David Francis Abel Smith 1940-2024

 David Francis Abel Smith, who died 25 December, 2024, aged 84, was a scion of that landed gentry family.

He was born 3 February, 1940, son of Brigadier Sir Alexander Abel Smith, KCVO, TD, JP (1904-1980), and his 1st wife, Elizabeth Morgan (who died 1948); and married 18 November, 1982, Lucy Marie Knox, author, historian and arts administrator, daughter of Col. Sir Bryce Knox, KCVO (1916-2013),  and his wife the former Patricia Dunsmuir, by whom he had a daughter, Eliza Violet Daria (born 15 March, 1991).

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Elizabeth Anne Bates (nee Musgrave) (died 2024)

 Elizabeth Anne Bates (nee Musgrave), who died in Northumberland, 25 December, 2024, was a scion of the Musgrave baronets, a daughter of Lt-Col Sir Christopher Norman Musgrave, 6th Baronet, OBE (1892-1956),  and his wife the former Kathleen Chapman (who d 2 May, 1967), and married 1 June, 1955 (div 1980), Thomas Aydon Bates (1926-2014), son of Capt Edward Giles Bates, by whom she had issue, two sons, Giles and Benedict, and four daughters, Annabelle, Belinda, Corinne, and Teresa.

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Baroness Oppenheim-Barnes, PC 1928-2025

 The Baroness Oppenheim-Barnes, PC, who died 1 January, 2025, aged, 96, was a Conservative politician, life peer, and a government minister in the Margaret Thatcher's administration.

She was Conservative MP for Gloucester from 1970 to 1987, and was Minister of State for Consumer Affairs in the Department of Trade between 1979 and 1982. She chaired the National Consumer Council from 1987-89 and was later a vice-president of the National Union of Townswomen’s Guilds and chair of the National Waterways Museum.

She was born Sarah Amelia Viner, 26 July, 1928 (Who's Who 2004 says 26 July 1930), daughter of Mark Viner and his wife, Jeanette. She was raised and educated in Sheffield, where her father founded a steel and cutlery company. She attended Lowther College and worked as a social worker in London before entering politics. She changed her forenames from Sarah Amelia to Sally in 1968.

She married firstly, 1949, Henry M. Oppenheim, a property tycoon (who died in 1980), and married 2ndly, in 1984, John Barnes. She assumed the surname Oppenheim-Barnes, and was raised to the peerage for life in 1989 as Baroness Oppenheim-Barnes, of Gloucester in the County of Gloucestershire. She was sworn of the Privy Council in 1989.

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Susan Margaret Perry (nee Cave-Browne) 1942-2024

Susan Margaret Perry, who died 16 December, 2024, aged 82, was a scion of the Cave-Brown baronets. She was born 24 July, 1942, elder daughter of Brigadier John Raban Cave-Browne (1917-1989), and his wife the former Ulrica Helen Paget-Hoblyn (1920-2011); and married 12 Dec, 1969, Richard Laybourne Perry, son of Lieutenant-Colonel H. St. M. Perry, by whom she issue, a son, Nicholas and a daughter, Camilla.

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Capt Andrew Henry Clowes 1942-2024

 Capt Andrew Henry Clowes, Scots Guards, sometime equerry to the late HRH The Duke of Gloucester, died 19 December, 2024, aged 82.

He was born 27 Oct, 1942, son of Colonel Sir Henry Nelson Clowes, KCVO, OBE, DSO (1911-1993), and his wife the former Diana Katherine Kerr (1926-2011), scion of the Marquesses of Lothian; and married 8 July, 1968, Georgiana Elizabeth Cavendish (1939-2019), scion of the Dukes of Devonshire, daughter of Richard Edward Osborne Cavendish (1917-1972), and his wife the former Pamela June Thomas (1918-2006), and a sister of the life peer, the Baron Cavendish of Furness (b 2 Nov, 1941).

He served the late Duke of Gloucester as equerry 1966-67.

He leaves issue, a son Richard (Dickon) (b 1971), and a daughter, Emma (b 1975).

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Fennell/Atkins engagement

The engagement was announced 1 January, 2025, between Alexander Theo Felix Fennell (born 1993), eldest son of Adrian Martin Alexander Fennell (born 1 Apr, 1963), of Braydeston, Norfolk, by his wife the former Anna Meriel Gowing (born 1963), and Olivia Kate Atkins (born 1995), daughter of Patrick J. Atkins, of Lodsworth, West Sussex, and his wife the former Vanessa Joy Parton.

Alexander Fennell is descended from the Barons Hawke:-

10th Baron Hawke (1904-1992) > Hon Sarah Hawke (b 1935) > Adrian Fennell (b 1963) > Alexander Fennell (b 1993).

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John Malcolm Wallace

John Malcolm Wallace died 3 December, 2024, aged 94.

The son of Dr Herbert Kelvin Wallace, he married 28 March, 1969, Janet Elisabeth Orr Ewing (born 9 Nov, 1940), scion of the Orr Ewing baronets, daughter of Sir Ronald Archibald Orr Ewing, 5th Baronet (1912-2002), and his wife the former Marion Hester Cameron (1914-1997), scion of the Camerons of Lochiel, by whom he had issue, two sons, Jasper (born 1973), Jocelyn (born 1977), and a daughter, Jemma (born 1971).

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de Laszlo/Francis engagement

 The engagement was announced 1 January, 2025, between William Patrick de Laszlo (born 1979), second son of Damon Patrick de Laszlo (born 8 Oct, 1942), of Pelham Place, Hampshire, and his wife the Hon Sandra Daphne Hacking (born 10 June, 1950), and Jemima Kate Francis (born 1979), daughter of Julian C. Francis, of Rogate, West Sussex, and his wife the former Harriet Robb.

William is a grandson maternally of the late 2nd Baron Hacking (1910-1971).

It is William de Laszlo's second marriage. He married firstly, in 2004, Katherine Alice Guinness, scion of the brewing dynasty, daughter of Timothy Whitmore Newton Guinness and his wife the former Beverly Anne Mills, by whom he has issue, a daughter Alice Florence (b 25 Aug 2007), and a son, Walter Henry Patrick (b 30 Oct, 2009). 

William and Jemima have issue, sons, Gabriel Patrick Julian (born 13 March, 2020), and Xander Patrick Damon born 21 May, 2021.

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