FABER / D’ARCY CLARK engagement
Richard R
Thomas (Tom) Henry A. b 1987 reg Q1 London s of Robin (Bobby) Henry Grey FABER b 1955 head of that gentry family of Ampfield House by his 14 May 1982 m (Times 17 May) as her 2nd h (her 1st was Rupert Watson and her 3rd was Antony Brassey a scion of (not descended from) the Brassey of Apethorpe barons) Emma C b c1954 reg Q1 Hants d of John David Bradshaw MILLER-STIRLING 1922-2010 by his 1950 m reg Q4 London to Lorna Margaret NAIRN 1926-89.
Alexandra Charlotte b 26 April 1988 (Times 29 April) d of Brian John Norman D’ARCY CLARK b Sept 1954 (gs of Rev James Shuttleworth HOLDEN 1843-1916 scion of that gentry family f/o Aston and Alice Louisa c1855-1923 d of Christopher COOKSON of Montagu Square, London by his 1845 m reg Q2 London to Julia Charlotte d of Charles Arthur Hill HEATON-ELLIS 1789-1865 sometime head of that gentry family f/o Wyddiall Hall and Louisa 1801-80 d of Sir Josias Henry STRACEY 4th Bt 1771-1855) by his 1987 m reg Q2 Glos. to Constance D. d of Michael VIRULY of Hong Kong.
S R Eglesfield
Mrs Emma Caroline BRASSEY, née MILLER-STIRLING, has one son by her first husband (married 1973, as his first wife), Rupert Michael Colvin WATSON (born 17 VI 1949). Mr Watson married for a second time in 1982, and was subsequently married in 1999 to (as her second husband) Lady Vanessa Petronel BROWN, née PELHAM (born 21 IX 1961), the youngest daughter of the 7th Earl of Yarborough.
Rupert Watson is the son of Col Michael Colvin WATSON OBE, MC, TD (30 IX 1918 - 28 VII 2004) and his wife (married 18 IV 1942), the Hon (Joan) Sybil BERRY (2 III 1919 - 24 XI 1988), a daughter of the 1st and last Baron Buckland. Col Watson's mother, née Cecilia GRIMSTON (3 III 1879 - 13 XII 1960), was a great-granddaughter of the 1st Earl of Verulam, and his paternal grandmother, née Evelyn Emma Amelia COLVIN (12 VII 1854 - 22 IX 1932), was a member of that landed gentry family, formerly of Monkhams Hall.
Antony Hugh Owen BRASSEY (born 5 I 1945) is, in fact, the fourth husband of Emma, née Miller-Stirling. Her third husband (married 1997, as his second wife - his first was a member of the Blackett-Ord landed gentry family) was Christopher William Batstone COOK (21 I 1951 - 10 VI 2021), the son of Cecil Batstone COOK (1906 - 23 VII 1965) and his wife (married 27 XII 1947, as her second husband - her first was a younger brother of the 3rd Baron Ashbourne), Penelope MAYALL, JP (29 I 1913 - c.2002/3?), of that landed gentry family, formerly of Mossley.
The Miller-Stirling family is descended in the female line from the Stirlings of Craigbernard/Craigbarnet. Sir John STIRLING of Craigbernard (died 1510) was married to Margaret ABERNETHY, eldest daughter of James ABERNETHY, 3rd Lord Saltoun (died 1505). Their eldest son was George STIRLING of Craigbernard, and their second son was William STIRLING, 1st of Glorat, who was the ancestor of the Stirling of Glorat baronets.
John STIRLING, 9th of Craigbernard (c.1627 - before 1700), was married in 1656 to Mary STIRLING (died 1719), daughter of Sir Mungo STIRLING, Kt of Glorat, and sister or step-sister of Sir George STIRLING, 1st Bt, of Glorat. Their son, Mungo STIRLING, 10th of Craigbernard (c.1659 - 7 I 1733), married his first cousin (or step-first cousin), Marjory STIRLING (c.1669 - 18 I 1733), a daughter of the aforementioned Sir George STIRLING, 1st Bt.
Craigbernard/Craigbarnet remained with the descendants of Mungo STIRLING, 10th of Craigbernard, until 1852. The property was then inherited by Maj Charles Campbell GRAHAM-STIRLING (3 I 1827 - 24 VII 1898), who was a great-great-grandson of Robert GRAHAM (died 1736) by his second wife (married 1688), Mary STIRLING (died 1759), a sister of the said Mungo Stirling (not his daughter, as some sources would have it - the correct position is made clear in a footnote on page 155 of the Scots Peerage, in the article on the Grahams, Earls of Menteith).
Maj Charles Campbell Graham-Stirling and his wife (married 2 XII 1856), Elizabeth Agnes NAPIER, elder daughter of Robert Dunmore NAPIER, 16th of Ballinkinrain (died 9 VII 1846), had an only child, Caroline Frances GRAHAM-STIRLING (22 X 1857 - 12 III 1946) who was married in 1883 to Cdr George Harry MILLER (30 VIII 1853 - 17 I 1924), who changed his surname to MILLER-STIRLING.
Cdr George MILLER-STIRLING and his wife had a daughter followed by three sons. Their two eldest sons were killed in action in the First World War, but their youngest son, Captain Arthur Eustace Stirling MILLER-STIRLING (15 VII 1895 - 19 VI 1971), survived to be married circa 1919 to Elizabeth Gordon CUMMING (9 I 1898 - 19 X 1989), by whom he had three sons, Harry Edward Cumming MILLER- STIRLING (died 21 V 1921, aged 5 months), John David Bradshaw MILLER-STIRLING (as per Richard's posting) and (George) Hubert MILLER-STIRLING (17 VIII 1924 - 13 XII 1996).
Elizabeth Gordon CUMMING was from a whisky distilling family. Her brother, Sir Ronald Stuart CUMMING (IV 1900 - 17 XI 1982), was Chairman of the Scotch Whisky Association in 1961, and Chairman of the Distillers Company Limited from 1963 to 1967.
Hubert MILLER-STIRLING was married in South Africa to Joan Isabella Mary ("Jane") EWEN (26 VIII 1928 - 16 X 2017), by whom he had three daughters:
- Susan Constance ("Susie") (28 I 1955 - 6 III 1980), the first wife (married 10 X 1975) of Robert Crofts Williams LLEWELLYN (born 19 XI 1952), who is now the heir presumptive to his first cousin, Sir Roderic Victor ("Roddy") LLEWELLYN, 5th Bt (born 9 X 1947);
- Georgina Elizabeth ("Georgie") (born 16 I 1957) who is married to Ian William GILL (born 23 III 1949);
- Diana Mary (born 7 X 1959), who was married in 1988 to Lord Charles Patrick Hugh FITZROY (born 7 I 1957), the younger son of the 11th Duke of Grafton.