Jocelyn Hardwick (born 2024)

 Alexandra Anne Hardwick [nee Bromley-Martin], wife of Charles Cheever Hardwick IV, gave birth to a daughter, Jocelyn, 27 April, 2024, a sister for Charles Cheever Hardwick V,  who was born 17 August, 2021.

Alexandra is a scion of the Bromley-Martin landed gentry family, formerly of Ham Court, the elder daughter of Mr & Mrs Michael Bromley-Martin, of West Wittering.

Charles Hardwick IV is the only son of Charles Hardwick III, of Ramsbury, Wilts, and the late Mrs Hardwick.

The first Charles Cheever Hardwick [who died in 1923] was an importer (Burrs and Hardwick, of Fifth Avenue, New York), having survived the sinking of the Lusitania. He married Charlotte, daughter of Harry T. Ambrose, President of the American Book Co., who built a notable house, the 'Ambrose Mansion' in Orange, New Jersey. Charles Cheever Hardwick Jr was their second son.

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Viscount Melgund and Kirsty Ramshaw to marry

  The marriage is to to take place 22 June, 2024, at Ellingham Hall, Northumberland, between Gilbert Francis Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, styled Viscount Melgund (born 15 August, 1984), son and heir of the 7th Earl of Minto (born 1 Dec, 1953), of Minto, Hawick, Roxburghshire, and the Countess of Minto (nee Diana Barbara Trafford, born 1953); and Kirsty Ramshaw (born 1989), daughter of Paul Ramshaw, of Jarrow, Tyne & Wear, and his wife the former Karen Hayes.

Viscount Melgund is heir to the earldom of Minto (Peerage of the UK,  cr 1813), to the viscountcy of Melgund (Peerage of the UK cr 1813), the Barony of Minto (Peerage of GB cr 1797), and the baronetcy of Headshaw (cr Nova Scotia, 1700).

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Duke of Westminster and his bride-to-be in Chester

The Duke of Westminster has said he is ‘unbelievably excited’ about his upcoming wedding to Olivia Henson in the couple’s first-ever joint interview during a rare public appearance this week.

The Duke is one of Britain’s wealthiest men, with his calculated wealth of just over £9.7 billion putting him 13th on the 2022 Sunday Times Rich List. Once considered one of the country's most eligible bachelors, he is due to marry Olivia Henson at Chester Cathedral on 7 June, 2024. The King and Queen and the Prince and Princess of Wales have been invited to the wedding.

Despite their starry guest list, the couple are surprisingly low-key, and have released just one photograph of themselves together - until now. On 7 May, exactly one month before the nuptials are set to take place, the duke and his bride-to-be visited a number of charities in Chester to see the projects that his organisation, the Westminster Foundation, is funding.

It is expected that perhaps the duke's godson Prince George will be present at the nuptials. The young duke is a fourth cousin once removed of the King. They both have Romanov blood, the duke via his mother Natalia, and the King via the late Prince Philip's Romanov descent.

A spokesperson for the Duke and Miss Henson said: “The couple have chosen the cathedral for both its beauty and long association with the Grosvenor family, including to the Duke personally. Cheshire is the Grosvenor family’s ancestral home and as Miss Henson’s connection to the region continues to grow, they are keen to plan their wedding there.”

The duke's parents, the 6th Duke and Natalia Phillips married at Chester Cathedral, 7 October, 1978, and the Royal Family were there to celebrate the union of one of Britain's wealthiest men and Natalia, daughter of one of Queen Elizabeth II's great friends, the former Georgina Wernher. The duke's aunt, Lady Leonora Grosvenor, married the late 5th Earl of Lichfield at the cathedral, 8 March, 1975, and another aunt, Lady Jane Grosvenor married the 10th Duke of Roxburghe there, 10 September, 1977.

"The Duke and Miss Henson became engaged at Eaton Hall in April 2023, and have been incredibly grateful for the warm messages of congratulations they have received since then."

One of Britain’s wealthiest men, certainly our richest duke, 33,  is godfather to Prince George of Wales, and a close confidante of the Prince and Princess of Wales. He was born 29 January, 1991, the only son of the 6th duke (1951-2016).

Hugh Richard Louis Grosvenor, the 7th duke, inherited the Eaton Hall estate near Chester, and large land holdings in London, Lancashire, Scotland, and in Canada, on the death of his late father, who died suddenly on his Abbeystead estate in Lancashire,  9 August 2016. The Westminster fortune is estimated to stand at 9.46 billion. 

The duke’s mother, the former Natalia Ayesha Phillips (born 8 May 1959), descended from the Russia tsars and from Pushkin, is a granddaughter of Lady Zia Wernher, of Luton Hoo, a great friend of the late Queen Elizabeth II. It was at Luton Hoo where the late Queen and her consort spent many wedding anniversaries in the lifetime of Lady Zia, who died in 1977, and her husband Harold, who died in 1973.

The Duke was present at the Coronation of the King and Queen in May last year, and he carried a standard in the procession into Westminster Abbey. 

The duke has three sisters, Lady Tamara van Cutsem (born 20 Dec 1979), wife of another of the King’s godsons, Edward van Cutsem, and Lady Edwina Snow (born 4 Nov, 1981), a criminologist, wife of historian and broadcaster Dan Snow, and Lady Viola Roberts (born 9 Oct, 1992), wife of Dragoon Guards officer, Angus Roberts.

Their is no heir to the dukedom, and a son and heir would secure the peerage and the vast Grosvenor inheritance.

The dukedom of Westminster was the last dukedom to be given outside the confines of the royal family, and was created by Queen Victoria in 1874.

Miss Henson (born 1 Sept, 1992), is a senior account manager with Belazu, an ethical food company, in London. She is extremely well connected, with lines of descent from the Hoare banking dynasty, the Marquesses of Britsol, of Ickworth, Suffolk, and the Dukes of Rutland, of Belvoir Castle. She is the elder daughter of Mr Rupert Cornelius Brooke Henson (born 7 September, 1962), of Longworth, Oxfordshire, and his wife the former Caroline Belinda Frisby (born 17 August, 1963), scion of that landed gentry family, descended from the Hoare banking family and the Marquesses of Bristol. Olivia’s uncle, Charles Wolrige Gordon, is the Grand Master of Scottish freemasons, Scotland’s senior freemason. Olivia’s mother is the twin sister of Charles’s wife, Angela Clare Wolrige Gordon.

Olivia has a brother Jasper (born 1994), who announced his engagement last year to the Spanish aristocrat Isabel Rodriguez-Legorburu Cabrera Kabana, and a sister, Emilia (born 1997).

Olivia is a granddaughter paternally of Thomas John Brooke Henson, MC (1931-2024), and his first wife the former Jennifer Caswell Cornelius (born 1938), daughter of Leonard Raymond Cornelius (1907-88), and his wife the former Betty Kathleen Caswell (1916-2010). Her grandparents divorced and in 1983 Mrs Jennifer Henson married Robert Christopher Thoroton Hildyard (1912-86), scion of a Yorkshire landed gentry family, descended from the Foljambe Earls of Liverpool.

The Romanov link:-

Nicholas I, Tsar of Russia (1796-1855) > Grand Duke Michael of Russia (1832-1909) > Grand Duke Michael of Russia (1861-1929)  > Lady Zia Wernher (1892-1977)  > Georgina Wernher (1919-2011)  > Natalia Ayesha Phillips (b 1959), The 7th Duke of Westminster (b 1991)

Nicholas I, Tsar of Russia (1796-1855) > Grand Duke Constantine of Russia (1827-1892) > Grand Duchess Olga of Russia (1851-1926) > Prince Andrew of Greece (1882-1944) > Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (1921-2021) > King Charles III (b 1948)

Olivia is also descended from the Dukes of Rutland :-

The 5th Duke of Rutland > Lady Katherine Manners > Lord Augustus Henry Charles Hervey > Lady Geraldine Mariana Hervey > Angela Beryl Hoare > Simon Rollo Frisby > Caroline Belinda Frisby > Olivia Grace Henson

Olivia's descent from the Marquesses of Bristol-

Frederick, 2nd Marquess of Bristol > Lord Augustus Henry Charles Hervey >Lady Geraldine Hervey > Angela Beryl Hoare > Simon Frisby . Caroline Frisby > Olivia Grace Henson 

The Duke and Olivia are both 6x great grandchildren of the 5th Earl of Carlisle (making them 7th cousins) and 7x great grandchildren of the 4th Duke of Beaufort (making them 8th cousins).

Olivia is a great-great granddaughter of Henry Hoare (1866-1956), partner in the eponymous family concern -  Hoare's Bank, of Ellisfield Manor, Basingstoke, White Wings, Angmering, Sussex, and La Lucretola, Lago di Como, Italy. The Old Etonian died 29 July, 1956.

Olivia's descent from the Arbuthnot baronets:--

Sir William Arbuthnot, 1st Baronet (1766-1829) > John Alves Arbuthnot (1802-75) > William Arbuthnot (1833-96) > Alice Arbuthnot (b 1869) > Capt William Herbert Fox (1901-40) > Sara Fox (d 2018) > Caroline Frisby (b 1963) > Olivia Henson (b 1992)

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Prof Lionel Tarassenko, CBE, appointed a non-party political life peer

 The House of Lords Appointments Commission has today announced that Professor Lionel Tarassenko CBE FREng FMedSci, has been appointed as a non-party-political peer.

As well as being the founding President of Reuben College, Professor Tarassenko is also Pro-Vice Chancellor (without portfolio) at the University of Oxford, and Research Professor in the Department of Engineering Science (where he was the Head of Department from 2014 to 2019). He is a Fellow of both the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Academy of Medical Sciences and was appointed a CBE for services to Engineering in 2012.

Professor Tarassenko is internationally-recognised for being amongst the first to apply machine learning to real-world problems in the early 1990s. Most of his research since then has been concerned with the application of AI to safety-critical systems, working on jet engine health monitoring (with Rolls-Royce) and on patient monitoring and treatment in the NHS, to improve outcomes from intensive care to community settings.

Professor Tarassenko will join the crossbenches with other independent peers, who provide wide-ranging expertise to the House of Lords, enabling it to provide effective recommendations to policy being implemented by the elected members of the House of Commons.

The new peer married firstly in 1978 (div), the Lady Ann Mary Elizabeth Craven (born 9 Apr, 1959), daughter of the late 6th Earl of Craven (1917-65), and sister of the 7th Earl (1957-83), and 8th Earl (1961-90), by whom he has issue, two sons, Luke and Simon, and a daughter Naomi.

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Mary Evelyn (Molly) Lentaigne 1920-2024

Mary Evelyn (Mollie) Lentaigne, who died 29 April, 2024, aged 103, was a British medical artist and Red Cross Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse who worked at the Queen Victoria Hospital, England, during the Second World War. She is known for the drawings she made there of the surgical procedures of New Zealand plastic surgeon Archibald McIndoe who was working on injured servicemen. Around 300 of her drawings are held by the East Grinstead Museum where they form the Mollie Lentaigne Collection.

Mollie was born 6 May, 1920, the elder daughter of Lt. Col. Edward Charles Lentaigne, DSO (1884-1962), and Cecilia Mary Lentaigne (née Bunbury) in Simla, British India. Her brother, second lieutenant John Wilfred O'Neill Lentaigne MC of the Rifle Brigade, died in 1942 at El Alamein. In 1955, she married Timothy Ingram Lock, in Harare, then Salisbury, Rhodesia. They had four sons and two daughters.

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Daughter for 'Princess' Beatrice von Preussen and Edmund Jenner

 'Princess' Beatrice Victoria von Preussen (born 10 February, 1981), wife of Edmund Henry Jenner [born 30 September, 1984], gave birth to a daughter, Cecilie Rosetta Robin Preussen Jenner, 18 March, 2024.

Beatrice is descended from the Royal House of Prussia, a daughter of Prince Frederick Nicholas von Preussen [born 3 May, 1946], and his wife the Hon Victoria Lucinda Mancroft [born 7 March, 1952], daughter of the 2nd Baron Mancroft [1914-87], and his wife the former Diana Elizabeth Lloyd [who died 1999]. Beatrice is a niece of the Duchess of Wellington.

Edmund Jenner, scion of a brewing family, is the son of Miles Anthony Jenner [born 1952], and his wife the former Sally Abbott.

Princess Beatrice's sister, Princess Florence von Preussen [born 28 July, 1983], is wife of the Hon James Tollemache [born 28 Aug, 1980], the second son of the 5th Baron Tollemache [born 13 Dec, 1939]. Another sister, Princess Augusta [born 15 Dec 1986], is wife of Caspar Helmore [born 1987]. A brother, Prince Frederick, known as Fritzi [born 11 June, 1990], announced his engagement in 2021 to Mathilda Johnson [born 1989].

The infant's descent from Queen Victoria:-

Queen Victoria [1819-1901] > Victoria, Princess Royal [1840-1901] > Wilhelm II, German Emperor [1859-1941] > Wilhelm, Crown Prince of Germany [1882-1951] > Prince Friedrich of Prussia [1911-66] > Prince Frederick von Preussen [b 1946] > Princess Beatrice von Preussen [b 1981] > Cecilie Jenner (b 2024)

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The Baron Stunell, OBE, PC 1942-2024

 _. The Baron Stunell, OBE, PC, who died 29 April, 2024, aged 81, was a Liberal Democrat politician and life peer. As Robert Andrew Stunell, he was Lib Dem MP for Hazel Grove, 1997-2015.

From 2010 to 2012 he served as the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Communities and Local Government, the the Coatition Government of David Cameron.

He was sworn of the Privy Council in 2012, knighted in 2013, and raised to the peerage for life, in 2015, as Baron Stunell, of Hazel Grove in the County of Greater Manchester. 

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The Baroness Trefgarne 1946-2024

 The Baroness Trefgarne, who died 20 April, 2024, was the wife of the 2nd Baron Trefgarne, the Conservative politician and currently the longest serving member of the House of Lords.

She was Rosalie Lane, daughter of the Baron Lane of Horsell (1925-2009), life peer, a Tory party activist and Binder Hamlyn senior partner, who was one of the behind-the-scenes figures in the Conservative Party who marshalled its voluntary activities when Margaret Thatcher was at the height of her powers. He spent most of his professional life as an accountant with Binder Hamlyn.

She married 9 November, 1968, David Garro Trefgarne, 2nd Baron Trefgarne (born 31 March, 1941), son of the 1st Baron Trefgarne (1894-1960), and his wife the former Elizabeth Churchill (died 1987).

Her husband succeeded to the peerage (created in 1947), on his father's demise, 27 September, 1960, and he is currently the longest serving member of the House of Lords. He was elected to the upper house in 1999, almost 40 years after first taking his seat.

Lady Trefgarne leaves issue, two sons George and Justin and a daughter, Rebecca.

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Winifred Catherine Sylvia Bigley (born 2024)

 Emily Catherine Bigley [née Barham, born 1993], scion of that landed family, and wife of Max James Hilton Bigley [born 1992], gave birth to a daughter, Winifred Catherine Sylvia, 24 April, 2024, a sister for Percy William Oliver, who was born 14 February, 2022.

Emily is a daughter of daughter of Edward George Barham (born 1962), of Hole Park, Kent, by his wife the former Clare Catherine Turnbull (born 1966), a descendant of the 9th Earl of Stamford (1850-1910). 

Max Bigley is a son of Robert Hilton Bigley (born 1959), of Whixley, North Yorkshire, by his wife the former Deborah M.M. Nicholson (b 1962).

The 9th Earl of Stamford [1850-1910] > Lady Jane Grey > Oliver Turnbull > Clare Turnbull > Emily Barham > Percy Bigley [b 2022]

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Caldecott/Smith engagement

 The engagement was announced 30 April, 2024, between Thomas Andrew C. Caldecott (born 1989), a twin son of (Peter) Dominic Caldecott (born 1956), of Sudbury, Suffolk, and his wife the former Sarah Caroline Gordon Lennox (born 20 January, 1960), scion of the Dukes of Richmond & Gordon, & Maude Rosamond Gladstone Smith (born Apr 1986), the only daughter of Humphrey Richard Woollcombe Smith (born 12 December, 1944), of Oxton Hall, Tadcaster, by his wife the former Julia Carlotta Gladstone (born 16 January, 1956), scion of the Gladstones of Capenoch, Dumfries.

Thomas Caldecott is a great-grandson of the 9th Duke of Richmond & Gordon (1904-1989), and a great-great grandson of th writer Hilaire Belloc (1870-1953). He is a grandson of the diplomat Lord Nicholas Gordon Lennox, KCMG, KCVO (1931-2004), sometime British Ambassador to Spain, and his wife, Mary (nee Williamson), CVO (1934-2021), a Lady-in-Waiting to Princess Alexandra, the Hon Lady Ogilvy.

Maude Smith's father is head of the Tadcaster Samuel Smith brewing family. Her father descends maternally from the Woollcombe landed gentry family.

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Victoria Viola Maude 1968-2024

 Victoria Viola Maude, who died 29 March, 2024, aged 55, was a scion of the Maude landed gentry family; born 15 December, 1968, daughter of Christopher Michael Maude (1930-2002), and his wife the former Gillian Viola Aird (1930-2015), scion of the Aird and Baring baronets; and married 2002, Paul C. Walker, by whom she had issue, two sons, Harry Peter (born 2006), and James Christopher (born 2009), and a daughter, Poppy Viola Maude (born circa 2005).

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Paul Strang 1933-2024

 Paul Strang, who died 18 March, 2024, aged 90, was the illegitimate son of Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet (1879-1961), the maverick conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, whose absence loomed large over his life; a solicitor by profession, he floated around the classical music world as chairman of Trinity College of Music, co-founder of the Museum of Music History and champion of the Kathleen Ferrier prize...

Paul Strang was born in London, 26 March, 1933, the son of Dora Labbette, a soprano whom Beecham had mischievously presented at Covent Garden disguised as “the new Italian nightingale Lisa Perli” to demonstrate how far a foreign name would travel in England. He used the surname of her former husband, the printmaker David Strang.

Paul Strang married Jeanne Heslop in 1965. They lived in Hamilton Terrace, St John’s Wood, where their neighbours included the conductor Sir Charles Mackerras and the trumpeter Philip Jones. Jeanne died last year.

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Porter/Lacy engagement

 The engagement was announced 27 April, 2024, between Mark R.M. Porter, son of the late Anthony Porter, of Sussex, and Mrs Porter, and Diana Louise Lacy (born 1984), daughter of Richard Patrick James Lacy (born 1950), of Boxford, Suffolk, and his wife the former Penelope Anne Maffey (born 27 December, 1950), scion of the Barons Rugby.

The 1st Baron Rugby (1877-1969) > Hon Simon Maffey (1919-2004) > Penelope Maffey (b 1950) > Diana Lacy (b 1984)

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Paloma Goldsmith (born 2024)

 Jemima Goldsmith [nee Jones, born circa 1987], wife of Benjamin James [Ben] Goldsmith (born 1980), descended from the Marquesses of Londonderry, gave birth to a third daughter, Paloma, in April, 2024, a sister for Eliza [born 2016], Arlo [born 2017], and for Vita [born 2020], and Vincent [born in 2022], and a a half-sister for the late Iris [2004-2019], for Frankie [born 2005], and for Isaac [born 2008].

Ben is a son of the late Sir James Michael Goldsmith (1933-97), by his wife the former Lady Annabel Vane-Tempest-Stewart (b 13 June, 1934), scion of the Marquesses of Londonderry (Marquess, Ire, 1816), & Jemima is a daughter of Edward Jones, archirect, by his wife, Margot, and sister of film-maker Quentin Jones, &c.

Ben Goldsmith is a grandson maternally of the 8th Marquess of Londonderry. His first marriage which ended in divorce was to Kate Emma Rothschild, scion of the Barons Rothschild.

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Vincent/Corbett engagement

The engagement was announced 27 April, 2024, between Edward Mark William Vincent (born 6 March, 1978), son and heir of Sir William Percy Maxwell Vincent, 3rd Baronet (born 1 February, 1945), of Hambledon, Hampshire, and his wife the former Christine Margaret Walton (born 1945), & Rebecca Clare Corbett (born 1983), elder daughter of (Richard Arthur) Charles Corbett (born 3 Apr, 1956), of Cheriton, Hampshire, scion of that landed gentry family, by his wife the former Susan Elizabeth Obbard (born 22 September, 1956), scion of that landed gentry family.

It will be Edward Vincent's second marriage. He wed firstly, in 2010, Trina Lee Friesen, a Canadian, by whom he has issue, two sons and a daughter.

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Hon Lara Mei Sienna Stamp (born 2024)

 The Baroness Stamp (nee Teresa Margaret Tsakok, born 1986), wife of the 5th Baron Stamp (born 27 February, 1978), gae birth to a daughter, the Hon Lara Mei Sienna Stamp, 19 March, 2024, a sister for the Hon Leo Charles Xie Stamp, who was born 8 December, 2021.

Lord Stamp is the only son of the late 4th Baron Stamp [1935-2022], by his second and former wife, the former Carol Anne Russell.

Lady Stamp is the eldest daughter of Terence Tsakok and Dr Margaret Chung.

The 2nd Baron Stamp had one of the shortest tenures of a peerage. The 1st Baron Stamp [1880-1941] and his eldest son were killed in the same air raid on London, 16 April, 1941. On 10 Sept, 1941 the House of Lords, with the approval of King George VI, announced that where two persons have died in circumstances rendering it uncertain which of them survived the other, such details should be presumed to have occurred in order of seniority, and that Wilfred [b 1904], succeeded as 2nd Baron, if only briefly. Wilfred was succeeded by his brother, Trevor, 3rd Baron Stamp [1907-87], grandfather of the current peer.

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Virginia Mary Festing (nee Fyffe) 1942-2024

Virginia Mary Festing, who died 17 April, 2024, aged 81, was the wife of Andrew Festing, the portrait painter, and a scion (maternally) of the Moore-Gwyn landed gentry family.

She was born in Gloucestershire in 1942, daughter of Lieutenant-General Sir Richard Alan Fyffe, KBE, CB, DSO, MC (1912-1972), and his wife the former Diana Gwyneth Moore-Gwyn (1912-2002), scion of that landed gentry family, and married in 1968, Capt Andrew Thomas Festing (born 30 November, 1941), of The Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own), the portrait painter and sometime President of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, third son of Field Marshal Sir Francis Wogan Festing, GCB, KBE, DSO, DL (1902-1976), and his wife the former Mary Cecilia Riddell (1906-1992), scion of the Riddell baronets.

Virginia Festing is survived by her husband, and a daughter, Charlotte Diana (born 1974), wife of the Hon Robert Mungo Hepburne-Scott (born 1974), scion of the Lords Polwarth.

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Lady Studd, wife of Sir Edward Studd, 4th Baronet

 Lady Studd, who died 19 April, 2024, aged 92, was the wife of Sir Edward Studd, 4th Baronet.

She was born 6 April, 1932, as Prudence Janet Fyfe, daughter of Alastair Douglas Fyfe, OBE (1902-1974), and his wife the former Phyllis Mary Ingledew (1900-1979), and married 30 September, 1960, Edward Fairfa Studd (born 3 May, 1929), second son of Sir Eric Studd, 2nd Baronet (1887-1975), and his wife the former Kathleen Stephana Langmead (1895-1976), and was a younger brother of Capt Sir Robert Kynaston Studd, 2nd Baronet (1926-1977). Her husband succeeded his brother in the baronetcy, 27 May, 1977.

Lady Studd leaves issue, two sons Philip and Christopher, and a daughter, Alexandra.

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Zara Nina Nutting 1947-2024

 Zara Nina Nutting, who died 22 April, 2024, at Port Vendres, France, aged 77, was a scion of the Nutting baronets.

She was born 4 February, 1947, the only daughter of the Rt Hon Sir Harold Anthony Nutting, 3rd Baronet, PC (1920-1999), Conservative MP and government minister, by his 1st wife the former Gillian Leonora Strutt (1918-2007), scion of the Barons Rayleigh; and married 20 April, 1966 (div 1970), Martin Guy Stephenson, son of Augustus William Stephenson (1909-2000), descended from the Dukes of Norfolk, and his wife the former Mary Gloria Congreve (1917-1992), scion of the Congreve baronets, by whom she had an only child, a daughter, Katya Stephenson (born 14 January, 1967).

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