was made a Companion of the order of the Bath in 1881 and knighted in 1893. He served as High Sheriff of Northumberland in 1896. It was announced that he would receive a baronetcy in the 1902 Coronation Honours list published on 26 June 1902 for the (subsequently postponed) coronation of King Edward VII, and on 24 July 1902 he was created a Baronet, of Ardmore and Ardardan Noble, in the parish of Cardross, in the county of Dumbarton. Personal life In 1854, while stationed with his regiment in Quebec, Noble married Margery Durham Campbell. They had four sons and two daughters. Margery lived to the age of 101. Noble's first and second sons George and Saxton became successively second and third baronets, while his third son John Noble, also involved with Armstrongs, was created a baronet in his own right in 1923. The latter's youngest son Michael Noble became a prominent Conservative politician and was created a life peer as Baron Glenkinglas in 1974. Noble's youngest daughter Ethel married Alfred Cochrane cricketer and poet who was Company Secretary at Armstrongs. Architectural patronage Noble and his sons used their wealth to commission a number of important houses from some of the foremost architects of the day. In 1871, he bought Jesmond Dene House, which was originally designed by John Dobson, and commissioned Norman Shaw and later local architect Frank West Rich to double the size of the house adding a west wing, billiard room, Gothic porch, Great Hall and a range of bedrooms. In 1894 he also built a real tennis court in the grounds of the house, one of only around 50 currently in use worldwide. Jesmond Dene House is now an hotel and restaurant. In 1905, Noble bought the Ardkinglas estate on Loch Fyne in Argyllshire, commissioning Sir Robert Lorimer to build a large new house, Lorimer's masterpiece, and later to restore Dunderave Castle on the other side of the loch. In 1910 his eldest son George commissioned Randall Wells to rebuild Besford Court, Worcestershire in a Tudor gothic style, the architect's masterpiece and the last great gothic English country house. In 1911 his second son Saxton commissioned Reginald Blomfield to build Wretham Hall, Norfolk in a William and Mary style. Following the near-collapse of Armstrongs in 1927 Wretham was demolished, and Saxton commissioned designs for a topiary garden representing the plan of a huge house for the