Two New Members of the Order of the Garter

[LoopyCrown3]

Today Her Majesty the Queen has appointed two new members of the The Most Noble Order of the Garter (KG/LG) they are as follows:

Dame Mary Elizabeth Peters CH DBE 

The Most Hon The Marquess of Salisbury KCVO PC DL

[BREMENMURRAY]

Unusual to make this announcement in February

[richard hill]

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are meeting Dame Mary Peters in Belfast this evening, what a coincidence...

[malcolm davies]

I agree that it is a surprise that these appointments were announced now rather than on St Georges day-but then recent appointments to the Thistle have departed from being announced on St Andrews day and were instead announced in the New Year honours.

The new appointments come from categories of persons from whom previous garter knights have been named-Lord Lieutenants(present member who are or have been Lord Lieutenants are Sir Timothy Colman,Lord Morris of Aberavon,Sit Thomas Dunne,Lord Shuttleworth,Sir David Brewer and Lady Mary Fagan) and Leaders of the House of Lords(previous garter appointments who were leaders of the House of Lords in the 20th century included Lord Carrington,Lord Hailsham,the 5th Marquess of Salisbury,Viscount Addison,the 7th Earl Stanhope,the 1st Earl of Halifax,the 7th Marquess of Londonderry,the 4th Marquess of Salisbury,the 1st Marquess Curzon,the 1st Marquess of Crewe,the 1st Marquess of Ripon,the 5th Marquess of Lansdowne,the 8th Duke of Devonshire and the 3rd Marquess of Salisbury).

Lord Salisbury is the 9th member of his family to be so honoured(the 1st,2nd & 3rd Earls,and all Marquesses except the 6th).That is only equalled or exceeded by the Howard Dukes of Norfolk(9) and the Cavendish Dukes of Devonshire(11).

The appointments are replacements for Sir Ninian Stephen(d2017) and Sir William Gladstone(d 29 March 2018).No replacement has yet been appointed for Lord Carrington whose death was on 9 July 2018.

[LoopyCrown3]

Viscount Brookeborough KG is the current Lord Lieutenant of Fermanagh

[ThomasFoolery]

Is it safe to assume that Gordon Brown, and especially Tony Blair have been offered and declined the Garter/Thistle at this juncture?

[malcolm davies]

Not necessarily-Ted Heath was not given the order until 18 years after he ceased to be PM.However,I would think that Blair's commercial activities and his stand on Brexit would discourage his being appointed for the time being.The point is that appointees need to be effectively retired from controversy,the appointment celebrating their service to the country.

Thanks for the correction on Lord Brookeborough which I overlooked.

On Thursday, February 28, 2019 at 1:18:48 AM UTC+11, LoopyCrown3 wrote:

[Olivier]

Did someone have the ancestors of Dame Mary Elizabeth Peters CH DBE ?

Regards,

Olivier

[colinp]

I’m surprised the Duke of Norfolk hasn’t been made KG by now...

[malcolm davies]

Colin,

         The same could be said of the Marquess of Salisbury,who is 72.

  The fact is that persons being appointed are older than they used to be and it is rare for anyone less than 65 to be appointed.Appointees are usually in their late 60's or in their 70's.There have been some appointments where the appointee was over 80.So I wouldn't say that the Duke of Norfolk has lost the chance of being appointed.

  Another matter to be noted is the return of hereditary peers as appointments.In the case of the Garter,no hereditary peer was appointed between 2003(Duke of Westminster) and 2018(Viscount Brookeborough).Its a similar story at the Thistle-no hereditary peers between 1996(Earl of Crawford) and 2014(Earl of Home) with the Duke of Buccleuch being appointed in 2019.Buccleuch's age on appointment was 64.That compared with his father(55),his grandfather(54) and his great grandfather(53).

[colinp]

Thanks Malcolm.  That's useful information.

[G. Willis]

The International Who's Who of Women 2002 gives her parents as Arthur Henry Peters and Hilda Mary (née Ellison). There is a 1935 marriage record for individuals so named at Liverpool South, and numerous possibilities for births and deaths which make it difficult for me to identify them.

[G. Willis]

According to this- https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/history/golden-gallery-dame-mary-peters-9392488 - her father subsequently lived in America and Australia. According to this Telegraph article (Premium content; the cached version is viewable)- https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Z_l0wLylyKUJ:https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/fame-fortune/dame-mary-peters-sucked-oxo-cubes-bought-bus-fare/+&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk - her father was employed (before his marriage) by his own father, a builder, as well as worked as a golf caddy, before becoming an insurance salesman after his marriage. He was also a leading violinist in the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.

[ThomasFoolery]

Malcolm, the 5th Lord Shuttleworth was appointed in 2016, but still an excellent point.

[Guru]

Did Sir David Attenborough miss out again?

I thought he was in line for the Garter especially with his recent work with Price William.

[malcolm davies]

Guru,
Sir David Attenborough has the OM,CH, and a CVO as well as his knighthood,so there is probably the feeling that he has been sufficiently honoured already.It is unusual for those who have the OM to be made a KG.

[Nick Kane]

Sir David is also a CBE.