Pelly/Wilson betrothal

_.The engagement has been announced in Dec, 2013, between Guy Wignall Pelly (born 1982), scion of the Pelly Baronets (Bt, cr UK, 1840), son of John Gurney Pelly (b 1938), by his wife the former Vanda Joan Allfrey (b 1946), scion of that landed family, & Tennessee~born Elizabeth (Lizzy) Wilson (born circa 1982). Guy Pelly, socialite, is a close friend of the Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry of Wales. -=-

Warren/Stewart wedding

_.The marriage took place at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, London, 14 December, 2013, between Jakie James (Jake) Warren (born 1986), elder son of Mr John Frederick Rufus Warren by his wife the former Lady Carolyn Penelope Herbert (b 1962) scion of the Earls of Carnarvon (Earl, GB 1793), & Miss Zoe Inez Stewart (b 23 Dec, 1983), scion of the Earls of Galloway (Earl, Scot. 1623) younger daughter of Mr Andrew Clyde Stewart (b 13 Mar 1949) heir presumptive to the Earldom, by his wife the former Sara Pollock. Jake Warren is a godson of the late Diana Princess of Wales. -=-

The Baron Roberts of Conwy, PC 1930-2013

. The Baron Roberts of Conwy, who has died aged 83, as Wyn Roberts, was Conservative MP for Conwy (formerly Conway) 1970-97. He served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Wales, Peter Thomas from 1970 to 1974, and was Opposition spokesman on Wales between 1974 and 1979. On the 1979 Conservative election victory, he was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Welsh Office. After the 1987 election, he was promoted to Minister of State at the Welsh Office, a post he held until 1994. He was knighted for political service in 1990. He was created a life peer on leaving the Commons.

Leo Richard Hugh Clifford (b 2013)

_. Laura Lucy Clifford (nee Hurst-Bannister, b 1983), wife of Christopher Rollo Clifford (born 1982), scion of the Barons Clifford of Chudleigh (Baron, England, cr 1672), gave birth to a son, Leo Richard Hugh, 5 December, 2013. Christopher Clifford is a son of the Hon Rollo Hugh Clifford (b 1954, 3rd in line to his brother's barony Clifford of Chudleigh) and his 1st wife Fiona Margaret (b 1956) dau of Richard Andrew Palethorpe-Todd, OBE (1919-2009, the actor Richard Todd) and his 1st wife the former Catherine Grant-Bogle. Laura Clifford is a daughter of Barnabas J. Hurst-Bannister (b 1952)of East Worlington, Devon and Elizabeth L B (b 1955 reg Q1 Lambeth) d of Dr Richard H G Perks, of The Old Parsonage, Sutton Valence, Kent, and Bridget Kathleen Attlee(1921-2006).

Sienna Faye Dabbas (b 2013)

_. Selina Helen Louisa Dabbas (nee Kleinwort), scion of the Kleinwort Baronets (Bt, UK, cr 1909), and wife of Talal Dabbas, gave birth to a daughter, Sienna Faye, 11 December, 2013, a sister for Jasper Andreas, who was born 17 November, 2011. Selina Dabbas is a daughter of the late Sir Kenneth Drake Kleinwort, 3rd Baronet (1935-94), by his 2nd wife the former Madeleine Hamilton Taylor, and is a half~sister of Sir Richard Kleinwort, 4th Bart, &c. -=-

Astor/Hargreaves engagement

_.The engagement was announced 14 December, 2013, between the Hon James Jacob (Jake) Astor (born 4 March, 1981), scion of the Viscounts Astor (Peerage of the UK, cr 1917), second son of the 4th Viscount Astor (b 27 Dec, 1951), by his wife the former Annabel Veronica Lucy Jones (descended from the Barons Clifford of Chudleigh), and Miss Victoria L. Hargreaves, elder daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Patrick Hargreaves and Mrs Charles Goodall. The Hon Jake Astor is a half~brother of Samantha Cameron, wife of the Prime Minister, &c. Victoria Hargreaves is a step-daughter of Charles Goodall, a brother of Lady Clifford of Chudleigh, wife of the 14th Baron, and a kinsman of Viscountess Astor. -=-

Lady Quilter 1940-2013

_. Lady Quilter, who died 8 December, 2013, at Ipswich, was the wife of Sir Anthony Raymond Leopold Cuthbert Quilter, 4th Baronet (Bt, UK, cr 1897). She was the former (Mary) Elise Gooch, scion of the Gooch Baronets (Bt, GB cr 1746), born 20 March, 1940, daughter of Colonel Brian Sherlock Gooch, DSO (1904-68), by his wife the former Monica Mary Heywood (d 1975), and married Sir Anthony (b 1937- ), of Sutton Hall, Woodbridge, Suffolk, in June, 1964. She leaves issue, Guy (b 1967), and Juliet (b 1965). A service of Thanksgiving takes place at All Saints' Church, Sutton, Friday 20 Dec. -=-

Holland-Hibbert/Graham marriage

_. The marriage took place 10 December, 2013, in London, between the Hon James Edward Holland-Hibbert (born 19 May, 1967), scion of the Viscounts Knutsford (Peerage of the UK, cr 1895) second son of the 6th Viscount Knutsford (b 27 Dec, 1926), by his wife the former Hon Sheila Portman, dau of the 5th Viscount Portman, & Sarah C. Graham, elder dau of the late Mr Euan Graham and of Mrs Nicholas Thompson. -=-

Kate Barry 1967-2013

Kate Barry, photographer who published in Vogue and the Sunday Times, who died 11 December, 2013, aged 46, was the daughter of the composer John Barry by his former wife Jane Mallory Birkin (Jane Birkin, the actress) (b 1946), scion of the Birkin Baronets (Bt, UK, cr 1905). Miss Barry's body was found on the pavement beneath her fourth floor flat in Paris. -=-

Gummer/Langford engagement

_.The engagement was announced 11 Dec, 2013, between the Hon Benedict Gummer, son of John Selwyn Gummer, Baron Deben, life peer, and Baroness Deben, of Winston, Suffolk, & Sarah M. Langford, daughter of Mr & Mrs Christopher Langford, of Sutton, Scotney, near Winchester, Hampshire.

Earl of Dalkeith to marry Elizabeth Cobbe

__.The engagement was announced 12 December, 2013, between Walter John Francis Scott, formerley Montagu Douglas Scott, styled Earl of Dalkeith (b 8 Aug, 1984), elder son and heir of the 10th Duke of Buccleuch & Queensberry, KBE, DL (born 8 June, 1954), by his wife the former Lady Elizabeth Marian Frances Kerr (b 1954), scion of the Marquesses of Lothian, & Elizabeth Honor Cobbe (born 18 January, 1986), scion of that Irish gentry family of Newbridge House, Dublinounger younger daughter of Mr Hugh Michael Thomas Cobbe (born 20 November, 1942), of East Woodhay, Hampshire, by his wife the former Katherine Elizabeth Chichester (born 1 September, 1949), dau of Charles Chichester. The Cobbe forebears include Frankland baronets, Arbuthnots and John Jay (1745-1829), one of the most important of the American Founding Fathers -- co-author of the "Federalist Papers" and first chief justice of the United States. -=-

Strutt/Hue-Williams marriage

_. The marriage took place 4 Dec, 2013, in London, between Henry Clavering Tollemache Strutt (b Dec 1953), scion of the Barons Belper (Baron, UK, cr 1856), a cousin of the 5th Baron, son of the late Hon Peter Algernon Strutt (1924-2007), by his wife the former Gay Margaret Fison, scion of the Fison Baronets & Mrs Sarah Y. Hue-Williams. -=-

Son for Kate Winslet and Ned Rocknroll

_. Actress Kate Winslet (b 5 Oct 1975), wife of Mr Ned Rocknroll (formerly Edward Lyulph Abel Smith) (b 24 June, 1978), gave birth to a son on 9 Dec, 2013. Ned Rocknroll is a scion of the Abel Smith family of Woodhall, and is a son of Robert Ralph Abel Smith (b 14 Jul 1947), by his former wife the former Linette J Branson (sister of Sir Richard Branson). Miss Winslet is a daughter of Roger John Winslet, by his wife Sally Anne Winslet. 'Ned Rocknroll' is a great-grandson of Lt-Col Wilfrid Abel Smith who married the Hon Violet Elizabeth Katharine Somerset, daughter of the 2nd Baron Raglan, and descended from the Dukes of Beaufort, &c.

3rd Baron Noel-Buxton 1940-2013

_.The Lord Noel-Buxton, 3rd Baron in the Peerage of the UK (cr 1930), died 1 December, 2013. He was 72. Martin Connal Buxton, later Noel-Buxton, was born 8 Dec, 1940, son of the 2nd Baron (1917-80) by his 1st wife, the former Helen Nancy Connal (who d 1949); succeeded to the peerage on his father's death, 14 July, 1980; married thrice, firstly, 21 July, 1964 (div 1968) Miranda Mary Chisenhale-Marsh (1944-79), scion of that landed family; married 2ndly, 1972 (div 1982), Sarah Margaret Surridge Barrett; and thirdly, 1986, Mrs Abigail Marie Granger. He leaves issue from his second and third marriages. The title passes to the son of his 2nd marriage, the Hon Charles Connal Noel-Buxton, who was born 17 Apr, 1975. The funeral Service is at St Thomas's Church, Upshire, Essex, 19 December, 2013. -=-

Hon Annabel Freyberg 1961-2013

_. The Hon Annabel Freyberg, who died from cancer, 8 December, 2013, aged 52, was a scion of the Barons Freyberg (B UK, 1951), writer, journalist, interiors editor of the Daily Telegraph magazine. She was born 16 Aug, 1961, a daughter of the 2nd Baron Freyberg (1923-93), by his wife the former Ivry Perronelle Katharine Guild; married in 2000, Andrew Barrow, writer, by whom she had a son and a daughter. The daughter, Blossom, died in 2012. She is survived by her husband and son. -=-

Hayns/Cameron engagement

.The engagement was announced 9 Dec, 2013, between Nicholas D. Hayns, son of Mr & Mrs John Hayns, of Banstead, Surrey, and Emily Frances Cameron (born 1986), daughter of Donald Cameron of Lochiel, Chief of the Clan Cameron (b 1946), of Achnacarry, Inverness~shire, by his wife the former Lady Cecil Nennella Therese Kerr (b 1948), daughter of the late 12th Marquis of Lothian, KCVO (1922-2004). -=-

4th Baron Ashcombe 1924-2013

_.The Baron Ashcombe, who died 4 December, 2013, aged 89, was an uncle of HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, and 4th Baron (Peerage of the UK, cr 1892). Henry Edward Cubitt was born 31 March, 1924, son of Roland Calvert Cubitt, 3rd Baron (1899-1962), by his 1st wife, the former Sonia Rosemary Keppel, OBE (1900-1986), scion of the Earls of Albemarle. The 3rd Baron's sister, Rosalind (1921-94), married Maj Bruce Shand, MC, and their daughter, Camilla married the heir to the throne in 2005. Lord Ashcombe was a grandson of Alice Keppel, the last of King Edward VII's mistresses. Henry Cubitt succeeded his father as 4th Baron, 28 Oct, 1962. He was thrice married. Firstly, in 1955 (div 1968) to the former Ghislaine Dresselhuys, former wife of the 6th Earl of Caledon (and she went on to marry the 8th Baron Foley); married 2ndly, 1973 (div 1979), the Hon Virginia Carington, daughter of the 6th Baron Carrington, KG; married 3rdly, 1979, the former Elizabeth Mary Chipps, and widow of Geoffrey Mark Dent-Brocklehurst, of Sudeley Castle (who descended from the Earls of Harewood). The peerage now passes to his second cousin, Mark Edward Cubitt, born 29 Feb, 1964, who is a great~grandson of the 2nd Baron Ashcombe. Mark Cubitt is married with sons. The funeral is to be held at Sudeley Castle, Gloucestershire, the home of his step~son Henry Dent-Brocklehurst. -=-

Nicholas Richard Robert Carew Pole (b 2013)

_.Rebecca Carew-Pole (nee Wood), wife since 2003, of John (Johnny) Alexander George Carew Pole, (b.1975), one-time Page of Honour to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, gave birth to a son, Nicholas Richard Robert, 16 Nov, 2013, a brother for Thomas Tremayne John, who was b 22 Feb, 2008, and for Daisy. Johnny Carew-Pole is the younger son of Sir Richard Carew Pole, 13th Baronet, & Lady Carew Pole (nee Dawnay, of the Viscounts Downe), of Antony, Cornwall, & Rebecca Wood is the only daughter of Mr and Mrs Robert Wood, of Kilsall, Shropshire. ========

Blofeld/Chianale marriage

.The marriage took place 3 Dec, 2013, between Henry Blofeld (b 23 Sept, 1939), cricket commentator, scion of that landed family, son of the late Thomas Robert Calthorpe Blofeld (1903-86), by his wife the former Grizel Blanche Turner (1903-92), & Valeria Chianale, Italian fashion designer. It is Mr Blofeld's third marriage. He was married 1stly, in 1961, to Joanna Hebeler; and 2ndly, in 1990, to Karin Pernet-Hansen. -=-

Shaw/Child Villiers engagement

_.The engagement was announced 4 Dec, 2013, between Mr Robert Shaw, son of Mr & Mrs Terence Shaw, of St Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands, and the Lady Luciana Dorothea Sacha Child Villiers (born 1981), daughter of the late George, Viscount Villiers (1948-98), by his 2nd wife the former Sacha Jane Hooper Valpy (now Mrs Raymond Hubbard, of Landscove, Devon). The bride~to~be is a sister of the 10th Earl of Jersey (Peerage of England, cr 1697). -=-