Camilla Marguerite Gray (died 2017)

_. Camilla Gray, who died 7 December, 2017, was the first wife of the late 6th Earl of Erne, KCVO (1937-2015), and was the mother of the 7th Earl.

She was the former Camilla Marguerite Roberts, eldest daughter of Wing Commander Owen George Endicott Roberts, RAF, and a granddaughter of Capt Marshall Owen Roberts, Scots Guards, and was descended from the Barons Dunleath and Dukes of Atholl, &c.

She married firstly, 5 Nov, 1958 (div 1980), the 6th Earl of Erne, by whom she had issue, four daughters and a son. The son, John, is the 7th Earl of Erne (b 19 June, 1971).

Camilla Countess of Erne's second marriage was to Tony Gray.

The funeral is at Barham Crematorium, Canterbury, Wednesday 20 December, 2017.

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Jean Frances Woodroffe, CVO 1923-2017

_. Mrs Jean Frances Woodroffe, CVO, who died 7 December, 2017, aged 94, was a Lady-in-Waiting to the Queen (when Princess Elizabeth, from 1945) and served as an Extra Woman of the Bedchamber to Her Majesty from 1954. Mrs Woodroffe was a cousin of the Queen by marriage and one of her oldest friends.

She was born 22 February, 1923, a scion of the Hambro banking dynasty, the fourth daughter of Angus Valdimar Hambro (1883-1957) by his second wife, the former Vanda Dorothy Julia Charlton, and married firstly, 19 Sept, 1942, Capt the Hon Vicary Gibbs, of the Grenadier Guards, eldest son of the 4th Baron Aldenham. Her first husband was killed in action at Nijmegan, 20 September, 1944, leaving her with an infant daughter, Jennifer Susan (who was a Lady in Waiting to the Queen Mother 1993-2002). The Hon Mrs Vicary Gibbs married secondly, 29 May, 1946, Rev. the Hon Andrew Elphinstone, a nephew of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, who died in 1975. From this marriage she had two children, a daughter Rosemary, born in 1947, for whom the then Princess Elizabeth stood sponsor, and a son James, later the 18th Lord Elphinstone (1953-1994); she married thirdly, in 1980, Lt-Col John William Richard Woodroffe, the widower of her elder sister, Patricia.

Elizabeth Longford in her biography Elizabeth R writes that in 1945 "Princess Elizabeth was given her own footman, and housemaid and second Lady in Waiting (the first was Lady Mary Strachey). The way in which the second appointment was made in March 1945 was characteristic of the Royal Family's touching almost blind trust in their own inner circle.

The Hon Mrs Vicary Gibbs was a pretty 21 year-old widow whose husband, a Grenadier officer, had been killed in Holland. Jean Hambro by birth she was later to become Princess Elizabeth's first cousin by marriage to Andrew Elphinstone. One day Jean Gibbs received a letter from Sir Arthur Penn, the Queen's private secretary, explaining that an additional lady was needed to serve the princess, a lady who could talk about the Grenadiers and Officers' Welfare. Mrs Gibbs had never set eyes on the King or Queen. Nor had Princess Elizabeth ever set eyes on her. Yet this extraordinary 'on trust' arrangement was to work perfectly, lasting from 1945 to 1954, and continuing thereafter on a part time basis."

Jean Elphinstone only gave up full-time work for the Queen when her husband, Andrew, a Church of England priest, took on a parish in Surrey and she went to assist him there.

Mrs Woodroffe is survived by her two daughters, Jenny and Rosie. Her son, Jamie, Lord Elphinstone, died 19 Dec, 1994, aged 41.

The funeral took place at Mere, 19 December, 2017, at noon, followed by a service of Thanksgiving at St Mary's Church, Worplesdon, 10 January, 2018, at which The Queen was represented by Mrs Peregrine Bertie.

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Obituary: Lt-Col Sir William Mount, Bt

Robert Maxtone-Graham (d 2017)

_. Robert Maxtone-Graham, who died circa 5 December, 2017, was a scion of Maxtone-Graham of Cultoquhey, a Scots landed family, the last surviving child of Anthony Maxtone Graham, 16th of Cultoquhey, and of Jan Struther.

Funeral at St Clement's Church, Sandwich, Monday 18 Dec, 2017.

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Pamela Lady Wedgwood (1928-2017)

_. Pamela Lady Wedgwood, who died 5 December, 2017, aged 89, was the widow of Sir John Wedgwood, 2nd Baronet (1907-89), & was Pamela Tudor-Craig, the medieval art historian.

She was born Pamela Wynn Reeves, 26 June, 1928; married firstly, in 1956, James Tudor-Craig, son of Sir Algernon Tudor-Craig; married secondly, in 1982, Sir John Wedgwood, Bt, who died 9 Dec, 1989.

A Memorial Service takes place at St Anne's Church, Lewes, Sussex, 24 March, 2018.

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Richard Godwin-Austen (d 2017)

_. Richard Godwin-Austen, who died 3 December, 2017, aged 82, was a scion of that landed gentry family.

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Sir John Cotterell, 6th Baronet 1935-2017

_. Sir John Cotterell, 6th Baronet, died 4 December, 2017. He was 82.

John Henry Geers Cotterell was born 8 May, 1935, son of Sir Richard Cotterell, 5th Bt, CBE (1907-78), by his first wife the former Lady Lettice Lygon, eldest daughter of the 7th Earl Beauchamp, KG; married 7 Oct, 1959, [Vanda] Alexandra Clare [deceased], only daughter of Maj Philip Bridgewater and a granddaughter maternally of the 4th Baron Vivian, DSO; succeeded to the baronetcy on his father's death, 1978.

Sir John leaves three sons, Henry, James and David, and a daughter, Camilla. The baronetcy devolves upon his elder son, Henry Richard Geers Cotterell, who was born 22 Aug 1961.

Funeral at Byford Church, Thursday 14 Dec, 2017.

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Campbell/Gray engagement

_. The engagement was announced 5 December, 2017, between James J.M. Campbell, only son of the late Mr & Mrs Neil Campbell, & Octavia L.H. Gray (born 1987), elder daughter of Sir William Gray, 3rd Baronet (b 26 Jul 1955), by his former wife the former Catherine Naylor.

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Marcus Hobbs (born 2017)

_. Emily Rose Hobbs (nee Arundell, born 1988), wife of Edward J.B. Hobbs, and scion of the Barons Talbot of Malahide, gave birth to a son, Marcus, 2 December, 2017.

Edward Hobbs is the elder son of Mr & Mrs John Hobbs, of Wandsworth, London, & Emily Hobbs is the second of the four daughters of the Hon Richard John Tennant Arundell (b 28 Mar, 1957), heir app to the peerage, of Wardour, Wiltshire, by his wife the former Jane Catherine Unwin.

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Lt-Cdr Sir Richard David Michael Richardson-Bunbury, 5th Bt 1927-2017

_. Lt-Cdr Sir Michael Richardson-Bunbury, 5th Baronet, died 1 December, 2017, aged 90.

Richard David Michael Richardson-Bunbury was born 27 Oct, 1927, son of Richard Richardson-Bunbury (1899-1951) by his wife the former Florence Margaret Gordon Thomson, and succeeded to the baronetcy (cr 1787) on the demise of his kinsman, Sir Mervyn, 21 Oct, 1953; married 15 July, 1961, Jane Louise, daughter of Colonel Alfred William Pulverman, by whom he had two sons, Roger and Thomas. The elder son died in 1995.



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Sitwell/Lopes marriage

__. The marriage took place 1 December, 2017, at Chelsea Register Office, between William Ronald Sacheverell Sitwell (born 2 Oct, 1969), scion of the Sitwell baronets, second son of the late Francis Trajan Sacheverell Sitwell (1935-2004), by his wife the former Susanna Carolyn Cross, scion of the Cross baronets, & the Hon Emily Jane Lopes (b 1987), daughter of the late 3rd Baron Roborough (1940-2015), by his 2nd wife (and first cousin once removed) Sarah Anne Pipon (b 1951).

It is William Sitwell's second marriage. In 1999 he married Laura Barbara McCorquodale (born 1972), scion of that landed family, dau of Capt Euan McCorquodale.

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Plumptre/Steidl engagement

_. The engagement was announced 1 December, 2017, between the Hon Edward Brook Plumptre (b 26 Apr, 1989), scion of the Barons FitzWalter, elder son of the 22nd Baron FitzWalter (b 18 Oct 1952), of Goodnestone Park, Canterbury, by his wife the former (Alison) Sally Quiney, & Tessa Claire Steidl (born 1990), daughter of Nicholas W. Steidl, of Wandsworth, London, by his wife the former Henrietta L. Vance.

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Ryder/Arnold engagement

_. The engagement was announced 1 December, 2017, between the Hon Henry Mansell Dudley Ryder (born 1985), scion of the Earls of Harrowby, third son of the 8th Earl of Harrowby, by his late wife the former Sarah Nichola Hobhouse Payne, & Emily M.M. Arnold, daughter of Sir Thomas Arnold, by his wife the former Elizabeth Nevile.

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Baring/Williscroft engagement

_. The engagement was announced 1 December, 2017, between Samuel Nigel Baring (born 1987), scion of the Barons Northbrook, elder son of Peter Baring (born 1939), of Ardington, Oxon, by his wife, the former Rose Adams, & Camilla A. Williscroft, daughter of Mr Richard Williscroft, of West Ashling, Chichester, by his former wife, the former Anthea Jarrett (now Mrs Anthea Pearce, of Winchester).

Mr Peter Baring is the heir pres to his cousin, the 6th Baron Northbrook.

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14th Lord Elibank 1923-2017

_. The Lord Elibank, who died 30 November, 2017, aged 93, was the 14th Lord in the peerage of Scotland (cr 1643), and the 14th baronet (Bt, Scotland, cr 1628).

Alan D'Ardis Erskine-Murray, was born 31 Dec, 1923, son of Maj Robert Alan Erskine-Murray, OBE (1874-1939), by his wife the former Eileen Mary MacManus, and succeeded to the peerage and baronetcy on the death of his cousin, 2 June, 1973; married 1 Sept, 1962, Valerie Sylvia Dennis [died 13 January, 1997], by whom he had issue, two sons, Robert and Timothy.

The elder son, the Hon Robert Francis Alan Erskine-Murray, Master of Elibank, born 10 Oct, 1964, succeeds as 15th Lord Elibank and 15th Baronet.

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Obituary: Colonel Lord Freyberg

Leonora Skye Amelia Willoughby (born 2017)

__. Isobel Grace Willoughby (nee Summers, born 1985), wife of the Hon Charles Edward Henry Willoughby (born 1986), scion of the Barons Middleton, gave birth to a daughter, Leonora Skye Amelia, 28 November, 2017.

The Hon Charles Willoughby is the second son of 13th Baron Middleton (born 1948), of North Yorkshire, by his wife the former Hon Lucy Sidney (born 1953), scion of the Viscounts De L'Isle.

Isobel is a daughter of the late Richard Summers and of Mrs Summers (nee Bedborough), of Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire.

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Vaughan/Birrell engagement

_. The engagement was announced 30 November, 2017, between Capt Henry M.H. Vaughan, The Life Guards (born 1991), scion of that landed family, only son of Mr Thomas Vaughan, of Pencoyd, Herefordshire, by his wife the former Sarah Harding-Rolls (scion of Harding, of Birling Manor), & Miss Claudia E.A. Birrell, only daughter of Mr & Mrs Christopher Birrell, of Cucklington, Somerset.

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Blandford/Thorp engagement

__. The engagement was announced 30 November, 2017, between George Spencer-Churchill, styled Marquis of Blandford (born 28 July, 1992), son and heir of the 12th Duke of Marlborough (b 24 Nov, 1955), of Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, by his first wife the former Rebecca Mary Few Brown, & Camilla Elizabeth A. Thorp (born 1987), eldest daughter of Mr James N. Thorp, by his wife the former Philippa C. Thomas.

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Duff Gordon/Griffiths marriage

_. The marriage took place 25 November, 2017, at St Bride's Church, Fleet St, between Frederick Samuel Douglas Duff Gordon (b 1981), scion of the Duff Gordon baronets, son of Sir Andrew Duff Gordon, 8th Baronet (b 1933), by his second wife the former Eveline (Evie) Virginia Soames (b 1947), & Charlotte Victoria Griffiths (born 1984), Girl About Town editor, Mail on Sunday, only daughter of Nigel Griffiths, by his wife the former Fiona Malcolm.


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