THE BARONETS NEWSLETTER - No. 2/2012 (Summer)

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1 THE BARONETS NEWSLETTER - No. 2/2012 (Summer) Editor & Secretary: Commander Perry Abbott OBE Royal Navy Forestside, Martin s Corner, Hambledon, Waterlooville, Hampshire, PO7 4RA. Tel/Fax: secretary@baronetage.org SCB Website: - Editorial The password system for access to the Members Area of the SCB website is changing. Please note the guidance below. Also please amend diary entries in respect of changed dates of future events. In response to queries over the correct convention for signatures and styles of address for Baronets, the Executive Committee has sponsored a short note on page 4. Please read it and pass, through me, any comments you may have. General Meeting 2012 Twenty two members attended the General Meeting on 23 rd May at the Tallow Chandlers Hall; a further 24 sent their apologies. The agenda included, inter alia, the presentation of the 2011 accounts, the reappointment of the auditors, the appointment of a Deputy Chairman, retirements and election of members to the Executive Committee, an update on the Baronets Trust and discussion on ways of reducing the number of Dormant Baronetcies and the need to increase SCB membership. Executive Committee At the General Meeting, Sir David Roche Bt was unanimously elected as Deputy Chairman. following members retired from the Committee, in accordance with the Rules: Sir Peter Redwood Sir Nicholas Thompson Sir George White The following members were elected to the Committee: Sir David Renshaw Sir James Scott Sir Henry Paston-Bedingfeld The Executive Committee is next due to meet at am on Wednesday 31st October at The Sloane Club. Please note change of date. SCB Website Password As I indicated in the last newsletter, the password system for access to the Members Area of the SCB Website is to be changed. The intention is to make this area more secure and ensure that only current SCB Members can gain access. From 1 st October onwards, anyone wishing to access the Members Area will first have to register by completing the registration form on the website (under tab New Registration ). You will be required to enter a Username (of your choice), your address, a password and your name. As Webmaster, I will then approve the registration for Login from 1 st October. [You will be able to change your password, and if you forget, there will be a link which will allocate you a temporary password.] Please register as soon as possible, but thereafter continue to use the current Login method and password up to and including 30 th September. The 1

2 2011 Official Roll of the Baronets All members should by now have received a copy of the 2011 Official Roll. If you have not received your copy, please let me know. Baronets and Heirs in the News Congratulations to Sir Malcolm Macgregor of Macgregor Bt who has been appointed Convenor of the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs. Also our best wishes to Lawrence Clarke, heir to the baronetcy of Clarke of Dunham Lodge, on being selected for Team GB to run in the 110m Olympic hurdles. Marriages In October last year, Sir Richard FitzHerbert, 9 th Baronet of Tissington, was married to Mrs Fiona Attenborough. Our congratulations and very best wishes to them both. Baronets Cufflinks The Executive Committee has been considering the commissioning of Baronets Cufflinks as shown above. The cufflinks would be manufactured in Hallmark Silver Gilt and would be available for a pair (including VAT, and delivery to a UK address). An initial order of 50 sets is required before an order can be placed. The SCB is unable to hold a stock of such cufflinks owing to the overall cost involved. Please let me know if you are interested in obtaining a pair of these cufflinks and, if 50 or more join in, I shall be pleased to arrange a special purchase. Baronets Badges Orders have now been placed with Messrs Cleave & Co Ltd for Badges at a discounted price. Unfortunately the only serviceable dies they now have are for UK and Irish Badges. If you are interested in purchasing either a UK or Irish Badge, please let me know. Anniversary Baronets Slippers Please contact me to order a pair of slippers, preferably by , and I will place your order with the suppliers. The cost per pair is (including VAT and delivery to a UK address) for Baronets who are SCB members, their wives and Heirs Apparent. Payment should be made by cheque, in favour of the SCB, at the time of ordering. Further details and a photograph can be seen on our website. 2

3 Baronets Cricket Match The Annual Cricket match against the Houses of Lords and Commons was called off the day before by the opposition team captain. He claimed he had difficulty getting a side together. It is thought by some of the baronets that he had had a look at the formidable baronets team, skippered by Anthony Weldon, and decided a defeat was staring them in their faces!! [Chairman, June 28 th ] Quarterly Lunch The next informal lunch will be held at The Sloane Club (Lower Sloane Street, Chelsea, London, SW1W 8BS close to Sloane Square Underground Station) on Wednesday 31 st October (1230 for 1300). Those intending to attend are requested to notify me by noon on the previous Friday. Once again, the Club have asked me to settle the account for all those attending, so I would be most grateful if you would bring your cheque books or cash, please. The cost per person for the pre-lunch drinks, the two-course lunch, with wine and coffee afterwards will be 40. Diary Dates 2012 Informal Lunch, Boisdale 10th July Executive Committee Meeting 31st October Quarterly Lunch 31st October, Sloane Club Annual Reception & Dinner 14 th November, Brooks s Christmas lunch - Cavalry & Guards Club - 5th December Letters Patent Container Would any member who has an original Letters Patent container, dating from around the middle of the 17th Century, please contact me? I have had a request for a photograph of one. Newsletters by ? Around 230 members have now signed up for receiving newsletters, etc by . Please let me know if you are prepared to be added to the electronic delivery list. Any help to reduce our postage bill of over 400 a year would be most welcome! ****************************************** Standing Council of the Baronetage President: Vacant, Vice-Presidents: Sir Brian Barttelot Bt OBE DL, Sir Nicholas Bonsor Bt DL, Sir Tobias Clarke Bt, Sir Geoffrey Errington Bt OBE Chairman of the SCB & of the Executive Committee Sir Ian Lowson Bt Ost J Deputy Chairman Sir David Roche Bt Honorary Treasurer Sir Aubrey Brocklebank Bt Members of the Executive Committee Lord Birdwood Sir Richard Butler Bt Sir Richard Rowley Bt Sir Simon Watson Bt Sir James Vernon Bt Sir David Renshaw Bt Sir James Scott Bt Sir Henry Paston-Bedingfeld Bt 3

4 President Sir Ranulph Fiennes Bt OBE Chairman Sir Brian Barttelot Bt OBE DL The Baronets Trust Trustees Sir Michael Bunbury Bt KCVO Sir James Pickthorn Bt Sir James Scott Bt (SCB/BT Liaison Member) Recent Changes to the Official Roll of the Baronetage Successions Sir Alistair Brooke, 4 th Baronet of Almondbury Sir John Cave-Browne-Cave, 17 th Baronet of Stanford Sir Sloan Crossley, 6 th Baronet of Glenfield Sir Hugh Crossley, 5 th Baronet of Belle Vue and Somerleyton and 4 th Baron Somerleyton Sir Matthew Ridley, 9 th Baronet of Blagdon, 5 th Viscount Ridley Sir William Robertson, 4th Baronet of Welbourn, 3rd Baron Robertson of Oakridge Deaths Sir Savile Crossley, 4 th Baronet of Belle Vue and Somerleyton and 3 rd Baron Somerleyton Sir Francis Napier, 11 th Baronet of Thirlstane, 14 th Baron Napier and 5 th Baron Ettrick Sir John Wakeley, 2 nd Baronet of Liss Sir Matthew Ridley, 8 th Baronet of Blagdon, 4 th Viscount Ridley Sir (Lovelace) Anthony Stamer, 5th Baronet of the City of Dublin ****************************************** Signatures and styles in holograph There was a day when a signature on a letter, or more particularly in a visitors book, gave the rank of the person signing without having to print a name underneath, the way it is done in business letters. So much of correct form is convention and so often conventions change or fall out of use. The signature in the visitors book that will be most appreciated by a hostess is John Smith Bt. Sir and Bart should never be used in holograph. There are three levels of formality for a baronet's signature: to friends: John, to those business acquaintances who know who he is: John Smith and for signing a visitor's book or something very formal: John Smith Bt. Lady Smith signs herself as Mary Smith, as does the wife of Lord Smith. Wives of baronets are all Dames, the female version of Sir. This is really only used in legal documents. Sir John Smith may wish to leave something to his wife. So he should specify Dame Mary Smith. As baronets' wives do not have the use of a Christian name, Lady Smith could be his mother or any of his wives. Lady Mary Smith, a regular corruption, should only indicate that this Mary is a lady in her own right and the daughter of an Earl or above. Curiously, to be Lord John Smith, he has to be the son of a Marquess or above. His wife is styled Lady John Smith. The most commonly seen version of this anomaly is Princess Michael of Kent. To get round this and still remain a bit correct it is practice for Lady Smith to be on a list as Lady (Mary) Smith and not Mary, Lady Smith. This formally means that this lady is divorced or perhaps a second wife and a widow. The Dowager Lady Smith is a title limited to the widowed mother of the next baronet. It is a title a bit like the Queen Mother. If this happens to be the second wife then so be it. This privilege is often turned down in practice and widows are inclined to decide for themselves how they would like to be styled. But they remain Dames unless they remarry. 4

5 The tendency to list 'Sir John Smith Bt & Lady Smith' is to be deplored. This displays a modern position of devaluing a hereditary title, which in fact is senior to one granted only for life. It is therefore with noblesse oblige that the listing should be 'Sir John and Lady Smith' And finally...tailpiece For all who drink.. From the state of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where drinking and driving is considered a sport, comes a true story. A routine police patrol was parked outside a local neighbourhood bar. Late in the evening the officer noticed a man leaving the bar so intoxicated he could barely walk. The man stumbled around the car park for a few minutes with the officer quietly observing. After what seemed an eternity and trying his keys on five different vehicles, the man managed to find his own car, which he fell into. He was there for a few minutes as a number of other patrons left the bar and drove off. Finally he started the car, switched the wipers on and off (it was a dry night), flicked the hazard flasher, tooted the horn and then switched on the lights. He moved the vehicle forward a few inches, reversed a little and remained stationary for a few more minutes as more patrons left in their vehicles. At last, he pulled out of the parking lot and started driving slowly down the street. The police officer, having patiently waited all this time, now started up his patrol car, promptly put on the flashing lights. He pulled the man over and carried out a breathalyzer test. To his amazement, the breathalyzer indicated no evidence of the man having consumed alcohol at all. Dumbfounded, the officer said, "I'll have to ask you to accompany me to the police station, apparently this equipment is broken." "I doubt it," said the man, "Tonight, I'm the designated decoy. 5