COLERIDGE, Maj Rt Hon 5th Baron 1937-2025

[Richard R]

From the Telegraph of 27 Nov 2025: COLERIDGE Major William Duke, 5th Baron Coleridge, of Ottery St Mary, Devon. Born on 18th June 1937. Loving husband of Rosemary, and former husband to the late Judy and the late Pamela. Much loved father of Tania, James, Sophia, Vanessa and Katharine, and adoring grandfather to eight grandchildren. Brother of Samuel. Died peacefully in Devon on 19th November 2025. Funeral Service at St Mary's Church, Ottery St Mary on Thursday 11th December at 12 noon. No flowers please. Donations, if desired, to the Coldstream Guards by retiring collection, … c/o Luxton Funeral Service, Ottery St Mary…

He was s of 4^th Baron COLERIDGE 1905-84 and Celia Rosamund 1909-91 d of Adm Sir William Wordsworth FISHER GCB GCVO KCB CVO 1875-1937 and Cecilia 1886-1965 d of Francis Warre WARRE-CORNISH 1839-1916 scion of the CORNISH gentry family formerly of Thurlestone and Blanche 1848-1922 d of Hon William RITCHIE c1817-1862 (legal member of Gov-Gen’s Council, India) and Augusta Charlotte TRIMMER 1817-88 . He m 1^st 1962 (div 1977) Everild Tania Monica Beauchamp d 2003 d of Lt-Col Beauchamp HAMBOROUGH of Wispers Farm, Nairobi, Kenya and had a son and two daus. He m 2^nd 1977 Pamela 1947-2018 d of George William BAKER CBE VRD 1917-96 (Who’s Who) and Audrey Martha Elizabeth 1915- d of Harry DAY and Martha _ and had a further two daus, m 3rd 2020 DT 31.10 as her 3rd h RosemaryFrances Viscountess Exmouth b 1941 reg Q4 Essex (former w of 10th Viscount Exmouth and 14th Duke of St Albans) d of Francis Harold SCOONES 1915-2004 by his 1940 m reg Q4 Essex to Rose Frances CALLIS 1909-94. His son succeeds him.

JAMES DUKE Coleridge 6^th Baron COLERIDGE has yet to establish his claim, b 5 June 1967: m 2001 Jennifer Kim b 1967 reg Q4 Berks, [d of Stephen C NASH b 1947 reg Q3 Gosport by his 1965 m reg Q4 Berks to Margaret R PARSONS b 1946 reg Q2 Hants] and had two daus

DAUGHTERS LIVING

Hon Lauren Monica b 2002

Hon Tilly Tamzin b 2004

UNCLE LIVING

Hon SAMUEL JOHN TAYLOR Coleridge b 1942, heir presumptive: m 1973 Patricia Susan b March 1944 yr da of John Basil EDWARDS CBE 1909-96 (Who’s Who) of Cradley, nr Malvern, Worcs and Molly Patricia PHILIPS 1909-79, and has issue living, Jessica Alice Seymour, b 1974: m 2007 Simon David WILLIAMS and has issue (Beatrix Rose Coleridge b 2007), Clara Emily Taylor, b 1976: m 2005, Benjamin J. E. HEBBLETHWAITE and had issue (Stanley Frampton F. HEBBLETHWAITE b 2011 reg Q3 Lambeth).

[bx...@yahoo.com]

I'm trying to piece together the line of succession, beyond the 83 year old hp.  (I no longer have a DPB subscription.)

Next would be Syndercombe James Duke COLERIDGE (b. 1941), (son of Hon. Ronald COLERIDGE, son of the 3rd Baron), followed by his 2 sons, Robert James Duke (b. 1979) and Nicholas John (b. 1981).

Does anyone have any different/further information?

Thanks.

Brooke

[colinp]

Robert J D Coleridge has a son Henry J D Coleridge b 2019 (according to Debretts) though  the birth was regd Q3/2020.

Nicholas J Coleridge has a son Theodore P Coleridge b 2019 (according to Debretts) though  the birth was also regd Q3/2020

There are further scions in remainder

[bx...@yahoo.com]

Thank you, colinp, for this information.

The print DPB says both of them are married.  A further check of GRO confirms that the wives listed in DPB are indeed the mothers of these two boys, so they are now 3rd and 5th (behind their grandfather and fathers) in the line of succession.

Thanks again.

Brooke

[Tim]

Dear Brooke,

Based on a combination of the information given in DPB 2019 and in several posts in this forum by Richard R of 22 July this year, I put together the following very provisional line of succession to the Coleridge title when I had a bit of free time today (any corrections or other feedback are very welcome):

1. Hon. Samuel John Taylor Coleridge (b. 1942) - 2nd son of 4th Baron
2. Syndercombe (Sinbad) James Duke Coleridge (b. 1941) - son of Hon. (Ronald) James Duke Coleridge (1911-72), 3rd son of 3rd Baron
3. Robert James Duke Coleridge (b. 1979) - son of 2
4. Henry John D. Coleridge (b. 2019/2020) - son of 3
5. Nicholas John Coleridge (b. 1981) - son of 2
6. Theodore Percival Coleridge (b. 2019/2020) - son of 5
7. Dr John Duke Coleridge (b. 1940) - son of Peter Duke Coleridge (1905-58), 1st son of 1st son of 2nd son of 1st Baron
8. Peter John Coleridge (b. 1966) - son of 7
9. Samuel John Coleridge (b. 1997) - son of 8
10. Paul Muir Coleridge (b. 1999) - son of 8
11. Nicholas Antony Coleridge (b. 1955) - 2nd son of Antony Duke Coleridge (1915-2000), 1st son of 3rd son of 2nd son of 1st Baron
12. Matthew Oliver Duke Coleridge (b. 1984) - son of 11
13. Oliver James D. Coleridge (b. 2021) - son of 12
14. David George Coleridge (b. 1957) - brother of 11
15. Sir Paul James Duke Coleridge KC (b. 1949) - son of Major James Bernard Coleridge (1919-91), 2nd son of 3rd son of 2nd son of 1st Baron
16. William Paul Hugh Duke Coleridge (b. 1976) - son of 15
17. Thomas Anthony D. Coleridge (b. 2012) - son of 16
18. Edward James Coleridge (b. 1980) - son of 15
19. Harry Martyn J. Coleridge (b. 2015) - son of 18
20. Stephen John Coleridge (b. 1953) - son of Francis Stephen Coleridge DSC (1920-92), 3rd son of 3rd son of 2nd son of 1st Baron

Reposting because my initial reply had inadvertently overlooked Richard R's posts from 22 July. My apologies.

Tim

[bx...@yahoo.com]

Sorry, I meant to say 4th and 6th, behind the new baron's uncle, their grandfather and fathers:

1.  Hon. SAMUEL JOHN TAYLOR (b. 1942), hp, uncle of the present Baron

2. Syndercombe James Duke (b.. 1941), grandson of the 3rd Baron

3. Robert James Duke (b. 1979), elder son of #2

4. Henry J D (b. 2019), son of #3

5. Nicholas John (b. 1981), younger son of #2

6. Theodore P  (b. 2019), son of #5.

Brooke

[bx...@yahoo.com]

Thank you, Tim, for a really complete list!

Brooke

[Tim]

My pleasure, Brooke. 

Tim

[bx...@yahoo.com]

You're welcome, Tim.  

It's good to find out there are younger heirs to the title, as your lengthy list shows.

This is why this group is so awesome!

Brooke

[Richard R]

Obit in the Times of 12 Dec 2025

E X T R A C T

Major Lord Coleridge obituary: Coldstreamer and paratrooper leader

Buccaneering paratrooper and Coldstream officer who served in Aden and in the border areas of south Armagh in the Troubles, dies aged 88

Major Bill Coleridge, 5th Baron Coleridge, was the last-but-one surviving officer to have commanded the celebrated No 1 (Guards) Independent Parachute Company, and an exceptionally buccaneering one at that. Indeed many were surprised that he survived, literally and figuratively, for as long as he did.

… William Duke Coleridge was born at the ancestral home of Ottery St Mary in Devon in 1937, the elder of two sons of Richard, 4th Baron, a captain in the Royal Navy, and Rosamund, daughter of Admiral Sir William Fisher. As a four-year-old he watched the U-boat attacks on the convoy in which he was travelling with his father on posting to Washington.

The barony, to which Coleridge succeeded on the death of his father in 1984, was created for John Duke Coleridge, lord chief justice of England, in 1874. Though collateral descendants of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the family made little of the connection. The third baron dismayed a visiting academic to the library at Ottery by saying: “Old Sam was only a poet, you know, never did anything practical that was any good to anybody … why a young girl like you should spend your time on the old reprobate, I can’t think. Now I at least know something about beef cattle.”

…Coleridge married [1962] Everild Tania (Judy) Beauchamp Hambrough. The marriage was dissolved in 1977, and that year he married Pamela Baker, a nurse and explorer. She died in 2018 (obituary, August 28). Two years later, he married Rosemary Frances, Viscountess Exmouth. Rosemary, Lady Coleridge, survives him, along with the son and two daughters of his first marriage: James, a landscape gardener; Tania, a former actress and model; and Sophia, a health coach. Two daughters of his second marriage survive him also: Vanessa, who works for Soho House; and Kate, director of an African marketing firm…

… Two years after the Guards Parachute Company disbanded in 1975, Coleridge left the army and became an early convert from big game hunting to guiding camera safaris, especially for rich Arabs. Catering for their luxury needs, he had halal ice cream made in England, the first to be approved. For a time he worked for Kroll, the US financial and risk management company, in the Middle East and then their London office, making enough money to try to restore and save the family home in Ottery, though ultimately unsuccessfully [The Chanter’s House was sold in 2006, moving to The Manor House in the village].

Major the Lord Coleridge, Coldstreamer and paratrooper, was born on June 18, 1937. He died of complications after a fall on November 19, 2025, aged 88

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/major-lord-coleridge-obituary-coldstreamer-and-paratrooper-leader-jpnqkgtb9