The Baron McAvoy, KBE, PC 1943-2024

 The Baron McAvoy, KBE, PC, who died 8 March, 2024, aged 80, was, as Tommy McAvoy, a Labour and Co-operative politician, MP for  for Glasgow Rutherglen from 1987 to 2005, and Rutherglen and Hamilton West from 2005 to 2010.

McAvoy held several positions in the Government Whips' Office in the administrations of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, serving as Comptroller of the Household from 1997 to 2008 and Treasurer of the Household from 2008 to 2010. He entered the Lords after choosing not to seek re-election to the Commons, where he served as an Opposition Spokesperson for Scotland and Northern Ireland, as well as a Senior Whip. McAvoy held the position of Lords Opposition Chief Whip from 2018 to 2021 after serving as Deputy Chief Whip from 2015 to 2018.

He was sworn of the Privy Council in 2003, appointed KBE in 2022, and created a life peer as Baron McAvoy, of Rutherglen in Lanarkshire, in 2010.   

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The King has filled vacancies in the Order of the Thistle

 His Majesty The King has been graciously pleased to appoint four new members to the Most Ancient & Most Noble Order of the Thistle:

His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh (on the occasion of his 60th birthday). The King's youngest brother is already a Knight of the Garter. In recent years the monarch has bestowed honours on Edward on the occasion of his birthday. The prince was bestowed with the Earldom of Forfar (in the Peerage of the United Kingdom), in 2017, and last year he was created Duke of Edinburgh, but in a break with tradition the peerage was awarded for his life only, and will not be inherited by his son, James. However, Edward’s subsidiary peerages will pass to James on the the Duke of Edinburgh’s death. 

Awarding honours to members of the royal family as birthday presents is an old tradition favoured by Queen Victoria and King George V. In 1928 the king gave the dukedom of Gloucester, Earldom of Ulster and Barony of Culloden to his third son, Prince Henry, on his 28th birthday.

Professor Baroness Black of Strome (born 7 May, 1961), is a Scottish forensic anthropologist, anatomist and academic. She was the Pro Vice-Chancellor for Engagement at Lancaster University and is past President of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. From 2003 to 2018 she was Professor of Anatomy and Forensic Anthropology at the University of Dundee. She is President of St John's College, Oxford.

Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws (born 12 May, 1950), Scottish barrister, broadcaster and Labour member of the Lords, a lifer.

Professor Sir Geoff (Godfrey Henry Oliver) Palmer, Kt (2014), OBE (2003) b in Jamaica 1940, m 1969 Margaret Ann Wood, and has a son and a daughter. He is a Professor Emeritus in the School of Life Sciences at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland, and a human rights activist.

Appointments to the Order of the Thistle are entirely in the personal gift of the Sovereign.

The Most  Ancient and Most  Noble Order of the Thistle represents the highest honour in Scotland. Revived by King James VII, the Order has a complement of 16 Knights (KT)

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Granddaughter for Earl Spencer: Athena Lewis

Lady Kitty Spencer, 33 year-old daughter of the Earl Spencer has revealed that she and her husband Michael Lewis, 64, are the parents of a baby daughter, Athena. The announcement appeared on Lady Kitty's Instagram account on Mother's Day.

Lady Kitty Eleanor Spencer [born 28 December, 1990], is the eldest daughter of the 9th Earl Spencer [born 20 May, 1964], of Althorp, Northamptonshire, and his first wife the former [Catherine] Victoria Lockwood [born 1964], and is a niece of Diana, Princess of Wales [1961-97]. Lady Kitty wed Michael Lewis at the Villa Aldobrandini, Rome, in June, 2021. 

Michael Lewis [born at Cape Town, South Africa, 27 Jan, 1959], is a son of Stanley Lewis [1933-2009].

The baby picured is, in my estimation, already three or four months old. Athena is the first grandchild for the 9th Earl Spencer and his former wife.

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The Baroness Moyola (died 2024)

 Baroness Moyola, who died 7 March, 2024, aged 94, was the widow of the late Baron Moyola, life peer, who as James Chichester-Clark served as prime minister of Northern Ireland.

She was Moyra Maud de Burgh Morris, daughter of Brigadier Arthur de Burgh Morris, CBE, DSO, of Carrigans, County Donegal. Her first husband, Captain Thomas Haughton from Cullybackey, was among 27 people killed in Northern Ireland's worst air disaster, the devastating plane crash at Nutts Corner, Northern Ireland, in 1953, in which she was one of only eight survivors. The Vickers Viking aircraft travelling from London struck a pole while landing at the Co Antrim airfield and lost control, crashing into a building. Moyra was pregnant at the time and was seriously injured, suffering a broken neck.

She married 2ndly, in 1959, the then Major James Dawson Chichester-Clark (born 12 Feb, 1923), whose family were seated at Moyola Park, County Londonderry, son of Capt James Lenox-Conyngham Chichester-Clark (1884-1933), and his wife the former Marion Caroline Dehra Chichester (1904-1976), scion of the Marquesses of Donegall. Her husband was Unionist MP for South Derry, and Prime Minister of Northern Ireland 1969-71. He was created Baron Moyola, of Castledawson in the County of Londonderry [U.K. Life Peer] on 20 July 1971, and died 17 May, 2002.

Lady Moyola leaves issue, a son from her first marriage, Michael Thomas Haughton (born 7 June, 1953), and two daughters from her second marriage, the Hon Fiona (born 28 Apr, 1960), and the Hon Tara (born 8 July, 1962).

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Tristram Roger Dymoke Powell 1940-2024

 Tristram Powell, who died 1 March, 2024, aged 83, was head of the landed gentry family of Powell of the Chantry, was a renowned TV director who flourished in the golden age of BBC arts coverage.

Tristram Roger Dymoke Powell was born 25 April, 1940, elder son of Anthony Dymoke Powell, CH, CBE (1905-2000), the writer, by his wife Lady Violet Georgiana Pakenham (1912-2002), daughter of the 5th Earl of Longford, KP, MVO.

He married 25 April, 1968, the artist Virginia Beatrice Lucas (born 1939), daughter of Archibald Julian Lucas (died 1946), by his wife the Hon Madelina Victoria Margaret Grenfell (1904-1982), daughter of Field Marshal the 1st Baron Grenfell, GCB, GCMG, PC (1841-1925), by whom he had issue, a son Archibald John Llewellyn Powell (born 1970), and a daughter, Georgia (born 18 Feb, 1969), wife of the 12th Duke of Beaufort (born  22 May, 1952).

Powell made films with Alan Bennett, Philip Roth and Michael Palin, secured a rare interview with Marcel Duchamp and was painted by Lucian Freud. He was a film, television and occasional stage director who became a great favourite with artists and writers during the heyday of BBC Television arts documentaries in the 1960s and 1970s. Moving on from such series as Omnibus and Arena, he collaborated with leading writers on television and radio dramas and demonstrated a gift for suspense, directing episodes of such series as Law and Order, Foyle’s War, Lynda La Plante’s Trial and Retribution, Judge John Deed and Kavanagh QC.

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Matthew Glyn Francis Hoare (born 2024)

 Hannah Venetia Yusuf-George, wife of Rollo Lupton Hoare [b 1987], scion of that landed family, gave birth to a son, Matthew Glyn Francis, 29 February, 2024, a brother for Michael Llyr George, who was born 25 August, 2021.

Rollo Hoare is a son of the late Michael Rollo Hoare [1944-2001], of Dogmersfield, Hampshire, by his former second wife the former Caroline J. Abele [Mrs Caroline Hoare, of Chelsea].

Hannah Yusuf-George is a daughter of Mr Evan George and Ms Denise Yusuf, of Streatham, London.

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Capt Ian Walter Farquhar, LVO 1945-2024

 Capt Ian Farquhar, LVO, of the Queen's Own Hussars, who died 6 March, 2024, aged 78, at his home on the King's Highgrove estate, was a great friend of the King and Queen and a scion of the Farquhar baronets.

Old Etonian Farquhar, a friend of the King and Queen for many years, and sometime equerry to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, was a renowned huntsman with the Beaufort Hunt, where he was master for 34 years, and served in the Queen's Own Hussars, a cavalry regiment. He rented a farmhouse on the King's country estate in Gloucestershire.

Walter Ian Farquhar was born 11 December, 1945, the third son of Sir Peter Walter Farquhar, 6th Baronet (1904-1986), and his wife the former Elizabeth Evelyn Hurt (who died 30 Oct, 1983); and he married 18 November, 1972, Pamela Jane (Pammie), daughter of Charles Chafer, a master of the Derwent Hunt, of Pickering, North Yorkshire, by whom he had issue, three daughters, Emma (born 1977), Victoria (born 1979), and Rosanne (known as Rose) (born 1983). The Prince of Wales briefly dates Rose Farquhar in 2000 after he had finished his A-levels at Eton.

'The Captain', as he was known, was appointed a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order for his time as equerry to the Queen Mother, a distant cousin.

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Lady Samuel (died 2024)

 Lady Samuel, who died 22 February, 2024, aged 79, was the second wife of Sir John Samuel, 5th Baronet.

The former Elizabeth Ann Curry was born c.1944, a daughter of Major R.G. Curry, and married 1stly, Gianfranco Molinari, of Rome, and married 2ndly, 2 March, 1982, Sir Jon Michael Glen (John) Samuel, 5th Baronet (born 25 January, 1944), son of Sir John Oliver Cecil Samuel, 5th Bt (1916-1962), and his wife the former Charlotte Mary Hoyt (1916-2006).

She leaves two daughters from her first marriage, Sara & Margot.

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Robin Neill Lochnell Malcolm, 19th of Poltalloch, Chief of the Clan Malcolm 1934-2024

Robin Neill Lochnell Malcolm, 19th of Poltalloch and Chief of the Clan Malcolm, who died 2 March, 2024, aged 90, was a second cousin of King Charles III. 

He was born 11 Februuary, 1934, the second but only surviving son of Colonel George Ian Malcolm, 18th of Poltalloch (1903-1976), and his first wife Enid Sybil Gaskell, and a grandson of Sir Ian Zachary Malcolm of Poltalloch, KCMG (1868-1944), who married 30 June, 1902, Jeanne Marie Langtry, MBE (who died 15 Feb, 1964, aged 82), officially the only daughter of Edward Langtry (1847-97), by his wife Emily Charlotte Le Breton (1853-1929) (the actress Lillie Langtry).

His grandmother, Jeanne Marie, was in fact the illegitimate daughter of Lillie Langtry and Prince Louis of Battenberg, GCB, GCVO, KCMG, PC, ADC (1854-1921), who in 1917, was created 1st Marquess of Milford Haven, and was the maternal grandfather of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (1921-2021), &c.

Robin Malcolm was educated at Eton, and served as a Second Lieutenant in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. He married 27 January, 1962, Susan Hillary Phillipa Freeman (1939-2004), younger daughter of Air Chief Marshal Sir Wilfred Rhodes Freeman, 1st Baronet, GCB, DSO, MC (1888-1953),and his second wife Elizabeth Richmond, MBE, by whom he had issue, two sons, Ian and Andrew, and two daughters, Kirsty and Josephine. The eldest son, Ian Rory (born 5 March, 1963), succeeds as 20th of Poltalloch, and hereditary Chief of the Clan Malcolm.

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Donald Cameron of Lochiel's life peerage gazetted

The life peerage conferred upon Donald Andrew John Cameron of Lochiel, 28th Chief of the Clan Cameron, has been gazetted in the name, style and title of Baron Cameron of Lochiel, of Achnacarry in the County of Inverness, 4 March, 2024.

Donald Cameron was appointed a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Scotland Office on 9 February 2024.

Lord Cameron of Lochiel graduated from the University of Oxford with a first class honours degree in Modern History. He qualified as an advocate in 2005 and was appointed Standing Junior Counsel to the Scottish Government from 2009 to 2016. He was elected a Member of the Scottish Parliament for the Highlands and Islands region from 2016 to 2024.

Lord Cameron (born 26 November, 1976), is the 28th Chief of the Clan Cameron, son of the late Donald Angus Cameron 27th of Lochiel (1946-2023), and his wife the former Lady Cecil Nennella Therese Kerr (born 22 April, 1948), daughter of the 12th Marquis of Lothian (1922-2004). He is married to Sarah Maclay, and is the father of five.

He took his seat in the House of Lords supported by Lord Cameron of Dillington and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton.

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Diana Baring (née Crawfurd) 1938-2024

 (Elizabeth) Diana Baring, who died 20 February, 2024, was the wife of Nicholas Baring, of the banking dynasty, scion of the Barons Revelstoke. She was a literary agent.

She was the former Elizabeth Diana Crawfurd, born in 1938, at Peshawar, daughter of Brigadier Charles Hamilton Payne Crawfurd (who died 1943), and his wife Hilda Rosabel Whidborne (1906-59), and married 28 October, 1972, Nicholas Hugo Baring (born 2 January, 1934), sometime managing director of Baring Brothers, son of Francis Anthony Baring (1909-1940), and his wife the Lady Rose Gwendolen Louisa McDonnell, DCVO (1909-1993), Woman of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth II, daughter of the 7th Earl of Antrim (1878-1932). Her husband was a second cousin of Diana, Princess of Wales.

Mrs Baring leaves issue, three sons, Francis (born 4 Sept, 1973), Tobias (born 10 Feb, 1976), and Edward (born 11 Apr, 1979).

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Clementina Ithaca Alice Clifford (born 2024)

 _.Laura Lucy Clifford (nee Hurst-Bannister, b 1983), wife of Christopher Rollo Clifford (born 28 November, 1982), scion of the Barons Clifford of Chudleigh, gave birth to a daughter, Clementina Ithaca Alice, 27 February, 2024, a sister for Leo Richard Hugh, who was b 5 December, 2013, and Hubert Rollo Barnabas Clifford, who was born 5 August, 2016.

Christopher, a scion of the Barons Clifford of Chudleigh, is a son of the Hon Rollo Hugh Clifford (born 15 March, 1954), and his first wife the former Fiona Margaret Palethorpe-Todd (daughter of the film star Richard Todd). He married in 2011, Laura Lucy Hurst-Bannister, daughter of Barnabas Hurst-Bannister (b 1952), and his wife the former Elizabeth Perks (born 1955),

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Martha Charlotte Marigold Morant (born 2024)

Lady Antonia Mary Catherine Morant (nee Peel, born 14 December, 1991), wife of Hubert George H.J. Morant (born 26 April, 1993), gave birth to a daughter, Martha Charlotte Marigold, 22 February, 2024.

Hubert, scion of the Morant landed gentry family, is a son of Simon Nicholas Gale Morant (born 19 June, 1943), of Buckland Marsh, Oxfordshire, and his wife the former Jacqueline Susan Rich. 

Lady Antonia is a daughter of the 3rd Earl Peel, GCVO, PC, DL [born 3 Oct, 1947], former Lord Chamberlain to Queen Elizabeth II, whose home is at Gunnerside, Swaledale, North Yorkshire, by his second wife the former Hon Charlotte Clementine Soames [born 17 July, 1954], scion of that landed gentry family, daughter of the life peer, the late Baron Soames, GCMG, GCVO, CH, CBE, PC (1920-87), and a granddaughter maternally of the Rt Hon Sir Winston Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, DL, FRS, RA [1874-1965].

Sir Winston and his wife Clementine had a daughter, Marigold, who died in infancy in 1921.

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Harry David Bowes Lyon (born 2024)

Dr Eleanor Bowes-Lyon [nee Harland], wife of Charles David Bowes-Lyon [born 1989], scion of the Earls of Strathmore & Kinghorne, gave birth to a son, Harry David, 3 March, 2024, a brother for Eva Rose, who was born 19 June, 2022.

Charles Bowes-Lyon is a son of David James Bowes-Lyon [born 21 July, 1947], of Heriot, Midlothian, by his wife the former Elizabeth Harriet Colville, CVO [born 3 December, 1952], scion of the Viscounts Colville of Culross, and is descended from the 13th Earl of Strathmore & Kinghorne [1824-1904], who was the paternal grandfather of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.

Charles's mother, Mrs David Bowes-Lyon, was appointed a Lady-in-waiting to HRH The Princess Royal in 1990. She is a goddaughter of HM Queen Elizabeth II, and daughter of the late Sir John [Jock] Colville [1915-87], Private Secretary to the then Princess Elizabeth 1947-49, and later private secretary to Sir Winston Churchill.

Dr Eleanor L. [Ellie] Bowes-Lyon is a daughter of Mr and Mrs David Harland, of Dundrum, Dublin.

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Son and heir for the Duke & Duchess of Roxburghe

 The Duchess of Roxburghe, wife of the 11th Duke of Roxburghe, of Floors Castle, Kelso, gave birth to a son and heir, Frederick Charles Ian Innes- Ker, 28 February, 2024.

The infant will take the courtesy title Marquis of Bowmont and Cessford.

The Duchess of Roxburghe is the Duke’s second wife and is the former Annabel Green, daughter of Ian Green. She married in September 2021, Charles Robert George Innes-Ker, 11th Duke of Roxburghe (born 18 February, 1981), owner of the magnificent Floors Castle, and a close friend of the Prince of Wales.

The 11th Duke is the elder son of racehorse owner Guy, the 10th Duke (1954-2019), and his first wife the Lady Jane Meriel Grosvenor (born  8 Feb, 1953), daughter of the late 5th Duke of Westminster. The 10th Duke of Roxburghe died of cancer, 29 Aug, 2019.

Army officer the 11th Duke of Roxburghe married firstly, 22 July, 2011 (div 2013) the Hon Charlotte Aitken (born 15 Feb, 1982), daughter of the Conservative politician the 3rd Baron Beaverbrook. The Duke is father of a daughter, Eugenie Isabella, born in 2016 to the fashion designer Morvaid Sahafi. 

Young Frederick is heir to some of Scotland’s senior peerages and the Premier baronetcy in the Nova Scotia creation. He is destined to be 12th Duke of Roxburghe (Peerage of Scotland cr 1707), 12th Marquis of Bowmont & Cessford (cr Scot 1707), 16th Earl of Roxburghe (cr Scot, 1616), 12th Earl of Kelso (Scot 1707), 7th Earl Innes (cr UK 1837), 12th Viscount Broxmouth (Scot, 1707), 16th Lord Roxburghe (cr Scot1600), 16th Lord Ker of Cessford & Cavertoun (Scot, cr 1616), 12th Lord Ker of Cessford & Overton (Scot 1707), and 13th Baronet (cr 1625).

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Pernille (Nille) Burges-Lumsden (nee Westergaard) (died 2024)

Pernille Marianne Burges-Lumsden died 24 February, 2024.

She was the former Pernille (Nille) Marianne Westergaard, 2nd daughter of Dr Benedict Westergaard, of Copenhagen; and married 3 October, 1964, Christopher Hugo Niall Burges-Lunsden of Pitcaple (born 1 June, 1937), of Pitcaple Castle, Inverurie, son of Capt Patrick Claud Burges, JP (1905-1984), late the Coldstream Guards, by his wife Margaret Burges-Lumsden (1905-1982), by whom she had issue, a son, James Benedict (born 6 July, 1966), and two daughters, Marina and Anna.

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Ingilby/Chitty engagement

 The engagement has been announced between Richard Joseph Frederick Ingilby (born 9 Dec, 1994), fourth son of Sir Thomas Colvin William Ingilby, 6th Baronet (born 17 Jul 1955), of Ripley Castle, near Harrogate, and Lady Ingilby (nee Emma Clare Roebuck Thompson), and Miss Laura Chitty.

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Boscawen/Selby-Green engagement

 The engagement was announced 2 March, 2024, between Benjamin Arthur John Boscawen (born 1997), scion of the Viscounts Falmouth, son of John Michael Arthur Boscawen (born 1969), of West Sussex, and his 1st wife Miranda Tracey Finlow (Mrs Miranda Boscawen, of Oxfordshire), & Katherine Selby-Green, daughter of Alan Gordon Selby-Green (born 1959), of Northamptonshire, and his wife, Caroline.

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The Baroness Henig, CBE, DL 1943-2024

 Baroness Henig, CBE, DL, who died 29 February, 2024, aged 80, was an academic historian and a Labour party politician.

Ruth Beatrice Henig, Baroness Henig (née Munzer) was born 10 November 1943. Her parents were Jewish refugees who came to the United Kingdom from the Netherlands in 1940. Henig was married in 1966 to fellow academic Stanley Henig, who shortly afterward became a Labour member of Parliament. They had two children and divorced in 1993. Their son, Simon Henig, is the former leader of the Durham County Council, former chair of the North East Combined Authority, and a lecturer in politics at Sunderland University. She remarried in 1994 to Jack Johnstone.

Henig was educated at Wyggeston Girls Grammar School in Leicester, and at Bedford College, London, where she graduated in 1965 with a B.A. in history. She was awarded a PhD in history from Lancaster University in 1978, where she was a lecturer in Modern European History.

Henig served as Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities from 1997 to 2000, and in April 2006, she was one of six people to receive the first Honorary Fellowships of Lancaster University.

She was appointed CBE in 2000, and on 8 June 2004 was raised to the peerage for life as Baroness Henig, of Lancaster in the County of Lancashire. She became a deputy speaker of the House of Lords in 2018.

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Gayle Patricia Creamer (nee Cochrane) 1941-2024

Gayle Patricia Creamer, who died 25 February, 2024, at Opelika, Alabama, aged 82, was a scion of the Earls of Dundonald, descended from the 10th Earl.

She was born Gayle Patricia Cochrane, 19 July, 1941, at Powell River, British Columbia, the elder daughter of Richard Ernest Horace Cochrane (1906-1985), and his wife the former Alma Josephine Helland.

She married in 1977, James Creamer, by whom she had a daughter, Anne.

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