after the 1983 election as Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Scottish Office. 

In October 1984 he survived the IRA’s bombing of the Grand Hotel at Brighton. He was in bed when the bomb exploded; rubble blocked the fire escape and it took him some time to get out – discovering three close friends had died.

Michael Ancram became a board member of Scottish Homes. He also chaired Waverley Housing, which managed 1,100 homes, then bought them from Scottish Homes for as little as £1 each. The Public Accounts Committee later ruled the relationship “improper”; Ancram had had no financial interest in it, however.

As Tory fortunes waned in Scotland, Ancram tried for Kensington & Chelsea and Rutland & Melton before being adopted for Devizes, inheriting Charles Morrison’s 20,000 majority; he would champion the constituency’s strong military connections in the House.

Returning to the Commons in 1992, he joined the Public Accounts Committee and chaired the Conservative backbench constitutional committee. He tried to shore up Norman Lamont as Chancellor after “Black Wednesday”, and urged Tories to have the “courage” to support John Major over Maastricht.

Within a year he was back in government, as Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Northern Ireland under Patrick Mayhew; Number 10 called while he was ski-ing at Davos. 

After the Conservatives’ rout in 1997 Ancram backed Hague for the leadership, and became constitutional affairs spokesman as Tony Blair’s government launched its devolution plans and flirted with proportional representation. He accused New Labour of “undermining our constitution in a cynical attempt to consolidate its hold on power”. He became deputy party chairman, then in 1998 chairman. He inherited low morale in the constituencies, and at Central Office following “downsizing” by the party’s chief executive, Archie Norman.

He chaired the Conservatives into the 2001 election, when the party suffered as bad a mauling as four years before. The result was blamed in part on Hague and Ancram turning the election into a referendum on the euro, which in the event Blair’s government never joined.

When Hague stood down Ancram went for the leadership, pledging “a strong, united party with radical policies that will make a difference”. In the first ballot in June 2001, he and David Davis finished joint last with 21 MPs’ votes, against 49 for Michael Portillo, 39 for Duncan Smith and 36 for Kenneth Clarke.

Party rules made no provision for a tie, so a fresh ballot was ordered. This time Ancram polled 17 to Davis’s 18. He then backed Duncan Smith, who overtook Portillo to clinch the leadership. 

Appointed deputy leader and Shadow Foreign Secretary, Ancram castigated Labour’s “shameful inaction” over human rights abuses by Robert Mugabe, and scorned the proposed European Constitution.

When Duncan Smith was forced out in 2003, Ancram was the first senior Tory to commit to Howard, and stayed deputy leader. In the 2005 election his campaigning contributed to the Conservatives finally regaining some ground.

Ancram stayed on, pending the election of David Cameron late that year as Howard’s successor. He also became Shadow Defence Secretary, increasingly critical of Britain’s military presence in Iraq. He returned to the back benches the following year, joining the Intelligence and Security Committee, and in 2010 he left the Commons with a peerage, as Baron Kerr of Monteviot.

Ancram’s elder daughter, Lady Clare, suffered from ME/CFS, until she was successfully treated at the Breakspear Hospital in Hertfordshire. In 2004 he launched the Breakspear Hospital Trust.

He became a Scottish QC in 1996, and deputy lieutenant for Roxburgh, Ettrick and Lauderdale in 1990. He succeeded his father, 11 October, 2004, as 13th Marquess of Lothian, 14th Earl of Lothian, 15th Earl of Ancram, 13th Viscount of Briene, 16th Lord Jedburgh, 14th Lord Newbottle, 15th Lord Kerr of Nisbet, Longnewtoun and Dolphinstoun, 13th Lord Ker of Newbottle, Oxnam, Jedburgh, Dolphinstoun and Nisbet, and 8th Baron Ker, of Kershaugh in the County of Roxburgh.

He was created a life peer in 2010 as Baron Kerr of Monteviot, of Monteviot in Roxburghshire.

As Earl of Ancram he married 7 June, 1975, the Lady Theresa Jane Fitzalan-Howard (born 24 January, 1945), younger daughter of the 16th Duke of Norfolk, KG, GCVO, GBE (1908-75), and his wife the Hon Lavinia Mary Strutt, LG, CBE (who died 1995).

His wife succeeded to the Lordship of Herries of Terregles, 7 April, 2017, inheriting the title from her elder sister. They had three daughters, Lady Sarah Margaret (born and died 13 June, 1976), Lady Clare Therese (born 25 January, 1979), heir to her mother's peerage, and Lady Mary Cecil (born 1981).

He is succeeded as 14th Marquess by his brother, Lord Ralph William Francis Joseph Kerr, born 7 November, 1957. The 14th Marquess lives at the family seat, Ferniehurst Castle, Jedburgh, Roxburghshire, and Melbourne Hall, Derby. He married 5 March, 1988, Marie-Clare Black, 2nd daughter of (Michael) Donald Gordon Black, MC (1932-2009), by his wife the former Priscilla M.A. Holt (born 1937). They have four sons and two daughters.

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Sarah Victoria Caulcutt (née Cottrell) (died 2024)

 Sarah Victoria Caulcutt (née Cottrell), died 20 September, 2024. 

She was born circa 1952, a daughter of David Vernon Swynfen Cottrell (1923-2008), and his wife the former Leontine Mariette Dyson Perrins (1923-2019), scion of that landed gentry family; and married firstly, in 1972, Colin Macinnes; married secondly, in 1991, John Clive Willian Avon Caulcutt  (born 1947), son of John Antony Caulcutt (1918-1966), and his wife the former Elsie O.B. von Hartz.

Sarah's brother Mark Swynfen Cottrell (born 1955), married the Hon Fiona Caroline Mary Watson (born 26 Sept, 1953), daughter of the 3rd Baron Manton (1924-2003).

Sarah Caulcutt leaves two daughters from her first marriage, Alice Helen (born 1975), and Emma Charlotte (born 1977), and a daughter from her second marriage, Sophie Marina (born 1991).

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Charles Stephen Napier Crookenden 1957-2024

Charles Stephen Napier Crookenden, who died 6 September, 2024, aged 67, was a grandson maternally of the late 2nd Baron Kindersley.

He was born 3 February, 1957, the second son of Lieutenant-General Sir Napier Crookenden, KCB, DSO, OBE  (1915-2002), and his wife the Hon Patricia Nassau Kindersley (1922-2010), daughter of the 2nd Baron Kindersley (1899-1976); and married 21 February, 1998, Michelle Lynn Ott, daughter of Joseph Ott, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, United States, by whom he had issue, two sons, Patrick (born 14 May, 2001), and his twin Oliver, and a daughter, Grace (born 2005).

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Second child expected for Princess Beatrice & Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi

Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrice, Mrs Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi [born 8 Aug, 1988], and Mr Edoardo Alessandro M. Mapelli Mozzi [born London 1 November, 1983], are expecting their second child in the Spring of 2025. 

Edo Mapelli Mozzi is the son of Count Alessandro [Alex] Mapelli Mozzi [born 1951], by his former wife the former Nicola Diana Burrows [born Feb 1956] [now Mrs Nikki Williams-Ellis, MBE].

Princess Beatrice is the elder daughter of HRH The Prince Andrew, Duke of York [born 19 February, 1960], by his former wife the former Sarah Margaret Ferguson [born 15 October, 1959].

Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh joined the Duke of York at the scaled down Covid-secure wedding of their granddaughter and Edo Mapelli Mozzi at the Chapel Royal in Windsor Great Park, in July, 2020. Around twenty guests attended the wedding.

The Mapelli Mozzis first child, a daughter Sienna Elizabeth, was born 18 September, 2021.

Edoardo's maternal grandmother, the former Susan Arnot Heath, married firstly, Robert David Burrows [Edo's grandfather], and married secondly, Lieutenant-Col Greville Wyndham Tufnell, CVO [born 1932], of the Grenadier Guards, who has close associations with the Royal Household.

Count Edoardo Alessandro M Mapelli Mozzi (known as Edo) was born in Westminster, 1st November, 1983, son of Count Alessandro (Alex) Mapelli Mozzi, and his former wife the former Nicola Diana [Nikki] Burrows. He has an elder sister Natalia Alice, born in 1981, wife of Mr Tod Yeomans.

His father, who was born in 1951, is a British Olympian, an Alpine skier, took part in several events at the 1972 Olympic Games.

Edo's grandfather was Count Gian Paolo Mapelli Mozzi (1922-80), Italian aristocrat, who married Gigliola Stoppani. Count Gian Paolo was a son of Count Luigi Mapelli Mozzi (1894-1948), who married Nobile Maria Mercedes Baroli.

Count Luigi was a son of Count Paolo Mapelli Mozzi (1854-1921), who married Enrichetta Tarsis dei Conti di Castel d'Agogna (1866-1941). Count Paolo was the son of Count Alessandro Mapelli Mozzi (1815-79) who married Nobile Ippolita Giulino dei Conti di Vialba.

The Mapelli Mozzi name came about from the marriage of Count Alessandro's father, Nobile Gerolamo Mapelli (1785-1842) with Angela Mozzi.

Edo's mother married as her second husband Christopher M.H. Shale, a British businessman and Conservative politician, friend of former prime minister David Cameron. Mr Shale died from natural causes at Glastonbury, in June, 2011. Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie and their parents the Duke and Duchess of York attended Mr Shale's funeral. Mrs Shale married thirdly, the sculptor David Williams-Ellis, a great nephew of Clough Williams-Ellis, the architect.

Mrs Williams-Ellis was awarded the MBE in David Cameron's resignation honours.

Edo has a half-brother, Albemarle Christopher M.H. Shale, ten years his junior.

The Mapelli Mozzi family have several connections to the British aristocracy. Edo's cousin, Edward Ankarcrona, son of Countess Margaretha Mapelli Mozzi, married in 2006, Lady Lucinda Savile, a daughter of the Earl and Countess of Mexborough.

Although he enjoys the title of "Count" he is a British subject and technically cannot use a foreign title in this country. Foreign styles and titles were confined to those who received a Royal Warrant from King George V in 1932.

Edo has a son, Christopher Woolf "Wolfie", born in 2016, from a previous relationship.

The royal baby will be the 14th great-grandchild for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II:-

1. Savannah Anne Kathleen Phillips, born 29 December, 2010

2. Isla Elizabeth Phillips, born 29 March, 2012

3. Prince George Alexander Louis of Wales, born 22 July, 2013

4. Mia Grace Tindall, born 17 January, 2014

5. Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana of Wales, born 2 May, 2015

6. Prince Louis Arthur Charles of Wales, born 23 April, 2018

7. Lena Elizabeth Tindall, born 18 June, 2018

8. Prince Archie Harrison of Sussex, born 6 May, 2019

9. August Philip Hawke Brooksbank, born 9 February, 2021

10. Lucas Philip Tindall, born 21 March, 2021

11. Princess Lilibet Diana of Sussex, born 4 June, 2021

12. Sienna Elizabeth Mapelli Mozzi, born 18 September, 2021

13. Ernest George Ronnie Brooksbank, born 30 May, 2023

14. Baby Mapelli Mozzi 

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Fiona Dawn Cory Vernon 1947-2024

 (Fiona) Dawn Cory Vernon, who died 18 September, 2024, aged 77, was a granddaughter maternally of Sir James Cory, 1st Baronet.

She was born 16 February, 1947, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel William Handley Ferguson (who died 4 Aug, 1972), and his wife the former Jessie Rosalie Cory (1911-1989); and married 17 July, 1969, Greville Edward Mervyn Vernon (born 19 July, 1944), son of Maj Mervyn Sydney Bobus Vernon, MVO (1912-1991), the Grenadier Guards, by his wife the former Lady Violet Mary Baring (1911-1978), daughter of the 2nd Earl of Cromer, GCB, GCIE, GCVO, PC (1877-1953), by whom he had issue, a son, James (born 1971), and two daughters, Zara (born 1973), and Sasha (born 1979).

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Monday, September 30, 2024

Nicholson/McLeod engagement

The engagement was announced 30 September, 2024, between Edward Ivo Nicholson (born 1994), youngest son of Frank Nicholson (born 11 February, 1954), of Co Durham, and his wife the former Lavinia Margaret Grace Stourton (born 1 October, 1962), scion of the Barons Mowbray, Segrave & Stourton, & Madeleine Kate McLeod (b 1994), daughter of Fraser Neil McLeod, (born 1951), of Bristol, and his wife the former Angela Campbell.

The 19th Baron Stourton (1802-72) > Hon Albert Stourton (1835-1902) > Herbert Stourton (1873-1932) > Sir Ivo Stourton (1901-85) > Nigel Stourton (1929-2021) > Lavinia Stourton (b 1962) > Edward Nicholson (b 1994)

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Sir Thomas Lawson-Tancred, 9th Baronet (1870-1945) > Pauline Lawson-Tancred (b 1916) > Frank Nicholson (b 1954) > Edward Nicholson (b 1994)

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Henson/Rodríguez-Legorburu Cabrera-Kábana marriage

 The marriage has taken place in Madrid, in September, 2024, between Jasper Cornelius Richard Henson (born 1994), only son of Rupert Cornelius Brooke Henson (born 1962), of Longworth, Oxfordshire, and his wife the former Caroline Belinda Frisby (born 17 Aug, 1963), scion of that landed gentry family, & Doña Isabel Rodríguez-Legorburu Cabrera-Kábana (born 25 May, 1988), scion of a Spanish aristocratic family, elder daughter of Eduardo Rodríguez y Legorburu, the Condes de Asmir of Madrid, Spain, and his wife the former Isabel Cabrera-Kábana Sartorius.

 Jasper Henson is a brother of the Duchess of Westminster, wife of the 7th Duke.

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Sunday, September 29, 2024

A son for Maddison Brudenell and Bret Kapetanov

Maddison May Brudenell (born 16 May, 1994), partner of Bret Kapetanov (born circa 1994), gave birth to a son, Michael Adam, 6 August, 2024

Maddison, a descendant of Queen Victoria, announced her engagement to Bret in June, 2023. Mr Kapetanov, a millwright, hails from Windsor, Ontario. The couple plan to marry in October, 2024.

Maddison, daughter of the actor Jeremy Alexander Rothwell Brudenell (born 2 April, 1960) and his wife the former Edwina Victoria Louise Hicks (born 24 December, 1961), elder daughter of the late David Nightingale Hicks (1929-1998), by his wife the former Lady Pamela Carmen Louise Mountbatten (born 19 April, 1929), younger daughter of Admiral of the Fleet the late 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (1900-79).

In 2015 Maddison married Olaoluwa Olamide Modupe-Ojo, a musician under the name "Jazz Purple". The marriage ended in divorce.

Maddison has issue from her first marriage, two daughters, Daphne (born 26 Nov, 2016), and  Phoebe (born 15 Dec, 2018), and a son, Moses (b 2020).

The baby is named in honour of Maddison's paternal grandfather, the late John Michael Brudenell (1925-2015), the royal obstetrician.

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Saturday, September 28, 2024

Bowcock/Cornock engagement

The engagement was announced 28 September, 2024, between Dominic Matthew Bowcock (born 1994), son of Matthew Philip Bowcock (born 1956), of Haslemere, Surrey, and his wife Helen, & Pippa Ann Cornock (born 1995), second daughter of Ian Charles Cornock (born 1963), of Hadley, Worcestershire, and his wife the former Diana Elizabeth Vyvyan-Robinson (born 24 July, 1963), scion of the Vyvyan baronets.

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Patrick Rowan Esau Cumming-Bruce (born 2024)

 Henrietta Perpetua Agnes (Hetty) Cumming-Bruce (nee Scrope, born 1991), wife of the Hon George Patrick Roualeyn Hovell-Thurlow-Cumming-Bruce [born 19 March, 1990], scion of the Barons Thurlow, gave birth to a son, Patrick Rowan Esau, 18 August, 2024, a brother for Kester Francis, who was born 3 November, 2022.

Hetty Cumming-Bruce is a scion of the ancient landed family og Scrope of Danby, youngest daughter of Maj. Peter Geoffrey Scrope [born 3 January, 1955], of Great Ayton, North Yorkshire, and his wife the former Penelope Eldrydd Davies [born 31 March, 1955], scion of the Barons Davies.

The Hon George Cumming-Bruce is the younger son of the 9th Baron Thurlow [born 13 April, 1952], of Mapledurham, Oxfordshire, and his wife the former Bridget Anne Julia Cheape.

John Savile, 6th Earl of Mexborough [1868-1945] > Lady Beatrice Savile [1910-73] > Peter Scrope [b 1955] > Hetty Scrope [b 1991] > Patrick Cumming-Bruce (b 2024)

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Friday, September 27, 2024

Ann Mary Muir (née Corbally) 1944-2024

  Ann Mary Muir (née Corbally) died 14 September, 2024, aged 80.

She was born in Oxfordshire, in 1944, scion of a landed gentry family, a daughter of Air Vice Marshal Edward John Corbally, CBE, RAF (1908-1981), and his wife the former Alfreda Clare Sumner (1908-1993), a scion of that landed gentry family; and married 1stly, in 1966 (div) Timothy M. Jenkins (born 1942), by whom she had three sons and two daughters; married secondly, in 1993, as his second wife, Andrew Hugh John Muir (born 28 August, 1943), third son of Sir John Harling Muir, 3rd Baronet (1910-1994), and his wife the former Elizabeth Mary Dundas (1914-2008), scion of the Earls (later Marquesses) of Zetland. Her husband is a younger brother of Sir Richard Muir, 4th Baronet (1939-2023), and Sir Ian Muir, 5th Baronet (born 16 September, 1940).

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Cecilia Marina Campbell de Almeida (born 2024)

 Ishbel Elizabeth Rose Campbell de Almeida (née Campbell, born 30 November, 1988), wife of Marco Silva de Almeida, and scion of the Earls Cawdor, gave birth to a daughter, Cecilia Marina, 16 September, 2024, a sister for Orlando Jorge, who was born 25 October, 2022.

Ishbel is the elder daughter of James Farquhar Robin Campbell (born 26 November, 1958), and his wife the former Marina Caroline Vere Norton (born 6 May, 1961), descended from the Ogilvy baronets.

The 2nd Earl Cawdor (1817-1898) > Capt The Hon Ronald Campbell (1848-1879) > Lt-Col Robert Campbell (1878-1945) > Maj Robin Campbell (b 1927) > James Campbell (b 1958) > Ishbel Campbell (b 1988) > Cecilia Campbell de Almeida (b 2024)

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Victor Jules Barnett 1933-2024

 Victor Jules Barnett, who died 20 September, 2024, aged 91, was a British-American businessman, former executive chairman of Burberry, and member of the wealthy Wolfson family.

Victor Jules Barnett was born in London, in 1933 to Esmond Barnett (1901-1934), of London, and Edith Wolfson (1902-1997), sister of Sir Isaac Wolfson, 1st Baronet (1897-1991).

His father died young, leaving Barnett to be raised by his mother and her siblings, among them Sir Isaac Wolfson, Bt. Moving to New York City after World War II, Barnett graduated from the Horace Mann School and with a bachelor's degree in economics from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

Barnett began his career managing what was then the fledgling American operation of Burberry, a subsidiary of his family's retail conglomerate Great Universal Stores (GUS). He joined Revlon, Inc. in 1961, serving as executive vice president under Charles Revson until 1976. Barnett then returned to help manage the family business, GUS, joining his cousins Leonard (1927-2010), the life peer as Baron Wolfson, and David Wolfson (1935-2021), the life peer as Baron Wolfson of Sunningdale, on the group's board of directors and executive committee. As head of GUS in North America, Barnett led the acquisition and growth of credit agency Experian in 1996.

In 1997, he became executive chairman of Burberry to reinvigorate the house's neglected management. At Burberry, Barnett led a reorganization of the company, hiring Rose Marie Bravo as chief executive, renegotiating deals with Burberry's Japanese licensees, acquiring their licensee in Spain, and driving major real estate purchases including its flagship stores on New Bond Street and East 57th Street. Over Barnett's tenure Burberry's operating profits more than quadrupled and the brand became recognized as a global luxury fashion house. In January 2001, Burberry started to look for a replacement for Barnett. In July 2001, Barnett stepped down as chairman of Burberry.

The family took Burberry public in 2002, and demerged GUS into Home Retail Group and Experian in 2006. Following his retirement from GUS and Burberry, Barnett bought pharmaceutical company Shaklee with his younger son Roger and joined the board of Grey Global Group.

Barnett was married to Helaine M. Barnett, a prominent legal aid attorney and former president of the Legal Services Corporation. They had two sons, Craig Edward (born 1962), an investment banker, and Roger Lawrence (born 1964), CEO of Shaklee.

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Thursday, September 26, 2024

Julia Mary Jaques (née Hamilton-Russell) 1967-2024

 Julia Mary Jaques, who died 22 September, 2024, aged 57, was a scion of the Viscounts Boyne.

Julia Mary Hamilton-Russell was born 14 September, 1967, daughter of James Gustavus Hamilton-Russell (born 11 September, 1938), and his wife the former Alison Mary Heard (who died 18 Oct, 2022); and married 5 September, 1998, Victor Huntington Jaques, son of Ralph Jaques, of Hampstead, London, by whom she had issue, a son, Frederick (born 7 March, 2001), and two daughters, Rosie (born 14 July, 2002), and Florence (born 18 Oct, 2005).

Gustavus, 9th Viscount Boyne (1864-1942) > Maj Hon John Hamilton-Russell (1911-1943) > James Hamilton-Russell (b 1938) > Julia Mary Hamilton-Russell (1967-2024)

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Mark Antony Loveday 1943-2024

 Mark Antony Loveday, who died 4 September, 2024, aged 80, was a stockbroker, head of Cazenove at a time of upheaval, and behind the inevitable, yet historic, decision to convert the City’s most blue-blooded firm into a limited company. Loveday was a scion of the landed gentry family of that name.

He followed his father into stockbroking, and was drawn to Cazenove by his godfather, Sir Anthony Hornby, senior partner there. Initially, TB kept him away from the office for months. He became a stock exchange member in 1972 and was a partner from 1974 until 2001. He specialised in raising finance for companies, mainly through share issues. He was senior partner, Cazenove & Co, 1994-2001; Chairman, Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust PLC from 2002; Director, London Catalyst 1972-; Trustee of Magdalen College Development Trust 1982-; a Trustee of the Grosvenor Estate 1999-; Liveyman of the Skinners' Co 1972.

He was born 22 September, 1943, a son of George Arthur Loveday, TD, (1909-1981), stockbroker, and sometime chairman of the London Stock Exchange, by his first wife Sylvia Mary Gibbs (1907-1967), kinswoman of the Barons Wraxall and Aldenham & Hunsdon.

He married in 1981, Mary Elizabeth Tolmie (born 1943), daughter of John Simpson Tolmie (1913-1965), and his wife the former Mary Catherine Deirdre Mitchell (1910-1998), by whom he had issue, a son, Sam, and a daughter, Lucy.

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Wednesday, September 25, 2024

Death of Lady Benn, wife of Sir Robin Benn, 5th Baronet

 Lady Benn, who died 19 September, 2024, aged 64, was the wife of Sir Robert Ernest (Robin) Benn, 5th Baronet.

The former Angela Valerio married in 2019, as his second wife Robert Ernest (Robin) Benn (born 17 October, 1963), son of Sir (James)Jonathan Benn, 4th Baronet (born 27 July, 1933), and his wife the former Jennifer Mary Howells (born 1936). Her husband succeeded his father, 3 October, 2023, as the fifth baronet. The baronetcy was created in 1914 for John Benn, Liberal MP for Devonport 1904-1910, who was father the 2nd Bt and of the 1st Viscount Stansgate.

Lady Benn is survived by her husband and step-children.

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Tuesday, September 24, 2024

Goldsmith of Richmond Park/Fleming engagement

 The engagement has been announced between Frank Zacharias Robin (Zac) Goldsmith, The Baron Goldsmith of Richmond Park, PC (born 20 January, 1975), the politician and life peer, son of the late Sir James Goldsmith (1933-1997), and his third wife the Lady Annabel Vane-Tempest-Stewart (born 13 June, 1934), scion of the Marquesses of Londonderry, & Hermione Kirsty Fleming (born 1989), scion of that landed gentry family, of Nettlefold, daughter of Roderick John Fleming (born 12 November, 1953), and his wife Diana Julia Wake (born 20 March, 1955), daughter of Maj Sir Hereward Wake, 14th Baronet (1916-2017).

It will be Lord Goldsmith of Richmond's third marriage. His first marriage, 5 June, 1999, was to socialite Sheherazade Ventura-Bentley (born 14 March, 1974), from whom he was divorced in 2010. He married 2ndly, 15 March, 2013, Alice Miranda Rothschild (born 29 Nov, 1983), scion of the Barons Rothschild, daughter of the late Hon Amschel Mayor James Rothschild (1955-1996), and his wife the former Anita Patience Guinness (born 7 December, 1957), scion of the banking branch of the Guinness dynasty. Lord Goldsmith is the father of six (three offspring from each of his marriages).

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Vanessa Clare Campbell-Harris 1967-2024

Vanessa Clare Campbell-Harris (nee Hogan-Hern), died 14 September, 2024, aged 57.

She was born in 1967, a daughter of George Peter Henry Gogan-Hern (born 1939), by his wife the former Maureen Mahoney; and married in 1992, James Neil (Jamie) Campbell-Harris (born 22 January, 1966), son of Alastair Neil Campbell-Harris (1926-2010), and hisn wife the former Zara Carolyn Harrison (1938-2022), descended from the Lord Ruthven of Freeland, in the Peerage of Scotland.

She leaves three children, Alexandra, Hugo and Geordie.

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Maj. David Gybrian Flood 1933-2024

 Major David Flood, who died 15 September, 2024, aged 91, was descended from the Viscounts of Arbuthnott.

He was born 8 May, 1933, second son of Philip Adrian Flood (1903-1971), and his wife the former Mary Frances Clementina Arbuthnott (1904-1990).

He served in the Royal Tank Regiment, and was unmarried.

The 8th Viscount of Arbuthnott (1778-1860) > Hon David Arbuthnott (1820-1901) > Donald Stuart Arbuthnott (1860-1918) > Mary Arbuthnott (1904-90) > Maj David Gybrian Flood (1933-2024)

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Monday, September 23, 2024

Petty/Currey engagement

The engagement was announced 23 September, 2024, between Samuel David Watson Petty (born 1989), son of Ian Robert Watson Petty (born 1942), and his late wife Mrs Susan Mary Petty (nee Hedges), of Burley, Hampshire, & Louisa Henrietta Ann Currey (born 1990), third daughter of (Charles) Alistair Currey (born 1947), of Fulham, London, and his wife the former Hon Henrietta Mary Rosario Czernin (born 10 January, 1960), scion of the Barons Howard De Walden.

 William Cavendish-Bentinck, 4th Duke of Portland (1768-1854) > Lady Lucy Joan Scott-Bentinck (d 1899) > The 7th Baron Howard De Walden (1830-99) > 8th Baron Howard De Walden (1880-1946) > The 9th Baron Howard De Walden (1912-99) > Baroness Howard De Walden (1935-2024) >Hon Henrietta Czernin (b 1960) > Louisa Currey (b 1990)

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Sunday, September 22, 2024

Hon Peter Jay 1937-2024

 Peter Jay, who died 22 September, 2024, aged 87, was an economist, diplomat and broadcaster.

He was sometime British ambassador to the United States, and son-in-law of the prime minister James Callaghan.

He was born 7 February, 1937, son of Douglas Patrick Thomas Jay, the Baron Jay, PC (1907-1996), the Labour Party politician, and his wife the former Margaret Christian 'Peggy' Garnett (1913-2008), who was a grande dame of the Labour movement, known for her good works on a host of local government committees. 

In 1977, when his father-in-law James Callaghan, had become Prime Minister, Jay was appointed to the post of Ambassador to the United States by the Foreign Secretary, his friend David Owen. As Jay was just 40 years old, was not a diplomat and had never held any public office, this appointment caused some controversy and accusations of nepotism.

Jay later returned to broadcast journalism; John Birt appointed him Economics Editor of the BBC, and Jay presented editions of The Money Programme.

He wrote The Road to Riches or the Wealth of Man (2000, Weidenfeld & Nicolson), presented a related BBC TV documentary series, and also co-wrote, with Michael Stewart, the speculative historical novel Apocalypse 2000: Economic Breakdown and the Suicide of Democracy (1987).

While his father was closely linked with Keynesian economics, Jay increasingly identified himself with the new "monetarian" school associated with Milton Friedman, a man with whom he was close friends. Jay also debated with Friedman and Thomas Sowell, including two episodes of Friedman's TV series Free to Choose (1980). Jay was also the moderator of the discussions in the British version of Free to Choose. Jay was credited with helping write James Callaghan's speech at the 1976 Labour Party Conference. The speech is seen as something of a turning point, with Callaghan declaring: "We used to think that you could spend your way out of a recession, and increase employment by cutting taxes and boosting Government spending. I tell you in all candour that that option no longer exists", a rejection of the previously dominant Keynesian logic and a reflection of the ascendency of Monetarism. Jay used his column in The Times to advocate for neoliberal policies in Britain.

Between June 2003 and May 2009, Jay was a non-executive director of the Bank of England. He was a governor of the Ditchley Foundation from 1982 until 1987, and was formerly a councillor on Woodstock Town Council and was Town Mayor in 2010.

Jay married in 1961, the Hon Margaret Ann Callaghan, PC (born 18 Nov, 1939), the daughter of Labour politician James Callaghan, the Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, KG, PC (1912-2005), prime minister 1976-79.  Margaret Jay, a Labour party politician was raised to the peerage for life, in 1992, as Baroness Jay of Paddington, and was appointed Leader of the House of Lords in 1998. Peter and Margaret Jay divorced in 1986. Later that year Jay married his second wife, Emma Bettina, daughter of the museum curator and writer Peter Thornton, by whom he had 3 sons.

From his marriage to Margaret Callaghan he leaves issue, a son, the Hon Paricik James Peter Jay (b 1971), and daughters, the Hon Tamsin Jay (born 1965), and the Hon Alice Jay (b 1968).

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Saturday, September 21, 2024

Llewellyn/Sangster engagement

 The engagement was announced 21 September, 2024, between John William Bolitho (Johnnie) Llewellyn (born 1993), son of Henry Bolitho Llewellyn (born3 April, 1954), of Oakford, Devon, by his wife the former Caroline Bell, & Eliza Camilla Sangster (born 1992), daughter of Benjamin Vernon Sangster (born 1964), of Manton, co Wiltshire, and his wife the former Lucy Olga Wigram (born 3 December, 1966), descended from the Barons Bethell.

John Bethell, 1st Baron Bethell (1861-1945) > Hon William Gladstone Bethell (1904-64) > Sally Ann Bethell (1943-2024) > Lucy Olga Wigram (b 1966) > Eliza Camilla Sangster (b 1992)


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Groat/Ouvaroff engagement

The engagement was announced 21 September, 2024, between Cameron J.M. Groat, son of Mr and Mrs M.J.M. Groat, of Wimborne, Dorset, & Lara Alexandra Ouvaroff (born 1996), daughter of (Count) Dominic William Ouvaroff (born December, 1966), of Wandsworth, London, and his wife the former Jennifer J. Baxendale.

Lara's descent from the Marquesses of Exeter:-

The 3rd Marquess of Exeter, PC (1825-1895) > Lord Francis Cecil (1851-1889) > Violet Dorothea Cecil (1878-1953) > Aubretia Phyllis Ames (b 1909) > Count Stephen Ouvaroff (1935-2017) > Count Dominic Ouvaroff (b 1966) > Lara Ouvaroff (b 1996)

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Demelza Kiki June McPherson (born 2024)

  Olivia Catherine Anne McPherson (nee Stevens, born 1989), wife of Rory John McPherson [born 2 Nov, 1989], gave birth to a daughter, Demelza Kiki June, 16 September, 2024.

Rory is the only son of Malcolm William McPherson, of Newmarket, Cambridgeshire, and his late wife the former Hilary Ann Cobb.

Olivia is the younger daughter of Julian Bryan Stevens, of Clanfield, Oxfordshire, and his wife the former Elizabeth Margaret Moira Bevis [born 29 Aug, 1960], and is descended from the Earls of Haddington:-

6th Earl of Haddington [1680-1735] > Charles, Lord Binning [1697-1732] > Hon George Baillie [1721-97] > George Baillie [1763-1841] > Hon John Baillie [1810-88] > Cecilia Baillie [1846-1914] > John Barstow [1872-1914] > John Barstow [1905-77] > Elizabeth Barstow [b 1933] > Elizabeth Bevis [b 1960] > Olivia Stevens [b 1989] > Demelza McPherson [b 2024]

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Friday, September 20, 2024

McIntyre of Sorn/Greenall engagement

 The engagement was announced 20 September, 2024, between Jamie Alastair McIntyre of Sorn (born 1971), head of that landed gentry family of Sorn, Ayrshire, son of the late Robert Gordon McInyre (1931-1988), and his wife the former Rachel Watherston (now Mrs Charles May, of Northumberland), & Cleoni Victoria Greenall (born 1974), younger daughter of John D.T. Greenall (born 1939), of Dunure, Ayrshire, by his wife the former Margaret Anne Stewart.

Jamie McIntyre is a grandson paternally of James Gordon McIntyre, MC, born in 1896, a Scottish lawyer, Called to the Scottish Bar in 1922; King's Counsel 1936; Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, 1939-44; was a Senator of the College of Justice in Scotland 1944-63, who took the title *Lord Sorn* - but he was not a peer of Parliament. "Lord Sorn" married Madeline Scott Moncreiff, daughter of Robert Scott Moncrieff, of Downhill, of that Scotslanded gentry family.

It will be Jamie McIntyre's second marriage. By his first union to Jemma Folley, he has a son, Archie (born 13 September, 2011), and two daughters, Lola Violet (born 20 Apr, 2009), and Ottilie Rose (twin with her brother Archie).

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Thursday, September 19, 2024

The 3rd Baron Selsdon 1937-2024

 Lord Selsdon, the 3rd Baron, died 15 September, 2024, aged 86.

The peer, who succeeded to the peerage in 1963, was elected to the House of Lords in 1999 after Blair's ousting of the heredditary members, and he sat as a Conservative.

Malcolm McEacharn Mitchell-Thomson was born 27 October, 1937, the son of the 2nd Baron (1913-1963), and his first wife the former Phoebette Swithinbank, and succeeded to the peerage (created in 1932), and baronetcy (created in 1900), on the death of his father, 7 February, 1963.

Lord Selsdon was twice married, firstly, 2 June, 1965 (div.) Patricia Anne Smith (who died 20 Aug, 2018), daughter of Donald Smith, of Haslemere, co Surrey; married 2ndly, 1995, Mrs Gabrielle Tesseron, daughter of Richard G. Williams.

Lord Selsdon is succeeded by his only child by his first wife, the Hon Callum Malcolm McEacharn Mitchell-Thomson (who was born 7 November, 1969).

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Ireland/Coleridge marriage

The marriage has taken place in September, 2024, at Pershore, Worcestershire, between Lucien Oliver D. Ireland (born 1995), son of John D. Ireland and his wife the former Joanna E.A. Gillis (born 1963), & Sophie Cecily Coleridge (born 1996), the only daughter of Sir Nicholas David Coleridge, CBE, DL (born 4 March, 1957),  the 43rd Provost of Eton College, by his wife the former Georgia E. Metcalfe (born 1965).

The bride is descended from a brother of the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834), and is a kinswoman of the Barons Coleridge (Peerage of the UK, cr 1874).

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Wednesday, September 18, 2024

Clementine Iris Mary Webb (born 2024)

 Isobel Loveday Webb (nee Probert, born 1991), wife of Guy Anthony Webb (born 31 March, 1989), gave birth to a daughter, Clementine Iris Mary, 11 September, 2024.

Guy is a son of Anthony Webb, of Canterbury, Kent, and Mrs Sarah Webb (nee Kleft), of Ticehurst, East Sussex.

Isobel, scion of the Probert landed family, is the second daughter of Geoffrey Thomas Carwardine Probert (born 1953), head of the landed family, of Bures, Suffolk, and his wife the former Penelope Anne Bevan (born 2 March, 1955), descended from the Viscounts Molesworth.

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Monday, September 16, 2024

Doreen Elizabeth Boddington (née Cooke-Collis) 1935-2024

Doreen Elizabeth Boddington, who died 9 September, 2024, aged 89, was a scion of the Cooke-Collis landed gentry family; born 31 May, 1935, the second daughter of Brigadier Edward Cunliffe Cooke-Collis, CBE, DSO (1902-1989), head of the Irish landed family, and his wife the former Elizabeth Grace Heigham(1903-1983), a scion of that landed gentry family. 

She married 12 April, 1961, Richard Stewart Boddington (1930-2009), a scion of that landed gentry family, son of Philip Boddington (1893-1952), and his wife the former Mary Stewart-Brown (1891-1983), descended from the Brown baronets.

She leaves issue, a son, Rupert (born 1963), and a daughter, Joanna (born 1965).

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Saturday, September 14, 2024

Nicoll/Hayward engagement

The engagement was announced 14 September, 2024, between Murdo Angus Gordon Nicoll (born 1992), youngest son of Angus McK. Nicoll, MBE, of Calvine, Pitlochry, Perthshire, and his wife the former Pauline Feeney, & Antonia Katharine (Tershie) Hayward (born 23 August, 1994), scion of that landed gentry family, youngest daughter of John Kenrick Hayward (born 1954), of Upper Siddington, Gloucestershire, & his wife the former Georgiana Mary Hamilton-Russell (born 31 May, 1955), scion of the Viscounts Boyne.

The 8th Viscount Boyne (1830-1907) > Hon Arthur Hamilton-Russell (1872-1951) > David Hamilton-Russell (1911-1988) > Georgiana Hamilton-Russell (b 1955) > Tershie Hayward (b 1994)

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Edwards/Grant engagement

The engagement was announced 14 September, 2024, between Jack Thomas A. Edwards (born 22 August, 1995), son of Mark James Thomas Edwards (born 1957), of Upton Bishop, Herefordshire, descended from the Brooke landed family of Sibton Park, and his wife the former Catherine A.A (Kate). Worley, and Georgina Rose (Georgie) Grant (born 1994), daughter of Capt Patrick M.A. Grant, of Weyhill, Hampshire, and his wife the former Catherine A. Virr.

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Walsh/Ingilby engagement

The engagement was announced 14 September, 2024, between Simon Ernest Walsh (born 1986), son of Martin Stuart Walsh (born 1950), of Bristol, and his wife the former Jeannette M. Wythe, & Eleanor Jane Pamela Ingilby (born 14 February, 1989), the only daughter of Sir Thomas Colvin William Ingilby, 6th Baronet (born 17 July, 1955), of Ripley Castle, near Harrogate, North Yorkshire, and his wife the former Emma Clare Roebuck Thompson (born 1960).

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Friday, September 13, 2024

Jennifer Rose Ann Goldsmid (nee Russell) 1945-2024

 Jennifer Goldsmid (nee Russell), who died 6 September, 2024, aged 79, was a scion of the Barons Ampthill (who were descended from the Dukes of Bedford).

Jennifer Rose Ann Russell was born 12 April, 1945, the second daughter of Major Cosmo Rex Ivor Russell (1911- Oct 2003), scion of the Barons Ampthill, by his wife the former Agnes Mary Parsons (1918-Sept 2003), scion of the Earls of Rosse; and married 26 April, 1966, Julian Nicholas Hoffnung-Goldsmid (1939-2006), son of Vivian Edward Hoffnung-Goldsmid (1903-78), of Binfield, Berkshire, and his wife the former Vera Ruth Levy (1904-1993). by whom he had issue, a daughter, Tara Alexandra (who was born 24 Nov, 1970).

The 6th Duke of Bedford > Maj-Gen Lord George Russell > Odo Russell, 1st Baron Ampthill > Hon Sir Odo Russell > Maj Cosmo Russell > Jennifer Russell

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Hetta Thalia Jane Young-Herries (born 2024)

 Rosanna Cortlandt Young-Herries [born 1988, née Cator], wife of Fergus William R. Young-Herries [born 15 March, 1987], has given birth to a daughter, Hetta Thalia Jane, a sister for Isobel Jacquetta, born 8 Dec, 2018, and for Ophelia Rose, who was born 8 January, 2021.

Rosanna is a daughter of Charles Francis Cator [1959-2015], scion of the Cator landed gentry family, of Woodbastwick Hall, Norfolk, by his wife the former Jane Culverwell.

Fergus Young-Herries is a son of William Michael Young-Herries of Spottes, head of that Scottish landed family, and his wife the former Amanda Jane Deirdre McIlwain.

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Thursday, September 12, 2024

Josephine Beryl Crawley-Boevey (née Kindersley) 1931-2024

 Josephine Beryl 'Josie' Crawley-Boevey (née Kindersley), died 6 September, 2024. She was 93.

She was born in 1931, the only child of Lieutenant-Colonel Nathaniel Henry Kindersley (1900-1980), scion of that landed gentry family, by his wife the former Beryl Ritchie (1900-1987); and married 17 December, 1960, as his second wife, Major Anthony Crawley-Boevey, MBE (1921-1996), of the 17th/21st Lancers, scion of the baronets of that name, son of Major Martin Crawley-Boevey, DSO, MC (1883-1954), and his wife Elizabeth Adela Hall (1892-1972); by whom she had two sons, Martin (born 4 May, 1963), and Simon (born 29 June, 1967), and a daughter, Katherine (born 12 July, 1964).

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Hugo Orlando Barclay Bridgeman (born 2024)

 Jacquetta Lucy Eyre Bridgeman [born 1984, nee Straker], wife of the Hon Orlando Henry Geoffrey Bridgeman [born 11 April, 1983], scion of the Viscounts Bridgeman, gave birth to a son, Hugo Orlando Barclay, 21 August, 2024, a brother for twins, Imogen Cecilia B, and Ottilie Felicia B, born 12 May, 2022.

Orlando Bridgeman is the fourth and youngest son of the 3rd Viscount Bridgeman [born 5 December, 1930], by his wife the former [Victoria] Harriet Lucy Turton, scion of that landed family.

Jacquetta Bridgeman is a  scion of the Straker landed gentry family, eldest daughter of Nicholas David Barclay Straker [born 6 May, 1952], by his wife the former Victoria Eyre Gray [born 15 July, 1958].

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Wednesday, September 11, 2024

Albert Ian Barnaby Portal (born 2024)

Alice Elizabeth Portal (nee Vine, born 1991), wife of Robert Jonathan Portal [born 5 February, 1989],  scion of the Portal baronets, gave birth to a son, Albert Ian Barnaby, 8 September, 2024.

Robert Portal is the second son of Sir Jonathan Francis Portal, 6th Baronet [born 13 January, 1953], of Ashe, Hampshire, by his wife the former Louisa Caroline Hervey-Bathurst [born 25 September, 1959], scion of the Hervey-Bathurst baronets.

Alice Portal is a daughter of Mr Ian P. Vine, of Milverton, Somerset, by his wife the former Sarah Vincent.

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Laurelie, Lady Laurie 1939-2024

 Laurelie, Lady Laurie, who died 5 September, 2024, was widow of Sir Robert Laurie, 7th Baronet. She was 85.

She was born Laurelie Meriol Winifrida Williams, 20 July, 1939, the elder daughter of Sir Reginald Lawrence William Williams, 7th Baronet (1900-1971), and his wife the former Elinor Meriol Enriqueta Trevor (1908-1982); and married 14 September, 1968, Robert Bayley Emilius Laurie (born 8 March, 1931), son of Major General Sir John Laurie, 6th Baronet, CB, DSO & Bar, DL (1892-1983), and his wife the former Evelyn Clare Gardner Richardson-Gardner (1896-1987). Her husband succeeded to the baronetcy (cr UK, 1834) on his father's death, 10 January, 1983, and died 27 December, 2017.

Lady Laurie was the mother of two daughters, Clare (born 25 Dec, 1974, died 21 May, 2023), and Serena (born 31 Aug, 1976).

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Peart/Chapman engagement

 The engagement was announced 11 September, 2024, between Benjamin A. Peart, eldest son of Mr and Mrs Ian Peart of Penn, Buckinghamshire, & Tatiana Poppy Ruth Chapman (born 16 September, 1996), youngest daughter of Nicholas J. Chapman, of Shillingstone, Dorset, by his wife the former Helen Fiona Pelly (born 18 July, 1964), scion of the Pelly baronets.

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Tuesday, September 10, 2024

Lady Buchanan 1936-2024, wife of Sir Andrew Buchanan, Bt

 Lady Buchanan, who died 3 September, 2024, aged 88, was the wife of Sir Andrew Buchanan, KCVO, 5th Baronet.

She was born in 1936, as Belinda Jane Virginia Maclean, daughter of Donald Colquhoun Maclean (1898-1967), and his wife the former Cecilia Valerie Cooper (1910-1998); and married firstly, Commander Gresham Neilus Vaughan, RN (1934-1964), son of Malcolm Septimus Vaughan (1903-1967), and his wife the former Judith Elyn Gresham (1905-94), descended from the Leveson-Gower Earls Gower; and married 2ndly, 26 April, 1966, Andrew George Buchanan (born 21 July, 1937), son and heir of Major Sir Charles Buchanan, 4th Baronet (1899-1984), and his wife the former Barbara Helen Stanley (1906-1986), scion of the Earls of Derby.

Her husband served as High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire 1976-77; and appointed a deputy lieutenant for Nottinghamshire in 1985. Between 1991 and 2012, he was Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire  and was appointed a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in the 2011, in the New Year Honours for his service in that office. Buchanan succeeded his father in the baronetcy, 25 May, 1984.

Lady Buchanan leaves a son from her first marriage, Andrew Gresham Vaughan (born 1963), and a son, George Buchanan (born 27 Jan, 1975), and daughter, Laura (born 13 Jan, 1967), from her marriage to Sir Andrew.

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Richard Wallace Vernon 1927-2024

Richard Wallace Vernon, who died 25 August, 2024, aged 96, was a scion of the Vernon baronets.

He was born 18 October, 1927, the second son of Herbert Wallace Vernon (1890-1974), and his wife the former Gertrude Mary Jackson (who died 15 January, 1959); & married 8 January, 1955, Pamela Violet Grierson (1925-2017), scion of the Grierson baronets, daughter of Lt-Col Alexander George William Grierson, RM (1884-1951), and his wife the former Violet Ethel Brewis (1900-1980), by whom he had issue, two sons, Richard (born 31 May, 1956), and Simon (born 28 March, 1958), and two daughters, Sally (born 22 Apr, 1960), and Joanna (born 26 March, 1963).

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Saturday, September 07, 2024

Hon David Edward Hugh Bigham 1938-2024

 The Hon David Bigham, who died 24 August, 2024, aged 86, was a scion of the Viscounts Mersey.

He was born 14 April, 1938, second son of the 3rd Viscount Mersey (1906-1979), and Lady Katherine Evelyn Constance Petty-Fitzmaurice, suo jure the 12th Lady Nairne in the peerage of Scotland (1912-1995); and married 2 January, 1965, Anthea Rosemary Seymour (born 1 July, 1941), scion of the Marquesses of Hertford, daughter of Leopold Richard Seymour (1912-2000), and his wife the former Sheila Isabel Adelaide Butler (1920-1999); by whom he had issue, three sons, Charles (born 21 Apr, 1967), Patrick (born 21 Aug, 1969), and James (born 12 May, 1973), and a daughter, Lucinda (born 3 Nov, 1965).

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Bromley-Davenport/Bertie engagement

The engagement was announced 7 September, 2024, between Harry Nicholas Bromley-Davenport (born 27 February, 1995), scion of that landed gentry family, eldest son of Nicholas Walter Bromley-Davenport (born 11 June, 1964), of Capesthorne Hall, Macclesfield, and his former wife Emma L. Barnes (now Mrs Emma Hopkins, of Upper Shelspit, Thornborough), & (Charlotte Iona) Rose Bertie (born 27 March, 1995), scion of the Earls of Lindsey & Abingdon, eldest daughter of David Montagu Albemarle Bertie (born 12 February, 1963), of Allanbay Park, Binfield, Berkshire, by his wife the former Catherine Cecily Feilden Mason-Hornby (born 7 May, 1964).

The bride to be is a second cousin, several times removed, of HM King Charles III, and is descended from Lady Mary Bowes Lyon, a sister of HM Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother:-


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Lt-Cdr Antony Charles Reynardson Fane, RN 1927-2024

 Lieutenant-Commander Antony Charles Reynardson (Tony) Fane, RN, died 1 September, 2024, aged 96. He was a scion of the Earls of Westmorland.

He was born 11 October, 1927, son of Major the Hon Mountjoy John Charles Wedderburn Fane (1900-1963), and Agatha Isabel Acland-Hood-Reynardson (1903-1993), scion of the Acland-Hood baronets; married 17 January, 1956, Caroline Mary Rokeby Holland (1933-2010), scion of the Rokeby landed gentry family, by whom he had issue, a son, Edward (born 11 June, 1957), and two daughters, Olivia (born 9 May, 1960), and Charlotte (born 9 Sept, 1967).

Tony Fane was a grandson of the 13th Earl of Westmorland (1859-1922).

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Christopher Marten Smallwood

 Christopher Smallwood died 17 August, 2027.

The son of Canon Graham Marten Smallwood he married in 1975, as her second husband, the Hon Kirsty Jane Aitken (born 22 June, 1947), eldest daughter of Sir Max Aitken, 2nd Baronet (the disclaimed 2nd Baron Beaverbrook) (1910-1985), and his wife the former Ursula Jane Kenyon-Slaney (1920-2012), who was a granddaughter of the maternally of the 3rd Duke of Abercorn KG, KP, PC (1869-1953). 

He leaves a daughter, Eleanor Blubell, who was born in 1982.

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The 4th Baron Wakehurst 1958-2024

The 4th Baron Wakehurst died 22 August, 2024. He was 66.

Timothy Walter Loder was born 28 March, 1958, son of the late 3rd Baron Wakehurst (1925-2022), by his first wife the former Ingeborg Liesolotte Krumbholz-Hess (1931-1977); and succeeded to the peerage (cr UK, 1934) on his father's death, 29 July, 2022.

He married in 1987 (divorced 1997) Susan Elaine Hurst. No issue of the union.

Lord Wakehurst is succeeded in the peerage by his cousin, John James Loder, who was born 7 June, 1977.

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Friday, September 06, 2024

Cousin of the King for Sandhurst

Alexander Ogilvy is the latest descendant of the Royal House of Windsor to enroll at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. 

Ogilvy's sister, Flora Vesterberg, has spoken of her pride that he's joined the Forces. 'We're full of admiration for you,' she writes online. 'Forever thoughtful and inspiring.' Richard Eden, of the Daily Mail, reports that Ogilvy is heading for the RMC next weekend, the start of his military career.

Alexander Charles Ogilvy (born 12 November, 1996), is the only son of James Ronert Bruce Ogilvy (born 29 February, 1964) and his wife the former Julia Rawlinson (born 28 October, 1964), and is a grandson of HRH Princess Alexandra, the Hon Lady Ogilvy (born 25 December, 1936), a first cousin of the late Queen Elizabeth II.

He was head boy at the £43,500-per-year Merchiston Castle School in Edinburgh, Alex was an academic high-flyer who achieved A*s and As in his exams. He has a double major in Computer Science and Economics from the Ivy League Brown University in the USA, where he went out with Michaela Kennedy-Cuomo. Her mother, Kerry, is the daughter of assassinated presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy.

They have since split up and Alex has been romantically linked to 'It Girl' Isabella Charlotta Poppius.

Until now, Alex worked in New York at tech firm Prove, which helps businesses enable customers to prove their identity.

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Capt Stephen David Pettifer 1930-2024

 Capt Stephen David Pettifer died 30 August, 2024, aged 94. 

He was born in 1930, son of Richard Jackson Pettifer (1897-1980), and his wife the former Ada Anne Toomer (1898-1946); and married in 1958, Elizabeth Mary Drage (born 1936), daughter of Charles Christie Binyoun Drage (1902-1943), and his wife the former Rowena Mary Hames (1900-1974); by whom he had two sons, (1) Charles (born 1965), who married in Oct, 1999, Alexandra Shân "Tiggy" Legge-Bourke, MVO (born 1 Apr, 1965), scion of the Earls of Darmouth, former nanny and companion to the Prince of Wales and Duke of Sussex and personal assistant to HM The King (when Prince of Wales), & (2) Henry Pettifer (born 1968), who married 1 June, 1996, Nicola Anne Floyd (born 29 December, 1967), scion of the Floyd baronets.

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Margaret Anne (Mig) Bacon (nee Craig) 1945-2024

 Margaret Anne (Mig) Bacon died 29 August, 2024. She was the widow of Christopher Bacon (1945-2018), scion of the Bacon baronets, premier baronets of England.

She was born in 1945, daughter of John Lawrie Walker Craig, MC (1897-1964), and his wife the former Anne Halifax Western (1910-1987), descended from the Cobbold landed gentry family; and married in 1977, Christopher Nicholas Bacon (born 5 September, 1945), son of Anthony Walter Bacon (1902-1999), and his wife the former Lola Mary Stanley Martin (who died 1998). Her husband died 17 December, 2018.

Mrs Bacon leaves a son, Nathaniel John (born 29 Aug, 1978), and a daughter, Catherine Anne (born 18 Nov, 1979).

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John Kellie Heber-Percy 1935-2024

 John Kellie Heber-Percy, who died in Australia, 3 September, 2024, aged 89, was a sion of the Percy Dukes of Northumberland.

He was born 13 June, 1935, the third son of Lieutenant-Colonel Hugh Alan Heber-Percy, OBE (1897-1976), and his wife, the former Monica Violet Erskine (1897-1977), scion of the Earls of Mar & Kellie, & widow of Lt-Col. G.D. Maynard.

He was educated at Hilton College, Natal, South Africa, and was for many years a resident of Victoria, Australia. He married 2 September, 1961, Rosalind Marion Gathercole, daughter of Walter Harvey Gathercole, of Port Elizabeth, Cape Province, South Africa, by whom he had issue, two daughters, Gillian Dorothy (Gill) (born 31 May, 1965), and Helen Marjorie (born 28 March, 1968).

His elder daughter, Gill, married in 1987, Michael Alan Dixon who later assumed the surname of Heber-Percy in lieu of his patronymic.

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Lane Fox/Holden engagement

 The engagement was announced 6 September, 2024, between Frederick Evelyn Lane Fox (born June, 1994), second son of Capt George Charles Nicholas (Nick) Lane Fox (born 25 December, 1963), head of that landed gentry family, of Bramham Park, near Wetherby, by his wife the former Hon Rachel Monica Baring (born 29 June, 1967), and Georgiana Helen Sophia Holden (born 1996), daughter of Geoffrey Alexander Holden (born 1957), of Flore, Northamptonshire, and his wife the former Kyriaki Droussiotou.

Frederick Lane Fox is a grandson maternally of the 2nd Baron Howick of Glendale (born 30 Dec, 1937), and is a great-great grandson of the 1st and last Baron Bingley (1870-1947).

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Thursday, September 05, 2024

Daughter for Chelsy Davy & Sam Cutmore-Scott

  Chelsy Yvonne Cutmore-Scott (nee Davy, born 13 Oct, 1985), wife of Old Etonian Samuel Mark [Sam] Cutmore-Scott [born 1984], has given birth to a daughter, Chloe (?), a sister for Leo, who was born in January, 2022.

Sam is the son of Robert Mark C. Cutmore-Scott (born 1951), and his wife the former Joanne Joy Cutmore (born 1951).

Chelsy Davy, former girlfriend of the Duke of Sussex, is a daughter of Charles Davy [born 1952], and his wife the former Beverley Donald.

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Wednesday, September 04, 2024

Perumalpillai/Macmillan Douglas engagement

 The engagement was announced 4 September, 2024, between Arjun Nadarajah Perumalpillai (born 1992), son of Ranjit Srignana Perumalpillai (born 1957), & Mrs Vasuhi Nadarajah-Pillai, of London, & Iona Charlotte Mary Macmillan Douglas (born 27 February, 1992), scion of that landed gentry family, younger daughter of Angus William Macmillan Douglas, OBE (born 1946), of Douglastown, Angus, and Mrs Rosemary Jane (Rosie)  Macmillan Douglas (nee Meynell), of Rye, East Sussex.

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Lady Diana Lucy Wolfe Murray (née Douglas-Home) 1940-2024

 The Lady Diana Wolfe Murray, who died 22 August, 2024, aged 83, was the third and youngest daughter of the late former prime minister Sir Alec Douglas-Home.

She was born Diana Lucy Douglas-Home, 18 December, 1940, scion of the Earls of Home, daughter of the then Alexander Frederick (Alec) Douglas-Home, styled Lord Dunglas, MP (born 2 July, 1903), Conservative MP for Lanarkshire, & his wife the former Elizabeth Hester Alington (1909-1990), scion of that landed gentry family.

Her father was Tory MP for Lanarkshire, and later for Perthshire and Kinross, a government minister in the 1950s and 1960s including holding the office of Foreign Secretary in the Macmillan administration. He succeeded his father, 11 July, 1951, as 14th Earl of Home, and Lord Dunglas, both in the Peerage of Scotland. He was appointed a Knight of the Order of the Thistle in 1962. In October, 1963, Home succeeded Macmillan as Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury. He was the last prime minister to be appointed whilst sitting in the House of Lords. Days after his appointment he disclaimed his peerages for life, and was found a safe seat and elected to the Commons, becoming Sir Alec Douglas-Home. He was prime minister 1963-64, and later created a life peer as Baron Home of the Hirsel, and he was Foreign Secretary in the Heath administration. He died 9 Oct, 1995.

Diana was styled Lady Diana, as daughter of an earl, from 1951, and continued to be so styled after her father disclaimed his peerages in 1963. She married 8 June, 1963 (divorced 1976), as his first wife, James Archibald Wolfe Murray (1936-2011), scion of the Murray of Blackbarony baronets, son of Lieutenant-Colonel Malcolm Victor Alexander Wolfe Murray (1908-1985), and his first wife the former Lady Grizel Mary Boyle (1913-1942), daughter of the 8th Earl of Glasgow (1874-1963), by whom she had a son, Rory (born 28 March, 1965), and two daughters, Fiona (born 12 Mar, 1964), and Clare (born 6 Mar, 1969).

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Tuesday, September 03, 2024

Lady Saltoun 1930-2024

 The Lady Saltoun, who died 3 September, 2024, aged 93, was the twenty first holder of a Scottish peerage, and until her retirement in 2014 she was the only holder of a lordship of Parliament who had a seat in the House of Lords as an elected hereditary peer. 

Lady Saltoun, of Cairnbulg Castle, Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, was, as a daughter-in-law of Lady Patricia Ramsay, a member of the Royal Family, and a regular visitor to Balmoral, and frequently seen on the platform of the Highland Games at Braemar as a guest of her husband's cousin, Queen Elizabeth II. The Braemar Gathering attended by the King and Queen is to take place on Saturday 7 September, 2024.

Lady Saltoun (pronounced Salton) was the Chief of the Name and Arms of Clan Fraser since 1 May 1984, by decree of the Court of the Lord Lyon. She was also the head of the Scottish lowland family the Frasers of Philorth.

The Saltoun title was created in 1445 for Sir Lawrence Abernethy, descendant of Hugh, Hereditary Abbot of the Pictish Abbacy of Abernethy on Tay, extant in 1172. The 4th Lord Saltoun fought at Flodden and escaped. On the death in 1669 of Margaret Abernethy, the title went to her cousin Alexander Fraser, a faithful supporter of both Charles I and Charles II, and has remained with the Frasers of Philorth ever since.

Flora Marjory Fraser was born 18 October, 1930, the only daughter of the 20th Lord Saltoun, MC, DL, JP (1886-1979), of Cairnbulg Castle, and his wife the former Dorothy Geraldine Welby (1890-1985), scion of the Welby baronets.

An elder brother, Lt Alexander Fraser, Master of Saltoun, MC, Grenadier Guards, was killed in action in February, 1944, aged 22, leaving Flora as heiress presumptive to her father's peerage.

She married 6 October, 1956, Capt Alexander Arthur Alfonso David Maule Ramsay of Mar, of the Grenadier Guards (born 21 December, 1919), scion of the Earls of Dalhousie, a godson of the then Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII and Duke of Windsor) and of Alfonso XIII, King of Spain, the only child of Admiral the Hon Sir Alexander Robert Maule Ramsay, GCVO, KCB, DSO (1881-1972), and his wife HRH Princess (Victoria) Patricia Helena Elizabeth of Connaught, CI, GCStJ (1886-1974), who on her marriage was authorised by Royal Licence to relinquish the style of royal highness and title of princess, and by another royal warrant was granted the style of Lady Patricia Ramsay, with precedence immendiately before marchionesses of England.

She succeeded her father in the Scottish peerage, 31 August, 1979.

Flora's husband succeeded his aunt Princess Arthur of Connaught, Duchess of Fife in the Mar Lodge estate, Aberdeenshire, and became the laird of Mar and was authorised by the Lord Lyon to add the designation 'of Mar' to his surname.

Lady Saltoun, as Chief of the Name and Arms of Fraser retained that name on marriage. Her husband died 20 December, 2000, the day before his 81st birthday.

The last major royal event at which Lady Saltoun was present was the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton in Westminster Abbey in 2011. The King and Lord Lyon King of Arms had to be informed of her death before it could be made public, but the news was leaked several hours before.

Lady Saltoun leaves three daughters, the Hon Katharine Fraser (who retained that surname on her marriage), the Hon Alice, and the Hon Elizabeth. The eldest daughter, born 11 October, 1957), a goddaughter of Queen Ingrid of Denmark and the late Princess Mary, Princess Royal, succeeds to the Lordship of Saltoun (Peerage of Scotland, created 28 June, 1445)

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Tollast/Parker engagement

The engagement was announced 3 September, 2024, between Archie Crispin Tollast (born 20 August, 1990),  son of Crispin John Ralph Tollast (born 1951), of Steeple Langford, Wiltshire, and his wife the former Ianthe F. Harrison, & Lucy Harriet Parker (born 1997), scion of the Earls of Macclesfield, daughter of Michael Henry Parker (born 6 Oct, 1955), of Corsley, Wiltshire, and his wife the former Julia Jane Craven Humphreys (born 1964).

Richard Grosvenor, 2nd Marquess of Westminster > Lady Mary Grosvenor = 6th Earl of Macclesfield > Hon Francis Parker > Capt Oliver Parker >Capt Timothy Parker > Michael Parker > Lucy Parker

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Monday, September 02, 2024

Daisy Flora Alison Kaye (born 2024)

The Hon Alice Mary Kaye (nee Hewitt, born 14 September, 1990), wife of Harry Edward F. Kaye [born 1991], and scion of the Viscounts Lifford, gave birth to a daughter, Daisy Flora Alison, 22 August, 2024, a sister for Clementine Emma Mary , who was born 5 March, 2022.

Harry Kaye is a son of Gerald Anthony Kaye [born 1958], of Henham, Hertfordshire, by his wife the former Emma A.J. Ferens [born 1962].

The Hon Alice Kaye is the second daughter of the 9th Viscount Lifford [born 27 January, 1949], of Kings Somborne, Hampshire, by his wife the former Alison Mary Law.

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Hon Robert William Hervey Erskine 1930-2024

The Hon Robert William Hervey Erskine, who died 2 August, 2024, aged 93, was a scion of the Earls of Mar  Kellie, a grandson of the 12th Earl of Mar & (14th) of Kellie, and a grandson maternally of the 4th Marquess of Bristol.

The youngest of four brothers (one of whom was killed in action in 1945), Robert William Hervey Erskine was born 13 October, 1930, at 6 St James’s Square, the London home of his maternal grandfather, the 4th Marquess of Bristol (1863-1951). Robert’s father was the Unionist politician John Francis Ashley Erskine, styled Lord Erskine (1895-1953) (elder son of the 12th Earl of Mar and 14th Earl of Kellie (1865-1955)), who in 1934 was appointed governor of Madras. The family followed him there and for the next six years lived at Government House, where an Indian groom would regale young Robert with stories from the Mahabharata.

Robert's mother was Lady Marjorie Hervey (1898-1967), daughter of the 4th Marquess of Bristol (1863-1951), of Ickworth, Suffolk, and his wife Alice Frances Theodora Wythes (1875-1957).

He was thrice wed, firstly 21 May, 1955 (div 1964), to Jennifer Shirley Wood, daughter of L.J. Cardew Wood, of Kintbury, Berkshire; married 2ndly, Oct 1969 (div 1975), Anne-Marie Lattès, daughter of Jean Lattès, of Paris; married thirdly, 1977, Belinda Mary Rosalind (Lindy) Blackburn, daughter of Raymond Blackburn, of London.

Robert Erskine leaves three sons ~ one from his second marriage, Alistair (born 1970), and two sons from his third marriage, Thomas (born 1978), and Felix (born 1980).

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Beaumont/Wheeker engagement

 The engagement was announced 2 September, 2024, between George Richard Benson Beaumont (born 1987), elder son of the Hon Mark Henry Beaumont (born 21 July, 1950), of Newbrough, Northumberland, and his wife the former Diana Elizabeth Benson (born 1958), & Rebecca Heather Wheeker (born 1990), daughter of Anthony K. Wheeker, of East Hendred, Oxfordshire, and his wife the former Diana Mary Poll.

George's younger brother, John Wentworth Beaumont (born 1989), died 22 May, 2022.

George Beaumont is a grandson of the late 3rd Viscount Allendale (1922-2002).

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Sunday, September 01, 2024

Macpherson/von Seilern und Aspang marriage

 The marriage has taken place between Philip Strone Alexander Stewart Macpherson (born 18 April, 1984), son of Philip Strone Srewart Macpherson (born 21 July, 1948), and his wife the former Hon Alexandra Grace Baring (born 4 February, 1957), & Katharina Gräfin von Seilern und Aspang (born 1984), daughter of Benedikt Graf von Seilern und Aspang (born 1956) and his former wife Claudia Gräfin Batthyány de Németújvár (born 1960).

Philip Macpherson is a grandson maternally of the late 5th Baron Northbrook (1915-1990)

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Sir Ian D'Olier (Jack) Biddulph, 11th Baronet 1940-2024

Sir Ian D'Olier (known as Jack) Biddulph, 11th Baronet, died in Australia, 28 August, 2024. He was 84.

He was born 28 February, 1940, son of Sir Stuart Royden Biddulph, 10th Baronet (1908-1986), and his wife the former Muriel Margaret Harkness, daughter of Angus Harkness, of Hamley Bridge, South Australia; and married in 1967, Margaret Eleanor Gablonski, daughter of the late John Gablonsky, of Oxley, Brisbane, by whom he had issue, a son, Paul, and two daughters, Julie and Roslyn.

The son, Paul William Biddulph (born 30 Oct, 1967), succeeds to the baronetcy, of Westcombe, Greenwich, which was created 2 Nov, 1664 for his ancestor Theophilus Biddulph (1615-83).

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Saturday, August 31, 2024

Malcolm/Onslow engagement

The engagement was announced 31 August, 2024, between Thomas William Malcolm (born 1990), younger son of Sir Alexander James Elton Malcolm, OBE, 13th Baronet (born 30 August, 1957), of Brincecombe, co Somerset, and his wife the former Virginia Elizabeth Coxon, & Alice Louise Daisy Onslow (born 1994), scion of the Earls of Onslow, only daughter of Christopher Denzil Onslow (born 14 March, 1956), of Cromlix, Dunblane, Perthshire, & his 2nd wife the former Paula Louise Howell Jenkins.

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Sophia Florence Elizabeth Bromfield (born 2024)

 Katie Bromfield (nee Daniel, born 31 Dec, 1987), wife of Jamie Bromfield, gave birth to a daughter, Sophia Florence Elizabeth, 21 August, 2024, a sister for Saskia Lily Svanna, who was born 26 April, 2023.

Jamie is a son of Mr & Mrs Charles Bromfield, of Wield, Hampshire.

Katie is a daughter of Dr Christopher Daniel [who died in 2000], and his wife the former Lucy Anne Tudway Quilter [born 6 May, 1961], scion of the Quilter baronets.

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De Rezny Channer/Macnab of Macnab engagement

 The engagement was announced 31 August, 2024, between Charles Benedict De Rezny Channer (born 1996), son of Colonel Nicholas Hugh De Rezny Channer, of Coxwold, North Yorkshire, and his wife the former Catherine L. Whitehead, & Daisy Sophie Macnab of Macnab Yr (born 26 June, 1999), daughter of The Macnab of Macnab (James William Archibald Macnab) (born 22 March, 1963), 24th Chief of the Clan Macnab, of Edinburgh, and his wife the former Dr Jane Louise Mackintosh.

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Soames/Orbea engagement

The engagement was announced 31 August, 2024, between Mark Francis Soames (born 26 October, 1992), scion of that landed gentry family, eldest son of Martin Arthur Soames (born 1954), of London, and his wife the former Velia Bavetta (born circa 1962), Adriana Orbea, only daughter of Sr Ignacio Orbea Muguiro, of Vitoria-Gasteiz, and Sra Adriana Gómez-Arnau Díaz-Cañabate, of Madrid.

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Lord Harlech marries Ida Lai

 The marriage took place 8 August, 2024, at Islington Town Hall, between Jasset David Cody Ormsby-Gore, 7th Baron Harlech (born 1 July, 1986), son of the late 6th Baron Harlech (1954-2016), and his former wife, Amanda Jane Grieve (born 1958), & Ida H.Y. Lai (born 1989), a Canadian.

Jasset Harlech succeeded to the peerage 1 February, 2016. The Peerage of the UK was created in 1876. John, the first Baron (1816-76), was Groom in Waiting to Queen Victoria, MP for Carnarvonshire and later for North Shropshire.  His brother, the 2nd Baron (1819-1904), married Lady Emily Seymour, sister of the 5th Marquess of Hertford; the 3rd Baron, George (1855-1938), married Lady Margaret Gordon, daughter of the 10th Marquis of Huntly. William, the 4th Baron (1885-1964), married Lady Beatrice Gascoyne-Cecil, daughter of the 4th Marquess of Salisbury. David, 5th Baron (1918-85), was British Ambassador to the United States, a lover of Jacqueline Kennedy, and was killed in a car accident in January, 1985. The 6th Baron having inherited estates in Wales and Shropshire worth £2.6m, and been obliged to pay £1.6m in tax, by the year 2000 he was forced to sell his ancestral seat, Brogyntyn Hall in Oswestry, Shropshire. It had been in the family for two centuries, including a period of notoriety during the "Swinging Sixties" when he, his older brother Julian (1940-74) and their three sisters, Jane, Victoria and Alice, had set up a commune in the 200-acre park.

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Susan Evelyn Margaret Cavenagh 1936-2024

  Susan Cavenagh (née Thomson), of Withcote Hall, Oakham, Rutland, who died 18 August, 2024, aged 87, was a scion of the Thomson baronets; born 7 Oct, 1936, the eldest daughter of Sir James Douglas Wishart Thomson, 2nd Baronet (1905-1972), and his wife the former Evelyn Margaret Isabel Douglas (1915-2017); & married 8 July, 1961, Capt John Michael Cavenagh, GM (1925-2013), son of Brigadier Thomas Francis Cavanagh, OBE, MC (1892-1973) and his wife the former Helen Curwen (1895-1964), by whom she had issue, a son Thomas (born 28 July, 1966), and two daughters, Sarah (born 5 Oct, 1964), and Bettina (born in 1971).

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Coppola/Barham engagement

The engagement was announced 31 August, 2024, between  Piergiuseppe Coppola, younger son of Mr and Mrs Giuseppe Coppola, of Eindhoven, the Netherlands, and Puglia, Italy, & Helena Jane Barham (born 31 May, 1997), scion of that landed gentry family, younger daughter of Edward George Barham (born 1962), of Hole Park, Kent, and his wife the former Clare Catherine Turnbull (born 27 July, 1966), descended from the Earls of Stamford.

William Grey, 9th Earl of Stamford > Lady Jane Grey > Oliver Turnbull > Clare Turnbull > Helena Barham

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Christine Champion De Crespigny (nee Boltz) 1939-2024

Christine Charlotte (Christa) Champion De Crespigny (nee Boltz), died at Krems, Austria, 27 August, 2024, aged 85.

She was the born in Berlin, 24 August, 1939, daughter of Hans Boltz, and married 19 May, 1959, Richard Rafe Champion De Crespigny (born 1936), scion of that landed gentry family, son of Richard Geoffrey Champion De Crespigny, OBE (1907-1966), and his wife the former Kathleen Cavenagh Cudmore (1908-2013).

Her husband also known by his Chinese name Zhang Leifu (Chinese: 張磊夫), is an Australian sinologist and historian. He was an adjunct professor in the College of Asia and the Pacific at the Australian National University. He specialised in the history, geography, and literature of the Han dynasty, particularly the translation and historiography of material concerning the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period.

Christa Champion De Crespigny leaves a son, Mark, and a daughter, Anne.

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Funeral of Virginia, Countess of Airlie

 The King and Queen were represented by Sir Brian Ivory, CVO, CBE, at the Funeral of the Dowager Countess of Airlie (former Lady of the Bedchamber to The late Queen Elizabeth II) which was held at Cortachy, by Kirriemuir, Angus, 30 August, 2024.

Princess Alexandra, the Hon Lady Ogilvy, sister-in-law of the Countess, was represented by her children, Mr James Ogilvy and Miss Marina Ogilvy.

The Dowager Countess of Airlie, who died 17 August, 2024, aged 91, was widow of the 13th Earl of Airlie, and the first American to serve as a lady in waiting to the sovereign.

The King paid tribute to the Countess of Airlie, his mother's close confidant and first American lady in waiting following news of her death.

Virginia 'Ginny' Ryan was the first American to have served as a lady-in-waiting to the late Queen when she was appointed lady of the bedchamber in 1973 – and was with her until Her Majesty's death, 8 September 2022.

Lady Airlie lived at Cortachy Castle, Kirriemuir, Angus, and had a London home in Sloane Court West, SW3.


So close were they that the late Queen made what is believed to have been her only visit to a nightclub when she visited Annabel's in 2003 to celebrate the 70th birthday of Lady Airlie.


A statement released from Buckingham Palace yesterday read: 'His Majesty was deeply saddened to hear the news, having known Lady Airlie for so much of his life and having so greatly appreciated her immense devotion and dedicated service to Her late Majesty over so many years.'


King Charles is on holiday in Scotland but has spoken with the countess's family to express his sympathies. Lady Airlie's husband David – himself a childhood friend of the late Queen – was the 13th Earl of Airlie and Chancellor of the Order of the Thistle until his death last year at the age of 97.

The couple, who married in October 1952, were key figures in the late Queen's royal household – regularly staying at Sandringham and Balmoral. The wedding took place at St Margaret’s Church, Westminster. The late Queen, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and Princess Margaret were all in attendance at what the Telegraph called ‘a major society event’ – so much so it featured on the news.

She was born 9 February, 1933, daughter of John Barry Ryan Jr, of Moorland Farm, Newport, Rhode Island, USA, by his wife the former Margaret Dorothy Kahn (1901-1995), daughter of Otto Kahn (1867-1934), the American investment banker and philanthropist; and married 23 Oct, 1952, the then David George Coke Patrick Ogilvy, styled Lord Ogilvy (born 17 May, 1926), son and heir of the 12th Earl of Airlie, KT, GCVO, MC (1893-1968), and his wife the Lady Alexandra Marie Bridget Coke (died 1984), daughter of the 3rd Earl of Leicester, GCVO, CMG (1848-1941). Her husband succeeded his father in the earldom, 28 Dec, 1968.

The countess was a sister-in-law of the Hon Sir Angus Ogilvy, KCVO, PC, who married Princess Alexandra of Kent in 1963.

Her husband  was cr GCVO 1984; Chancellor of the Royal Victorian Order 1984-87; Privy Councillor 1984; Lord Chamberlain of the Household 1984-87; sworn of the Privy Council 1984; Knight of the Thistle 1985; Lord Lieutenant of Angus from 1989; received the Royal Victorian Chain 1997. He died 26 June, 2023.

Virginia Airlie was a Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth II 1973-2022. The office of Lady or Woman of the Bedchamber and is now defunct, and the ladies attending HM Queen Camilla are now styled 'Queen's Companions'. Sje was appointed DCVO in 1995.

She leaves three sons and three daughters. Her eldest son, David (born 9 March, 1958), succeeded his father in the peerages, the second son is the Hon Bruce Ogilvy (born 7 Apr, 1959), and the third son is the Hon Patrick Ogilvy (born 24 Mar 1971), the daughters are Lady Doune (born 13 Aug 1953), Lady Jane (born 24 Jun 1955), and Lady Elizabeth (born 4 June, 1965).

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Sebastian Walter Monckton (born 2024)

Emma Monckton [nee Forsdick], wife of Dominic Walter Monckton [born 1985], scion of the Viscounts Monckton of Brenchley, gave birth to a son, Sebastian Walter, 28 August, 2024, at Sydney, New South Wales, a brother for Evie Millicent, who was born 11 May, 2022.

Dominic is a son of the Hon Timothy David Robert Monckton [born 15 Aug 1955], and his wife the former Jennifer Carmody, and is a grandson paternally of the late Maj-Gen the 2nd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley, CB, OBE, MC [1915-2006].

The infant's grandfather is the heir presumptive to the 3rd Viscount Monckton, and Sebastian's father is destined to succeed to the peerage.

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Friday, August 30, 2024

Catherine Smith, KC ~ appointed Advocate General for Scotland

The Prime Minister's Office has announced that the King has been pleased to approve the appointment of Catherine Smith, KC as Advocate General for Scotland, and that His Majesty has also been pleased to signify his intention of conferring a peerage of the United Kingdom for life on Miss Smith.

Catherine Smith (born 4 May, 1973) is a daughter of the late Rt Hon John Smith, MP PC (1938-1994), the Scottish politician who was Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from July 1992 until his death in May 1994. He was also Member of Parliament for Monklands East.

Her mother is Elizabeth Smith, Baroness Smith of Gilmorehill, DL (born 4 June, 1940), who was raised to the peerage with a life barony in the months following John Smith's sudden death. I believe it will be the first case of a mother and daughter sitting together in the House of Lords.

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Thursday, August 29, 2024

Prince of Wales and Duke of Sussex attend memorial service for Lord Fellowes

The Prince of Wales and Duke of Sussex attended the memorial service to their uncle, Lord Fellowes, on Thursday 29 August, 2024.

The service took place at St Mary's Church, on the Sandringham estate where Fellowes had worshipped since childhood.

A church warden who wished to remain anonymous told the BBC: "It was wonderful that both princes were able to attend their uncle's memorial service at St Mary's Church."

"The service was a lovely family occasion celebrating the life of such a special man."

Lord Fellowes was married to Lady Jane Spencer, sister of Diana, Princess of Wales, for over forty years.

No comment on the private service has come from Kensington Palace and the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex has not responded to a request for a comment.

Lord Fellowes, GCB, GCVO, QSO, PC, who died 29 July, aged died 82, was private secretary to Queen Elizabeth II, during the turbulent years of the collapse of three of the marriages of Her Majesty's children.

As Robert Fellowes he was Private Secretary to the Queen 1990-99, having been deputy private secretary from 1986, and a member of the Royal Household from the Queen’s Silver Jubilee year in 1977.

He was born at Sandringham, 11 Dec, 1941, elder son of the land agent to King George VI at his Norfolk country estate, Sir William Fellowes (1899-1986), scion of that landed gentry family, and his wife Jane Charlotte Ferguson (1912-86), scion of that landed gentry family, and a great-aunt of Sarah Duchess of York.

He married in 1978, the Lady Cynthia Jane Spencer (born 11 February, 1957), 2nd daughter of the 8th Earl Spencer (1924-1992), of Althorp House, Northampton, and his first wife the Hon Frances Ruth Burke Roche (1936-2004), scion of the Barons Fermoy, by whom he had issue, a son the Hon Alexander Fellowes (born 23 March, 1983), and two daughters, the Hon Laura (born 19 July, 1980), and the Hon Eleanor (born 20 Aug, 1985).

Fellowes was sworn of the Privy Council in 1990, and was an Extra Equerry to Queen Elizabeth II until Her Majesty’s death in 2022. He was Secretary & Registrar, Order of Merit 2003-2022.

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Wednesday, August 28, 2024

Fisher/Allfrey engagement

The engagement was announced 28 August, 2024, between Henry J. Fisher, son of Mr and Mrs Mark Fisher, of Mayford, Surrey, and Helena Idina Allfrey (born 5 July, 1996), scion of that landed gentry family, eldest daughter of Major Charles John Allfrey (born 19 May, 1963), of Milton on Stour, Dorset, and his wife the former Caroline Margaret Violet Aird (born 18 June, 1964), scion of the Aird baronets, the eldest daughter of Sir Alastair Sturgis Aird, GCVO (1931-2009), Private Secretary and Equerry to HM Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.

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Monday, August 26, 2024

Cecil/Aldrich engagement

The engagement was announced 26 August, 2024, beteween Capt the Hon William Evelyn Cecil (born 7 July, 1996), the only son and heir of the 4th Baron Rockley (born born 29 July, 1961), of Lytchett Heath, Dorset, and his wife the former Katherine Jane Whalley (born 1962), & Tiffany C. Aldrich, eldest daughter of Dr Paul Aldrich (born 1964), and Mrs Tina Aldrich , of London.

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Saturday, August 24, 2024

Lord Hugh Carnegie to marry Catherine Morgan

 The engagement was announced  24 August, 2024, between Lord Hugh Alexander Carnegie (born 10 June, 1993), third 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), & Catherine Claudia A. Morgan (born 1993), younger daughter of Mr Charles Peter Henry Morgan (born 1951), of Knightsbridge, London, and of Mrs (Kathryn) Jane L. Morgan (nee Pitt), of Wandsworth, London.

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 Hugh Carnegie

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Crofton/Page engagement

 The engagement was announced 24 August, 2024, between Sir William Robert Malby Crofton, 8th Baronet (born 5 January, 1996), son of the late Sir Julian Malby Crofton, 7th Baronet (1958-2018), and his wfe the former Hilary Twort (now Hilary, Lady Crofton, of Sunningdale, Berkshire), & Ellen Rose Page (born 1996), daughter of Mark John Page (born 1967), and his former wife Mrs Elizabeth Joy Richards (nee Baines, born 1968), of Chaddesley Corbett, Worcestershire.

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Clara Anne Isabella Liddell-Grainger (born 2024)

 Elizabeth Anne Liddell-Grainger [born 1985, nee Wilks] wife of Peter Richard Liddell-Grainger [born 6 May, 1987], scion of that landed family, gave birth to a daughter, Clara Anne Isabella, 24 July, 2024, a sister for Alfred Richard Henry, who was born 4 April, 2022.

Elizabeth Liddell-Grainger is a daughter of Dr Peter Robert Wilks, of Sandhill, co Surrey, by his wife the former Victoria Anne Morgan Woollam [born 1954].

Peter Liddell-Grainger is a son of Ian Richard Peregrine Liddell-Grainger, MP for Bridgwater and West Somerset, of Bicknoller, co Somerset [born 23 February, 1959], by his wife the former Jill Nesbitt [born 1956],

Peter Liddell-Grainger is a great-great-grandson of Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone [1883-1981], who was a granddaughter of HM Queen Victoria.

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Son for the Earl and Countess of Belfast

 Oilbhe Chichester, styled Countess of Belfast, wife of James Arthur Chichester, styled Earl of Belfast (born 19 Nov, 1990), gave birth to a second son, Sebastian Claud Spencer, 7 June, 2024, a brother for Arthur Humphrey John, styled Viscount Chichester, who was born 16 May, 2022.

The Countess of Belfast is the former Oilbhe Cahill Reid, daughter of the late Mr Charles Reid and Dr Mairead Cahill and step daughter of Mr James Watson, ,of Roscommon.

The Earl of Belfast is the son and heir of the 8th Marquess of Donegall (b 9 May 1952), of Roxburghshire, by his wife the former Caroline Mary Philipson [born 1959], descended from the Macdonald-Buchanan family.

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Henry Theodore Keith 1998-2024

 Henry Theodore Keith died 16 August, 2024, aged 25.

He was born 2 December, 1998, the second son of James Edward Keith (born 5 March, 1960), and his wife the former Victoria Rosemary Cook (born 1956), and was a descendant of the Mann baronets. He was unmarried.

Sir Edward Mann, 1st Baronet (1854-1943) > Maj William Mann (1885-1969) > Penelope Jane Mann (died 2002) > James Edward Keith (b 1960) > Henry Keith (1998-2024)

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Thursday, August 22, 2024

Cressida Rose Katharine Comyn 1985-2024

 Cressida Rose Katharine Comyn, who died 6 August, 2024, was descended from the Plumptre family (Barons Fitzwalter).

She was born in 1985, daughtrer of Timothy John Comyn (born 2 June, 1951), by his wife the former Jane Fairrie Drinkwater (born 1951). Unm.

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Wednesday, August 21, 2024

Isobel Rosemary Monteiro Brunt (born 2024)

 Yasmin Benveniste Brunt (nee Monteiro), wife of Frederick Robert H. Brunt [born 1985], scion of that landed gentry family, of Weston Green, gave birth to a daughter, Isobel Rosemary Monteiro Brunt, 17 August, 2024.

Frederick Brunt is a son of [Nigel Richard] Pierce Brunt [born 1948], of Beauworth, Hampshire, and his wife the former Audrey d'Esterre Howard [born 1949].

Yasmin Benveniste Monteiro, is a daughter of Aroni and Elizabeth Monteiro, of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

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Baroness May of Maidenhead

 The life peerage recently conferred upon the Rt Hon Theresa May, former Prime Minister, has been gazetted in the name, style and title of Baroness May of Maidenhead, of Sonning in the Royal County of Berkshire.

21 Aug 2024

The Baron Booth-Smith

 The life peerage recently conferred upon Liam David Scott Booth-Smith, has been gazetted in the name, style and title of Baron Booth-Smith, of Newcastle-under-Lyme in the County of Staffordshire.

21 Aug 2024

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Tuesday, August 20, 2024

James Alexander Whitson 1973-2024

 James Alexander Whitson, who died 10 August, 2024, aged 51, was a grandson maternally of Sir William Wrixon-Becher, 5th Bt.

He was born in 1973, son of Gordon M.A.P. Whitson (who died 1974), and his wife the former Susannah Elizabeth Wrixon-Becher (born 27 January, 1948), daughter of Sir William Wrixon-Becher, 5th Baronet (1915-2000). He married in 2001 (div) Tamara O'Connor, daughter of Francis O'Connor, by whom he had issue, a son, Wilf, and two daughters, Kitty and India.

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The Baron Grayling

 The life peerage recently conferred upon the Right Hon Christopher Stephen Grayling, has been gazetted in the name, style and title of Baron Grayling, of Ashtead in the County of Surrey...

20 Aug 2024

The Baron Sharma

 The life peerage recently conferred upon Sir Alok Kumar Sharma, KCMG, has been gazetted in the name, style and title of Baron Sharma, of Reading in the Royal County of Berkshire.

20 Aug 2024

Monday, August 19, 2024

Max Thomas Myles Sandys (born 2024)

 Lucy Sandys [nee Warhurst], wife of Edward Myles Sandys [born 1984], scion of the Sandys landed gentry family, of Graythwaite and Esthwaite, gave bir to a son, Max Thomas Myles, 8 July, 2024, a brother for India Ottilie Rose, who was born 3 January, 2021, and for Delilah Olive Dulcie, born 23 September, 2022.

Lucy is a daughter of [Thomas] Jeffrey Warhurst [born 1942], of Sutton-under-Brailes, co Warwick, and Mrs Warhurst. 

Edward Sandys is a son of Myles Christopher Ross Sandys [born 1951], High Sheriff of Cumbria in 1992, of Garthwaite Hall, Newby Bridge, near Ulverston, Cumbria, and his wife the former Camilla Birtwistle.

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The Baron Brady of Altrincham

 The life peerage recently conferred upon the Rt Hon Sir Graham Brady, a former Conservative MP, has been gazetted in the name, style and title of Baron Brady of Altrincham, of Birch-in-Rusholme in the County of Greater Manchester.

19 Aug 2024

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Harriet Harman's peerage gazetted ...

 The life peerage recently conferred on the Rt Hon Harriet Ruth Harman, the former Labour MP, has been gazetted in the name, style and title of Baroness Harman, of Peckham in the London Borough of Southwark.

19 Aug 2024

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Saturday, August 17, 2024

Cooper/Fraser engagement

 The engagement was announced 17 August, 2024, between Robert F.I. Cooper, son of Mr and Mrs Duncan Cooper, of Horsham, West Sussex, & Tabitha Christian Annand Fraser (born 1993), daughter of James Annand Fraser, of Asknish, Argyll, & his wife the Hon Victoria Christian Cameron (born 1965), daughter of the life peer the Baron Cameron of Lochbroom, PC, FRSE (born 11 June, 1931).

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Selwyn Sharpe/Allwood engagement

 The engagement was announced 17 August, 2024, between Thomas Richard Gildart Selwyn Sharpe (born 1992) eldest son of Richard Charles Selwyn Sharpe, of Finghall, North Yorkshire, and his wife the former Fleur Josephine Butler (born 24 April, 1967), & Mary Jane Allwood (born 22 September, 1994), eldest daughter of Andrew Geoffrey Allwood (born 1959), of Muiresk House, Aberdeenshire, by his wife the former Hon Catherine Mary Tennant Arundell (born 16 April, 1960), 2nd daughter of the 10th Baron Talbot of Malahide (1931-2016).

Thomas Selwyn Sharpe is a great-grandson of the Baron Butler of Saffron Walden, KG, CH, PC, DL (1902-1982).

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Major/Stuart Taylor engagement

 The engagement was announced 17 August, 2024, between Major Alexander Leo Major (born 1 July, 1986), Welsh Guards, son of David Major, of Atherington, Devon, and his wife the former Amanda J Sheppard, & Virginia Caterina Stuart Taylor (born 1989), elder daughter of Sir Nicholas Richard Stuart Taylor, 4th Baronet (born 14 January, 1952), of Bishop's Waltham, Hampshire, and his former wife, Malvena Elizabeth, Lady Stuart Taylor (nee Sullivan), of Beaulieu, Hampshire.

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Virginia, Countess of Airlie, DCVO 1933-2024

 Virginia, Countess of Airlie, DCVO, who died 17 August, 2024, aged 91, was widow of the 13th Earl of Airlie, and the first American to serve as a lady in waiting to the sovereign.

The King paid tribute to the Countess of Airlie, his mother's close confidant and first American lady in waiting following news of her death.

Virginia 'Ginny' Ryan was the first American to have served as a lady-in-waiting to the late Queen when she was appointed lady of the bedchamber in 1973 – and was with her until Her Majesty's death, 8 September 2022.

Lady Airlie lived at Cortachy Castle, Kirriemuir, Angus, and had a London home in Sloane Court West, SW3.

So close were they that the late Queen made what is believed to have been her only visit to a nightclub when she visited Annabel's in 2003 to celebrate the 70th birthday of Lady Airlie.

A statement released from Buckingham Palace yesterday read: 'His Majesty was deeply saddened to hear the news, having known Lady Airlie for so much of his life and having so greatly appreciated her immense devotion and dedicated service to Her late Majesty over so many years.'

King Charles is on holiday in Scotland but has spoken with the countess's family to express his sympathies. Lady Airlie's husband David – himself a childhood friend of the late Queen – was the 13th Earl of Airlie and Chancellor of the Order of the Thistle until his death last year at the age of 97.

The couple, who married in October 1952, were key figures in the late Queen's royal household – regularly staying at Sandringham and Balmoral. The wedding took place at St Margaret’s Church, Westminster. The late Queen, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and Princess Margaret were all in attendance at what the Telegraph called ‘a major society event’ – so much so it featured on the news.

She was born 9 February, 1933, daughter of John Barry Ryan Jr, of Moorland Farm, Newport, Rhode Island, USA, by his wife the former Margaret Dorothy Kahn (1901-1995), daughter of Otto Kahn (1867-1934), the American investment banker and philanthropist; and married 23 Oct, 1952, the then David George Coke Patrick Ogilvy, styled Lord Ogilvy (born 17 May, 1926), son and heir of the 12th Earl of Airlie, KT, GCVO, MC (1893-1968), and his wife the Lady Alexandra Marie Bridget Coke (died 1984), daughter of the 3rd Earl of Leicester, GCVO, CMG (1848-1941). Her husband succeeded his father in the earldom, 28 Dec, 1968.

The countess was a sister-in-law of the Hon Sir Angus Ogilvy, KCVO, PC, who married Princess Alexandra of Kent in 1963.

Her husband  was cr GCVO 1984; Chancellor of the Royal Victorian Order 1984-87; Privy Councillor 1984; Lord Chamberlain of the Household 1984-87; sworn of the Privy Council 1984; Knight of the Thistle 1985; Lord Lieutenant of Angus from 1989; received the Royal Victorian Chain 1997. He died 26 June, 2023.

Virginia Airlie was a Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth II 1973-2022. The office of Lady or Woman of the Bedchamber and is now defunct, and the ladies attending HM Queen Camilla are now styled 'Queen's Companions'. Sje was appointed DCVO in 1995.

She leaves three sons and three daughters. Her eldest son, David (born 9 March, 1958), succeeded his father in the peerages, the second son is the Hon Bruce Ogilvy (born 7 Apr, 1959), and the third son is the Hon Patrick Ogilvy (born 24 Mar 1971), the daughters are Lady Doune (born 13 Aug 1953), Lady Jane (born 24 Jun 1955), and Lady Elizabeth (born 4 June, 1965).

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Friday, August 16, 2024

Baron Elliott of Ballinamallard

 The life peerage recently conferred upon Thomas Beatty Elliott, MLA, (born 11 December, 1963) - Member of the Legislative Assembly for Fermanagh and South Tyrone and former leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, has been gazetted in the name, style and title of Baron Elliott of Ballinamallard, of Ballinamallard in the County of Fermanagh, 16 Aug 2024.

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Minette Batters: life peerage gazetted

 The life peerage recently conferred upon Minette Bridget Batters (born 28 May 1967) - Former President of the National Farmers’ Union of England and Wales, has been gazetted in the name, style and title of Baroness Batters, of Downton in the County of Wiltshire, 16 Aug 2024.

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Jeremy Leigh-Pemberton, CBE 1933-2024

 Jeremy Leigh-Pemberton, CBE, who died 5 August, 2024, aged 90, was a scion of that landed gentry family. 

He was born 25 November, 1933, the third son of Capt Robert Douglas Leigh Pemberton, MBE, MC (1896-1964), head of that family, and his wife the former Helen Isabel Payne-Gallwey (1898-1985), and was a younger brother of the life peer the Baron Kingsdown, KG (1927-2013)

He married 1stly, 30 May, 1968 (div. 1980), Mary Ames, daughter of John Ames, of Boston, Mass., USA; married 2ndly, 3 June, 1982, Virginia Marion Curle, a half-sister of the 3rd Baron Strathcarron, daughter of Sir John Noel Ormiston Curle (1915-1997), the diplomat, and his former wife Diana Hawtrey Deane (1923-1973). Diana Curle married 2ndly, 18 May, 1948, the 2nd Baron Strathcarron (1924-2006).

He leaves a son from his first marriage, Richard Ames Leigh Pemberton (born 13 Dec, 1971).

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Rowland James Ludo Caldin (born 2024)

Isobel Camilla Honoria Caldin (nee Harrison-Allen, born 23 May, 1990), wife of Alexander Robert Giles Caldin (born circa 1984), gave birth to a son, Rowland James Ludo, 24 July, 2024.

Alexander Caldin is a son of (Peter) Giles Caldin, of Salford, Oxfordshire, and his wife the former Rachel M. Roberts.

Isobel Caldin is a scion of that landed gentry family, daughter of Hugh David Rowland Harrison-Allen (born 1950), and his wife the former Amanda Jane Ommanney (born 26 Feb, 1953), scion of that landed gentry family, daughter of Major Peter Richard Ommanney (1911-1995), and his wife the former Joan Isobel Paterson (1920-2005).

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Thursday, August 15, 2024

Kevan Jones's peerage gazetted as Baron Beamish

 The life peerage recently conferred upon the Rt Hon Kevan David Jones, PC, (born 25 April 1964)  - Lately Member of Parliament for North Durham and former Minister for Veterans at the Ministry of Defence, has been gazetted in the name, style and title of Baron Beamish, of Beamish in the County of Durham, 15 Aug 2024.

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The Baron Cryer

 The life peerage recently conferred upon John Robert Cryer (born 11 April 1964), - Lately Member of Parliament for Leyton and Wanstead, has been gazetted in the name, style and title of Baron Cryer, of Leyton in the London Borough of Waltham Forest, 15 Aug, 2024.

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Jane Vanneck (née Blanton) (died 2024)

 Jane Vanneck, who died 7 August, 2024, aged 78, was wife of William Vanneck, scion of the Barons Huntingfield.

She was the former Jane Blanton, daughter of Donald Blanton, and married in 1971, William Bonde Vanneck (born 27 December, 1943), son of the Hon Andrew Nicholas Armstrong Vanneck (1890-1965), and his 2nd wife the former Britta Ingeborg Nilsdotter Bonde (who died 1 Sept, 1998). Her husband is a nephew of the late 5th Baron Huntingfield (1883-1969).

She was mother of a son, Mark Vanneck (born 1979), and a daughter, Nina (born 1975).

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Lady Spencer-Nairn 1937-2024

 Lady Spencer-Nairn, who died 4 August, 2024, aged 86, was the wife of Sir Robert Spencer-Nairn, 3rd Baronet.

She was born Joanna Elizabeth Salt, 10 December, 1937, scion of the Salt baronets of Weeping Cross, daughter of Lieutenant-Commander George Stevenson Salt, RN (1908-1940), and his wife the former Lilian Bridget Francis (1912-2011). Her father was killed in action, 20 Oct, 1940, commanding HM Submarine Triad.

She married 4 May, 1963, Robert Arnold Spencer-Nairn (born 11 Oct, 1933), son and heir of Sir Douglas Spencer-Nairn, 2nd Baronet (1906-1970), and his wife the former Elizabeth Livingston Henderson (who died 1985). Her husband succeeded his father as third baronet, 8 Nov, 1970.

She is survived by her husband, and two sons, James and Andrew, and a daughter, Katharine.

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