Rouben Ter-Arutunian(Ռուբէն Տէր-Յարութիւնեան) (July 24, 1920 – October 17, 1992) was an American-Armenian costume and scenic designer for dance, opera, theater and television.

Biography
Born in Tiflis (now Tbilisi), Georgia, he attended the Reimann Art School (Berlin) from 1939 to 1941, studied film music at the Hochschule fur Musik (Berlin) and took courses at the Friedrich-Wilhelm University (Berlin), 1941–43, and at the University of Vienna, 1943-44.

He first designed costumes for dancers of the Berlin Staatsoper in 1940, going on to design for the Dresden Opera and the Vienna State Opera. He moved to New York in 1951, which started his twenty-five year association with George Balanchine and New York City Ballet. In 1964 he designed the sets for the New York City Ballet production of The Nutcracker. He worked with the New York City Opera company, Hamburg State Opera, La Scala in Milan, the Opera-Comique in Paris and the Spoleto Festival in Italy.

He designed either costumes or sets, sometimes both, for 24 Broadway productions. His first production on Broadway was Measure for Measure in 1957, and his last was Goodbye Fidel in 1980.

Awards and legacy
He won the 1959 Tony Award for Best Costume Design for the musical Redhead, and was nominated for the Tony Award three times for Scenic Design and one other Tony for Costume Design.

The Rouben Ter-Arutunian Design Portfolios and the Rouben Ter-Arutunian Papers are held by the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

Broadway work (selected)
 Measure for Measure (1957)
 Redhead (1959) — Tony Award for Best Costume Design
Advise and Consent  (1961) — Tony Award Best Scenic Design (Dramatic) (nominee)
A Passage to India (1962) — Tony Award Best Scenic Design (nominee)
The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (1964) — Tony Award Best Costume Design (nominee)
Goodtime Charley (1975) — Tony Award Best Scenic Design (nominee)
 Goodbye Fidel (1980)

References

External links

Biography at filmreference.com
Internet Off-Broadway Database listing

Ballet designers
1920 births
1992 deaths
Artists from Tbilisi
Soviet emigrants to the United States
Rouben Ter-Arutunian
Reimann School (Berlin) alumni
Soviet expatriates in Germany

Rouben Ter-Arutunian


The Henry B. and Caroline Clarke/Bishop Louis Henry and Margaret Ford House or Clarke-Ford House is a Greek Revival style home, now serving as a house museum in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Built around 1836, it is considered the oldest existing house built in Chicago. Henry Brown Clarke was a native of New York State who had come to Chicago in 1833 with his wife, Caroline Palmer Clarke, and his family. He was in the hardware business with William Jones and Byram King, establishing King, Jones and Company, and provided building materials to the growing Chicago populace. The house was built by a local contractor, probably John Rye, who later married the Clarkes' housemaid, Betsy.

Originally built on a large lot near Michigan Avenue and 17th Street, it has been moved twice, most recently in 1977 to Indiana Avenue and 18th Street, near to its original location.  In the mid-20th century, it was cared for by a church and its leader Bishop Ford, who spurred its preservation as the city's oldest home. Its current location in a park and gardens is part of the Prairie Avenue Historic District in the Near South Side community area.

Oldest surviving house in Chicago
Clarke-Ford House may have been modeled on the home of William B. Ogden. The Clarke-Ford house is often described as the oldest surviving house in Chicago, although part of the Noble-Seymour-Crippen House in the Norwood Park neighborhood was built in 1833. (However, Norwood Park was not annexed to Chicago until 1893.) The Clarke-Ford House was designated a Chicago Landmark on October 14, 1970.  It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 6, 1971.

Originally built on  of land near Michigan Avenue between 16th and 17th Streets, it is currently located at 1827 S. Indiana, near its original location.  Clarke's decision to build south of the River made him the first wealthy Chicagoan to build there. Clarke suffered severe financial setbacks during the Panic of 1837 and used the surrounding land for farming and hunting. This setback resulted in a delay in the completion of the south rooms of his house.

Widow Clarke's House
Clarke died in 1849 after being stricken with cholera. Caroline Palmer Clarke lived until 1860 and it was during this time that the house was known as the "Widow Clarke's  House". After her husband's death, Caroline Clarke established "Clarke's addition to Chicago" by selling all but  of the original land that went with the house.  She used this money to support her family and renovate her house, adding an elaborate back portico with Doric columns, much like the original portico facing the lake.  The new porch faced the newly gaslit Michigan Avenue.  At the same time, she added an Italianate cupola and decorated her dining room and front parlor, which remained unfinished from the time of the family's financial setbacks.

In 1871 John Chrimes, a prominent Chicago tailor, purchased the house and moved it farther south to 45th Street and Wabash Avenue into what was then the township of Hyde Park.  When the house was being moved, a packet of papers was discovered that Clarke had apparently buried when building the house.  The packet contained a memorial to President Martin van Buren recommending Henry Clarke for a job, tax receipts, newspapers of the day, and a statement in Henry Clarke's handwriting, stating, "I, Henry B. Clarke, am an ardent Democrat." In the 20th century, the building came into the hands of the St. Paul Church of God in Christ.  As the parsonage and community hall of this church, the Clarke House was the working home of Bishop Louis Henry Ford, the man for whom the Bishop Ford Freeway would later be named.  Ford did much to preserve and repair the structure, and worked to bring its history to the attention of the city.

Another move
In 1977, the City of Chicago purchased the house and moved it to its current location, a project that included lifting the entire building over the L tracks on the Englewood-Jackson Park line.  It was a cold December night and the hydraulic equipment responsible for supporting the house froze.  For two weeks, the house sat adjacent to the El tracks until it could be moved to its current home at 1827 S. Indiana.

Renaming
After an increase in public interest in the history of the preservation of the house, the St. Paul Church of God in Christ began to generate support for renaming it to honor Bishop Louis Henry Ford. This effort was led by Pastor Kevin Anthony Ford, Bishop Ford's grandson and pastor of the church. The Chicago City Council approved the renaming of the House from the Henry B. Clarke House to the Henry B. and Caroline Clarke/Bishop Louis Henry and Margaret Ford House on November 18, 2022  to recognize the role of Bishop Louis Henry and Margaret Ford in preserving the house.

Clarke-Ford House Museum

The Clarke-Ford House Museum is operated as a historic house museum by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, in partnership with The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in the State of Illinois, which provides the period furnishings.

References

External links

Clarke-Ford House Museum

Historic house museums in Illinois
Houses completed in 1836
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Chicago
Chicago Landmarks
Museums in Chicago
Tourist attractions in Chicago
National Society of the Colonial Dames of America
1836 establishments in Illinois

Henry B. Clarke House


Peerages in the United Kingdom form a legal system comprising both hereditary and lifetime titles, composed of various ranks, and within the framework of the Constitution of the United Kingdom form a constituent part of the legislative process and the British honours system. The term peerage can be used both collectively to refer to the entire body of titled nobility (or a subdivision thereof), and individually to refer to a specific title (modern English language-style using an initial capital in the latter case but not the former). British peerage title holders are termed peers of the Realm.

The peerage's fundamental roles are ones of law making and governance, with peers being eligible (although formerly entitled) to a seat in the House of Lords and having eligibility to serve in a ministerial role in the government if invited to do so by the Prime Minister.

Until the creation of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom in 2009, the peerage also formed a constituent part of the British judicial system, via the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords.

The peerage has a role as a system of honour or award, with the granting of a peerage title forming the highest rung of the modern British honours system.

In the UK, five peerages or peerage divisions co-exist, namely:
 The Peerage of England – titles created by the kings and queens of England before the Acts of Union in 1707.
 The Peerage of Scotland – titles created by the kings and queens of Scotland before 1707.
 The Peerage of Great Britain – titles created for the Kingdom of Great Britain between 1707 and 1801.
 The Peerage of Ireland – titles created for the Kingdom of Ireland before the Acts of Union in 1801, and some titles created later.
 The Peerage of the United Kingdom – most titles created since 1801 to the present.

Background

Peerages are created by the British monarch, like all Crown honours, being affirmed by letters patent affixed with the Great Seal of the Realm. His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom makes recommendations to the Sovereign concerning who should be elevated to the peerage, after external vetting by the House of Lords Appointments Commission for those peers who will be sitting in the House of Lords (which is now by convention almost all new creations, with the exception of Royal peerages).

While for the majority of its history, hereditary peerages were the norm, under present custom, the only new hereditary peerages granted are to members of the royal family; the last non-royal awardees of hereditary titles were in the Thatcher era. Since then, ruling parties have instead exclusively created Life Peers and refrained from recommending any others to be elevated to a hereditary peerage, although there is nothing preventing future governments from doing so. Since 2009 almost all life peerages are created at the rank of Baron, the sole exception being the Dukedom of Edinburgh in 2023.

All honours, including peerages, are granted at the discretion of the monarch as the fount of honour (though functionally and mostly on the advice of the government), there is therefore no entitlement to be granted a peerage, however historic precedent means some individuals are granted peerages by convention. For example, since the Wars of the Three Kingdoms it has been convention for a retiring Speaker of the House of Commons to be granted a hereditary Viscountcy, however the last to receive the honour was in 1983, and the convention is now accepted to have changed to a life peerage at the rank of Baron instead.

All British subjects who were neither Royal nor Peers of the Realm were previously termed Commoners, regardless of wealth or other social factors; thus all members of a peer's family, with the exception of a wife or unmarried widow, are (technically) commoners too; the British system thus differs fundamentally from continental European versions, where entire families, rather than individuals, were ennobled. Nobility in Britain is based on title rather than bloodline, and correspondingly The Princess Royal (Princess Anne) who enjoys Royal status as daughter of Queen Elizabeth II, opted for her children to be Commoners by refusing offers of titles, despite their being grandchildren of the Sovereign (qv. Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall).

The Sovereign, traditionally the fount of honour, cannot hold a British peerage. However the British Sovereign, whether male or female, is informally accorded the style of 'Duke of Lancaster' (a title linked to the historic Duchy of Lancaster, which became the private estate of the British sovereign when the holder ascended the throne in 1399). Likewise in the Channel Islands (which are not strictly part of the United Kingdom) the informal title Duke of Normandy (a title associated with William the Conqueror prior to his ascension to the throne) is used.

Recipients of new peerages are typically announced via the Crown Honours Lists. Formerly, new peers were presented with an investiture ceremony, but this has not taken place since 1621 (investiture ceremonies for other honours are mostly managed by the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood). New peers do receive an introduction ceremony at the House of Lords.

All life Peers and some hereditary peers may sit in the House of Lords as the Lords Temporal. They sit alongside the Lords Spiritual, who are not peers, but bishops of the Church of England. Labour, elected to power in 1997, sought to remove all of the seats in the House of Lords reserved for hereditary peers, but Prime Minister Tony Blair relented by allowing 92 members to remain by legislation enacted in 1999. 90 are elected to the House of Lords from within their own populace, while the other two sit ex officio holding the hereditary constitutional offices of Earl Marshal and the Lord Great Chamberlain.

Since the Parliament Act 1911 and Parliament Act 1949 the House of Lords' purpose is now that of a revising legislative chamber, scrutinising and potentially changing proposed Parliamentary Bills before their enactment. Its membership for the most part comprises life peers, created under the Life Peerages Act 1958, which includes those who can add value in specific areas of expertise in parliamentary debates, as well as former MPs and other political appointees from respective political parties. Those who do not sit with a political party, may sit in the house as a so called Crossbencher. Prior to July 2006 the Lord Chancellor served as the Presiding Officer of the peers in the House of Lords, in addition to serving as the head of the English and Welsh judiciary and a de facto Minister of Jusitce. Were a person not a peer to be appointed to the office of lord chancellor, he would be raised to the peerage upon appointment, though provision was made in 1539 for non-peers who are great officers of state but not peers to sit in between the benches in the House. Since 2006 however, in an effort to separate powers, the role of presiding officer has been fulfilled by the Lord Speaker of the House of Lords elected by the peers from amongst their own number. In June 2007 Jack Straw was the first commoner to be appointed as Lord Chancellor since 1587.

Peers in the House of Lords can also serve in the British government, when invited to do so, as ministers. Peers can even serve as Prime Minister, though this is no longer convention and the last to do so was the 14th Earl of Home in 1963, who disclaimed his peerage within a few days of being appointed as Prime Minister to fight a by-election to sit in the Commons.

Until 2009 the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords served as the highest appellate court within the United Kingdom's legal system. The Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 allowed for the appointment of Lords of Appeal in Ordinary – judges meeting specific criteria made peers for life – who formed the main body of the committee. On 1 October 2009, the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 was repealed, owing to the creation of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. The House of Lords thus lost its judicial functions. At the time of creation, the 12 Lords of Appeal in Ordinary (the Law Lords) became the first wave of justices to the Supreme Court but were simultaneously disqualified from sitting or voting in the House of Lords until they retired from the court. Judges appointed to the new Supreme Court are not automatically made peers, but those who have not previously been independently granted a peerage, are entitled to use a judicial courtesy title of "Lord" or "Lady", with a territorial designation, for their remainder of their lives. As the Head of the judiciary in England and Wales, the Lord Chancellor also served as a member of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, however the last lord chancellor to preside as a judge of this court was Lord Irvine of Lairg (in office 1997–2003). This function was removed from the Lord Chancellor following the Constitutional Reform Act 2005.

Under the privilege of peerage, peers themselves had the right to be tried for impeachment, felonies or for high treason by other peers in the House of Lords (instead of commoners on juries). In such cases a Lord High Steward would be appointed to preside over the trial – functionally this was usually done by temporarily elevating the Lord Chancellor to this role. The right to be tried by other peers in the House of Lords was abolished at the request of the Lords in 1948.

Since the House of Lords Reform Act 2014, peers may resign from the House of Lords, whilst keeping their title and style. Though there is no mechanism for life peers to fully disclaim their peerage, hereditary peers may fully disclaim their peerage for their lifetime under the Peerage Act 1963. The peerage remains extant until the death of the peer who had made the disclaimer, when it descends to his or her heir in the usual manner.

Certain personal privileges are afforded to all peers and peeresses, but the main distinction of a peerage nowadays, apart from access to the House of Lords for life peers and some hereditary peers, is the title and style thereby accorded. Succession claims to existing hereditary peerages are regulated by the House of Lords Committee for Privileges and Conduct and administered by The Crown Office.

History of the Peerage

Baronage evolution

The modern-day parliamentary peerage is a continuation of the renamed medieval baronage system which existed in feudal times. The modern peerage system is a vestige of the custom of English kings in the 12th and 13th centuries to grant a right to attend parliament; in the late 14th century, this right (or "title") began to be granted by decree, and titles also became inherited with the rest of an estate under the system of primogeniture.

Feudalism was introduced to England after 1066 by William the Conqueror and taken to Scotland by David I in 1124 when, after having lived in England as Earl of Huntingdon, he succeeded to the Scottish throne.

The requirement of attending Parliament was both a liability and a privilege for those who held land as a tenant-in-chief from the King per baroniam – that is to say, under the feudal contract wherein a King's Baron was responsible for raising knights and troops for the royal military service.

Certain other office-holders such as senior clerics and Freemen of the Cinque Ports were deemed "Barons".

England

When William of Normandy conquered England, he divided the nation into many "manors", the owners of which came to be known as barons; those who held many manors were known as "greater barons", while those with fewer manors were the "lesser barons". Prior to the creation of the peerage, under the old system of feudalism some Lords had the authority to effectively create titles of their own (through powers like Subinfeudation), such as the Barony of Halton which was created by the Earl of Chester, or the Irish hereditary Knight of Kerry which was created by the Earl of Desmond. Through acts like the Quia Emptores of 1290 these powers were stripped back, and the authority to create titles was entrenched as exclusive to the monarch.

When Kings summoned their barons to Royal Councils, the greater barons were summoned individually by the Sovereign, lesser barons through sheriffs.

In England in 1254, the lesser barons ceased to be summoned, and this right, entitlement or "title" to attend parliament began to be granted by decree in the form of a Writ of Summons from 1265. This body of greater barons evolved into the House of Lords. Magna Carta, first issued in 1215, declared that "No free man shall be seized, imprisoned, dispossessed, outlawed, exiled or ruined in any way, nor in any way proceeded against, except by the lawful judgement of his peers", and thus this body of greater Barons were deemed to be 'peers' of one another, and it became the norm to refer to these magnates as a 'peerage' during the reign of Edward II.

Meanwhile the holders of smaller fiefdoms per baroniam ceased to be summoned to parliament, meaning the official political importance of ownership of manors declined, resulting in baronial status becoming a 'personal' title rather than one linked to ownership of territory.

Eventually 'writs of summons' ceased to be issued, and Letters patent were used to create new lordships, with people being summoned to parliament by Letters Patent from 1388. The first baron to be created by patent was Lord Beauchamp of Holt in the reign of Richard II.

Feudal baronies had always been hereditable by primogeniture, but on condition of payment of a fine, termed "relief", derived from the Latin verb levo to lift up, meaning a "re-elevation" to a former position of honour. By the beginning of the 14th century, the hereditary characteristics of the Peerage were well developed. Since the Crown was itself a hereditary dignity, it seemed natural for seats in the upper House of Parliament to be so as well. Baronies and other titles of nobility became unconditionally hereditable on the abolition of feudal tenure by the Tenures Abolition Act of 1660.

Thus over time baronies by writ effectively became Hereditary peerages even if this had not been the intention of the original issuer of the writ. By the Tenures Abolition Act 1660, many remaining baronies by tenure who had not got an established inherited writ of summons were converted into baronies by writ, thereby bringing them into line with the other peerages.

While non-heritable "peerages for life" were often created in the early days of the peerage, their regular creation was not provided for by Act of Parliament until the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 and in 1958 more generally.

The ranks of baron and earl date to feudal, and perhaps Anglo-Saxon, times. The ranks of duke and marquess were introduced in the 14th century, and that of viscount in the 15th century.

Types of peers

Hereditary peers

A hereditary peer is a peer of the realm whose dignity may be inherited; those able to inherit it are said to be "in remainder". Hereditary peerage dignities may be created with writs of summons or by letters patent; the former method is now obsolete. Writs of summons summon an individual to Parliament, in the old feudal tradition, and merely implied the existence or creation of an hereditary peerage dignity, which is automatically inherited, presumably according to the traditional medieval rules (male-preference primogeniture, like the succession of the British crown until 2011). Letters patent explicitly create a dignity and specify its course of inheritance (usually agnatic succession, like the Salic Law). Some hereditary titles can pass through and vest in female heirs in a system called coparcenary. Following the Succession to the Crown Act 2013, which replaced male-preference primogeniture with absolute primogeniture in the line of succession to the throne, there were calls from some hereditary peers daughters to change the rules for hereditary peerages to match. In 2018 five daughters of hereditary peers took the government to the European Court of Human Rights to challenge the laws that stop them from inheriting their fathers titles and thereby being elected to the House of Lords.

Once created, a peerage dignity continues to exist as long as there are surviving legitimate descendants (or legitimate agnatic descendants) of the first holder, unless a contrary method of descent is specified in the letters patent. Once the heirs of the original peer die out, the peerage dignity becomes extinct. In former times, peerage dignities were often forfeit by Acts of Parliament, usually when peers were found guilty of treason. Often, however, the felonious peer's descendants successfully petitioned the Sovereign to restore the dignity to the family. Some dignities, such as the Dukedom of Norfolk, have been forfeit and restored several times. Under the Peerage Act 1963 an individual can disclaim his peerage dignity for his own lifetime within one year of inheriting it.

When the holder of a peerage succeeds to the throne, the dignity "merges in the Crown" and ceases to exist.

All hereditary peers in the Peerages of England, Scotland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom were entitled to sit in the House of Lords, subject only to qualifications such as age and citizenship, but under section 1 of the House of Lords Act 1999 they lost this right. The Act provided that 92 hereditary peers — the Lord Great Chamberlain and the Earl Marshal, along with 90 others exempted through standing orders of the House — would remain in the House of Lords in the interim, pending any reform of the membership to the House. Standing Order 9 provides that those exempted are 75 hereditary peers elected by other peers from and by respective party groups in the House in proportion to their numbers, and fifteen chosen by the whole House to serve as officers of the House.

Representative peers

From 1707 until 1963, Scottish peers elected 16 representative peers to sit in the House of Lords. Since 1963, they have had the same rights as Peers of the United Kingdom. From 1801 until 1922, Irish peers elected 28 representative peers to sit in the House of Lords.  Since 1922, when the Irish Free State became a separate country, no Irish representative peers have been elected, though sitting members retained their seats for life.

Life peers

Apart from hereditary peerages, there exist peerages that may be held for life and whose title cannot be passed onto someone else by inheritance. The Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 and the Life Peerages Act 1958 authorise the regular creation of life peerages, with the right to sit in the House of Lords. Life peers created under both acts are of baronial rank and are always created under letters patent.

Since the loss of the right of hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords as a result of the House of Lords Act 1999, the majority of the House of Lords is made up of life peers. There is no limit on the number of peerages the sovereign may create under the Life Peerages Act. Normally life peerages are granted to individuals nominated by political parties or by the House of Lords Appointments Commission, and in order to honour retiring politicians, current senior judges, and senior members of the armed forces.

Until the formal opening of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom on 1 October 2009, life peers created under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act were known as "Lords of Appeal in Ordinary" or in common parlance "Law Lords". They performed the judicial functions of the House of Lords and served on the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. They remained peers for life, but ceased to receive judicial salaries at the age of 75. Under the terms of the Act, there may be no more than 12 Lords of Appeal in Ordinary under the age of 75 at one time. However, after the transfer of the judicial functions of the Lords to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, the Act ceased to have meaningful effect.

Under the House of Lords Reform Act 2014 and the House of Lords (Expulsion and Suspension) Act 2015 a life peer may lose membership of the House of Lords permanently in one of four ways:
 Resignation or retirement effected by writing to the Clerk of the Parliaments;
 Automatic expulsion through failing to attend a single sitting of the House throughout a whole session of more than six months' duration without leave of absence, being suspended for that session or being exempted by the House for special circumstances;
 Automatic expulsion through conviction of a criminal offence where the punishment is imprisonment for more than one year;
 Expulsion by resolution of the House.

While these provide for non-membership of the House of Lords, they do not allow a life peer to disclaim their peerage in the same way that a hereditary peer can disclaim theirs.

Ranks

Peers are of five ranks, in descending order of hierarchy:
 Duke comes from the Latin dux, meaning 'leader'. The first duke in a peerage of the British Isles was created in 1337. The feminine form is Duchess.
 Marquess comes from the French marquis, which is a derivative of marche or march. This is a reference to the borders ('marches') between England, Scotland, and Wales, a relationship more evident in the feminine form, Marchioness. The first marquess in a peerage of the British Isles was created in 1385.
 Earl comes from the Old English or Anglo-Saxon eorl, meaning a military leader. The meaning may have been affected by the Old Norse jarl, meaning a free-born warrior or nobleman, during the Danelaw, thus giving rise to the modern sense. Since there was no feminine Old English or Old Norse equivalent for the term, 'Countess' is used (Earls are analogous to the Continental 'Counts'), from the Latin comes. The rank was created –1000.
 Viscount comes from the Latin vicecomes, meaning 'vice-count'. The rank was created in 1440. The feminine form is Viscountess.
 Baron comes from the Old Germanic baro, meaning 'freeman'. The rank was created in 1066. In the Peerage of Scotland alone, a holder of the fifth rank is not called a 'Baron' but rather a 'Lord of Parliament'. Barons in Scotland were traditionally holders of feudal dignities, not peers, but they are considered minor barons and are recognized by the crown as noble. The feminine form is Baroness.

Baronets, while holders of hereditary titles, are not peers since baronetcies have never conferred noble status, although socially they are regarded as part of the aristocracy. Knights, dames and holders of other British non-hereditary chivalric orders, decorations, and medals are likewise not peers.

Precedence

Peers are entitled to a special precedence because of their ranks. Wives and children of peers are also entitled to a special precedence because of their station.

The Sovereign may, as fount of honour, vary the precedence of the peers or of any other people. For example, Elizabeth II granted her husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, precedence immediately following her; otherwise, he would have ranked along with the other dukes of the peerage of the United Kingdom.

General precedence
In England and Wales, the Sovereign ranks first, followed by the Royal Family. Then follow the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, the Great Officers of State and other important state functionaries such as the prime minister. Thereafter, dukes precede marquesses, who precede earls, who precede viscounts, who precede bishops, who precede barons and lords of Parliament.

Within the members of each rank of the peerage, peers of England precede peers of Scotland. English and Scottish peers together precede peers of Great Britain. All of the aforementioned precede peers of Ireland created before 1801. Last come peers of Ireland created after 1801 and peers of the United Kingdom. Among peers of the same rank and Peerage, precedence is based on the creation of the title: those whose titles were created earlier precede those whose titles were created later. But in no case would a peer of a lower rank precede one of a higher rank. For example, the Duke of Fife, the last non-royal to be created a duke, would come before the Marquess of Winchester, though the latter's title was created earlier and is in a more senior peerage (the peerage of England).

The place of a peer in the order for gentlemen is taken by his wife in the order for ladies, except that a Dowager peeress of a particular title precedes the present holder of the same title. Children of peers (and suo jure peeresses) also obtain a special precedence. The following algorithm may be used to determine their ranks:
 Eldest sons of peers of rank X go after peers of rank X−1
 Younger sons of peers of rank X go after eldest sons of peers of rank X−1
 Wives have a precedence corresponding to those of their husbands
 Daughters of peers of rank X go after wives of eldest sons of peers of rank X
Over time, however, various offices were inserted at different points in the order, thereby varying it.

Eldest sons of dukes rank after marquesses; eldest sons of marquesses and then younger sons of dukes rank after earls; eldest sons of earls and then younger sons of marquesses rank after viscounts. Eldest sons of viscounts, younger sons of earls, and then eldest sons of barons, in that order, follow barons, with the Treasurer of the Household, the Comptroller of the Household, the Vice-Chamberlain of the Household and Secretaries of State being interpolated between them and the barons. Younger sons of viscounts, and then younger sons of barons, come after the aforesaid eldest sons of barons, with Knights of the Order of the Garter and Order of the Thistle, Privy councillors and senior judges being intercalated between them and eldest sons of barons.

Children of the eldest son of a peer also obtain a special precedence. Generally, the eldest son of the eldest son of a peer comes immediately before his uncles, while the younger sons of the eldest son of a peer come after them. Therefore, eldest sons of eldest sons of dukes come before younger sons of dukes, and younger sons of eldest sons of dukes come after them, and so forth for all the ranks. Below the younger sons of barons are baronets, knights, circuit judges and companions of the various orders of Chivalry, followed by the eldest sons of younger sons of peers.

Wives of all of the aforementioned have precedence corresponding to their husbands', unless otherwise entitled to a higher precedence, for instance by virtue of holding a certain office. An individual's daughter takes precedence after the wife of that individual's eldest son and before the wives of that individual's younger sons. Therefore, daughters of peers rank immediately after wives of eldest sons of peers; daughters of eldest sons of peers rank immediately after wives of eldest sons of eldest sons of peers; daughters of younger sons of peers rank after wives of eldest sons of younger sons of peers. Such a daughter keeps her precedence if marrying a commoner (unless that marriage somehow confers a higher precedence), but rank as their husband if marrying a peer.

Precedence within Parliament
The order of precedence used to determine seating in the House of Lords chamber is governed by the House of Lords Precedence Act 1539. Precedence as provided by the Act is similar to, but not the same as, the order outside Parliament. The Sovereign, however, does not have the authority to change the precedence assigned by the Act.

Lords Temporal assume precedence similar to precedence outside Parliament. One difference in the precedence of peers relates to the positions of the Great Officers of State and the officers of the Sovereign's Household. Some Great Officers—the Lord Chancellor, the Lord High Treasurer, the Lord President of the Council and the Lord Privy Seal—provided they are peers, rank before all other peers except those who are of the Blood Royal (no precedence is accorded if they are not peers). The positions of the other Great Officers—the Lord Great Chamberlain, the Lord High Constable, the Earl Marshal and the Lord High Admiral—and the officers of the Household—the Lord Steward and the Lord Chamberlain—are based on their respective ranks. Thus, if the Lord Steward were a duke, he would precede all dukes, if a marquess, he would precede all marquesses, and so on. If two such officers are of the same rank, the precedence of the offices (reflected by the order in which they are mentioned above) is taken into account: if the Lord Great Chamberlain and Earl Marshal were both marquesses, for example, then the Great Chamberlain would precede the Earl Marshal, as the former office precedes the latter.

In practice, however, the Act is obsolete, as the Lords do not actually sit according to strict precedence; instead, peers sit with their political parties.

Privilege of peerage

The privilege of peerage is the body of privileges that belongs to peers, their wives and their unremarried widows. The privilege is distinct from parliamentary privilege, and applies to all peers, not just members of the House of Lords. It still exists, although "occasions of its exercise have now diminished into obscurity."

Although the extent of the privilege has been ill-defined, three features survived to the 20th century: the right to be tried by fellow peers in the Lord High Steward's Court and in the House of Lords (abolished in 1948); the personal right of access to the Sovereign at any time, but this privilege has long been obsolete; and the right to be exempt from civil arrest (a privilege that has been used only twice since 1945). All privileges of a peerage are lost if a peer disclaims his or her peerage under the Peerage Act 1963.

Within the Honours system

The peerage forms part of the British honours system, as the highest tier. This role dates back to the days when being ennobled by the monarch meant secure addition for someone and their heirs into the British aristocracy, and alongside it, political power and a theoretically raised status within the hierarchy of the British class system.

These days as most peerages are for life and not hereditary, addition for ones heirs into the 'titled' British nobility is no longer guaranteed with the granting of a peerage. Instead the granting of a peerage forms part of the honour system because it brings with it an honorific, title and style for life as a reward in overt recognition of the recipients contributions to society, or some segment thereof.

This is in contrast to those who inherit hereditary peerages, which are not inherited in recognition of the merits of the heir to the title, but according to the rules laid out in the original letters patent. The 'honour' is in recognition of the actions of the initial grantee, remembered through their heirs. The UK now has a presumption against the creation of new hereditary peerages, on the understanding that honours should be reserved for the meritorious service of individuals. This has in turn led to calls from some segments of British government and society to change the inheritance rules for existing hereditary peerages, and in some instances for the abolition/revocation of existing hereditary peerages altogether.

Although life peerages do not guarantee the entry of ones heirs into the 'titled' British nobility, the legitimate children of life peers appointed under the Life Peerages Act 1958 are entitled to style themselves with the prefix "The Honourable". Peers are also entitled to apply for a coat of arms, from the heraldic authorities of the United Kingdom. A coat of arms can be inherited, with armigers forming part of the 'untitled' British nobility according to some sources.

Given the political powers that come with a peerage title, some commentators have suggested the peerage should be separated from the Honours system. In 2016 Baron Lloyd-Webber for example wrote "I was put in as an honour, not as a working peer. Not as lobby fodder. I'm fed-up with the fact that I keep being asked now to go in and vote for things about which I don't have knowledge." Since the House of Lords Reform Act 2014, peers may resign from the House of Lords, and thereby surrender their legislative power, whilst keeping their title and style.

Form of title
The titles of peers are in the form of "(Rank) (TitleName)" or "(Rank) of (TitleName)". The name of the title can either be a place name or a surname or a combination of both (e.g. The Duke of Norfolk or The Earl Spencer). The precise usage depends on the rank of the peerage and on certain other general considerations. For instance, Dukes always use "of". Marquesses and Earls whose titles are based on place names normally use "of" (e.g. The Marquess of Bute and The Marquess of Ailsa), while those whose titles are based on surnames normally do not (e.g. The Marquess Curzon of Kedleston and The Earl Alexander of Tunis). Viscounts, Barons and Lords of Parliament generally do not use "of". However, there are several exceptions to the rule. For instance, Scottish vicecomital titles theoretically include "of", though in practice it is usually dropped (e.g. "The Viscount of Falkland" is commonly known as the "Viscount Falkland".)

Multiple, compound and other names
While surnames and place names have been commonly used for peerage titles, it is also possible to create other forms of title. For instance, existing double-barrelled surnames have been used for titles (e.g. The Baroness Burdett-Coutts and The Baroness Spencer-Churchill) and other double-barrelled surnames have been created for peerages themselves (e.g. The Lord George-Brown). In a similar way, some peerage titles have been invented by combining surnames (e.g. The Viscount Leverhulme was invented by William Lever by combining his and his wife's surname of Hulme) or combining other names (e.g. The Viscount Alanbrooke which was created by Alan Brooke by combining his first and last names).

"Multiple" and "compound" peerage titles have also evolved. A single individual can accumulate, by achievements or by inheritance, more than one peerage (of the same rank) and be known by a 'compound' of these titles (e.g. "The Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry'" even though these peerages were originally created separately (i.e. the Dukedom of Buccleuch (created in 1663) and the Dukedom of Queensberry (created in 1684) but unified in the person of Henry Scott, 3rd Duke of Buccleuch and 5th Duke of Queensberry and his descendants).

On the other hand, a "compound" peerage refers to a title specifically created as a compound of two or more names, such as Baron Saye and Sele (created in 1440) and Baron Brougham and Vaux (created in 1830). The last hereditary compound titles to be created (for each rank) were the Duke of Clarence and Avondale (created in 1890), the Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair (created in 1916), the Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne (created in 1937), the Viscount Newry and Mourne (created in 1822) and the Baron Dalling and Bulwer (created in 1871).

Geographic association

A territorial designation is often added to the main peerage title, especially in the case of barons and viscounts: for instance, The Baroness Thatcher, of Kesteven in the County of Lincolnshire, or The Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, of Hindhead in the County of Surrey. Any designation after the comma does not form a part of the main title. Territorial designations in titles are not updated with local government reforms, but new creations do take them into account. Thus there is The Baron Knollys, of Caversham in the County of Oxford (created in 1902), and The Baroness Pitkeathley, of Caversham in the Royal County of Berkshire (created in 1997).

It was once the case that a peer administered the place associated with his title (such as an earl administering a county as high sheriff or main landowner), but lordships by tenure have not been commonplace since the early Norman period. The only remaining peerages with certain associated rights over land are the Duchy of Cornwall (place), which appertains to the Dukedom of Cornwall, held by the eldest son and heir to the Sovereign, and the Duchy of Lancaster (place), which regular income (revenue) appertains to the Dukedom of Lancaster, held by the Sovereign whose government owns the capital and all capital gains on disposals. In both cases due to the particular function of bona vacantia in these areas, these titles afford rights encompassing the whole territorial designation of the holder, donated by the holder now to registered charities. Separate estates, smaller than counties, form the bulk of the two duchies.

Styles and forms of address

Style

Dukes use His Grace, Marquesses use The Most Honourable and other peers use The Right Honourable. Peeresses (whether they hold peerages in their own right or are wives of peers) use equivalent styles.

Honorific

Individuals who use the appellation Lord or Lady are not necessarily peers. There are judicial, ecclesiastic and holders of other crown offices who are often accorded the appellation "Lord" or "Lady" as a form of courtesy title as a product of their office. Those who hold feudal titles are however never accorded the honorific "Lord". The holder of a lordship of the manor for example can be styled as Charles S, Lord/Lady of the Manor of [Placename], but would not be referred to as Lord Charles S of [Placename].

In speech, any peer or peeress except a Duke or Duchess is referred to as Lord X or Lady X. The exception is a suo jure baroness (that is, one holding the dignity in her own right, usually a life peeress), who may also be called Baroness X in normal speech, though Lady X is also common usage. Hence, The Baroness Thatcher, a suo jure life peeress, was referred to as either "Baroness Thatcher" or "Lady Thatcher". "Baroness" is incorrect for female holders of Scottish Lordships of Parliament, who are not Baronesses; for example, the 21st Lady Saltoun is known as "Lady Saltoun", not "Baroness Saltoun".

A peer is referred to by his peerage even if it is the same as his surname, thus the Baron Owen is "Lord Owen" not "Lord David Owen", though such erroneous forms are commonly used.

Some peers, particularly life peers who were well known before their ennoblement, do not use their peerage titles.  Others use a combination: for example, the author John Julius Norwich was John Julius Cooper, 2nd Viscount Norwich.

Children of peers use special titles called courtesy titles. The heir apparent of a duke, a marquess, or an earl generally uses his father's highest lesser peerage dignity as his own. Hence, The Duke of Devonshire's son is called the Marquess of Hartington. Such an heir apparent is called a courtesy peer, but is a commoner until such time as he inherits (unless summoned by a writ in acceleration).

Younger sons of dukes and marquesses prefix Lord to their first names as courtesy titles while daughters of dukes, marquesses and earls use Lady. Younger sons of earls and children of viscounts, barons and lords of Parliament use The Honourable.

Divorced peeresses "cannot claim the privileges or status of Peeresses which they derived from their husbands". While a divorced former wife of a duke is no longer a duchess, she may still use the title, styled with her forename prefixed to the title (without the definite article, the). Her forename is used primarily to differentiate her from any new wife of her former husband. However, should the former husband remain unmarried, the former wife may continue to use the title without her forename attached. Should a former wife of a peer remarry, she would lose the style of a divorced peeress and take on a style relating to her new husband. Examples include Louise Timpson, who during her marriage to The Duke of Argyll was known as Her Grace The Duchess of Argyll but became Louise, Duchess of Argyll following her divorce, a style which she eventually lost after her subsequent marriage upon which she became known as Mrs. Robert Timpson.

Vestments

Robes

Peerage robes are currently worn in the United Kingdom on ceremonial occasions. They are of two varieties: parliament robes, worn in the House of Lords on occasions such as at a peer's introduction or state opening of parliament, and coronation robes, worn at the coronations of monarchs. The details of the fur on these robes differs according to a peer's rank.

Since the early Middle Ages, robes have been worn as a sign of nobility. At first, these seem to have been bestowed on individuals by the monarch or feudal lord as a sign of special recognition; but in the fifteenth century the use of robes became formalised with peers all wearing robes of the same basic design, though varied according to the rank of the wearer.

Coronets and headgear

In the United Kingdom, a peer wears his or her coronet on only one occasion: for the monarch's coronation, when it is worn along with coronation robes.

The coronet of a duke or duchess has eight strawberry leaves;
The coronet of a marquess or marchioness has four strawberry leaves and four silver balls (known as "pearls");
The coronet of an earl or countess has eight strawberry leaves and eight "pearls" raised on stalks;
The coronet of a viscount or viscountess has sixteen "pearls" touching one another;
The coronet of a baron or baroness, or lord or lady of parliament in the Scots peerage, has six "pearls", and a plain circlet lacking the gem-shaped chasing of the other coronets.

The robes and coronets used at Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953 cost about £1,250 (roughly £ in present-day terms). (Peers under the rank of an Earl, however, were allowed in 1953 to wear a cheaper "cap of estate" in place of a coronet, as were peeresses of the same rank, for whom a simpler robe was also permitted (a one-piece gown with wrap-around fur cape, designed by Norman Hartnell)).

With the Parliament robe, a black hat was customarily worn. The Wriothesley Garter Book provides a contemporary illustration of the 1523 State Opening of Parliament: the two dukes present are shown wearing coronets with their parliament robes, but the other Lords Temporal are all wearing black hats. The Lords Spiritual are wearing mitres with their distinctive robes. Mitres ceased to be worn after the Reformation, and the wearing of hats in Parliament ceased, for the most part, when wigs came into fashion. They survive today only as part of the dress of Lords Commissioners, when they are worn with the parliamentary robe: a bicorn hat for men (of black beaver, edged with silk grosgrain ribbon) and a tricorne-like hat for women. (The use of these hats at Introductions of peers to the House was discontinued in 1998.)

Heraldry

Peers are generally entitled to use certain heraldic devices. Atop the arms, a peer may display a coronet. Dukes were the first individuals authorised to wear coronets. Marquesses acquired coronets in the 15th century, earls in the 16th and viscounts and barons in the 17th. Until the barons received coronets in 1661, the coronets of earls, marquesses and dukes were engraved while those of viscounts were plain. After 1661, however, viscomital coronets became engraved, while baronial coronets were plain. Coronets may not bear any precious or semi-precious stones. Generally, only peers may use the coronets corresponding to their ranks. The Bishop of Durham, however, may use a duke's coronet atop the arms as a reference to the historical temporal authority of the Prince-Bishops of Durham.

Peers wear their coronets at coronations. Otherwise, coronets are seen only in heraldic representations, atop a peer's arms. Coronets include a silver gilt chaplet and a base of ermine fur. The coronet varies with the rank of the peer. A member of the Royal Family uses a royal coronet instead of the coronet he or she would use as a peer or peeress.

Ducal coronets include eight strawberry leaves atop the chaplet, five of which are displayed in heraldic representations. Marquesses have coronets with four strawberry leaves alternating with four silver balls, of which three leaves and two balls are displayed. Coronets for earls have eight strawberry leaves alternating with eight silver balls (called "pearls" even though they are not) raised on spikes, of which five silver balls and four leaves are displayed. Coronets for viscounts have 16 silver balls, of which seven are displayed. Finally, baronial coronets have six silver balls, of which four are displayed. Peeresses use equivalent designs, but in the form of a circlet, which encircles the head, rather than a coronet, which rests atop the head.

Peers are entitled to the use of supporters in their achievements of arms. Hereditary supporters are normally limited to hereditary peers, certain members of the Royal Family, chiefs of Scottish Clans, Scottish feudal barons whose baronies predate 1587. Non-hereditary supporters are granted to life peers, Knights of the Garter, Knights of the Thistle, Knights and Dames Grand Cross of the Bath, Knights and Dames Grand Cross of St Michael and St George, Knights and Dames Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, Knights and Dames Grand Cross of the British Empire, and knights banneret.

Peers, like most other armigers, may display helms atop their arms. Helms of peers are depicted in silver and facing the viewer's left. The helm is garnished in gold and the closed visor has gold bars, normally numbering five. Along with the helm, peers use a mantling, one side of which is red and the other a representation of the heraldic fur ermine. The mantling of peers is emblazoned gules, doubled ermine. Peeresses and other female armigers do not bear helms or mantlings.

Counterparts
Other feudal monarchies equally held a similar system, grouping high nobility of different rank titles under one term, with common privileges and/or in an assembly, sometimes legislative and/or judicial.

Itō Hirobumi and the other Meiji leaders deliberately modeled the Japanese House of Peers on the House of Lords, as a counterweight to the popularly elected House of Representatives (Shūgiin).

In France, the system of pairies (peerage) existed in two different versions: the exclusive 'old' in the French kingdom, in many respects an inspiration for the English and later British practice, and the very prolific Chambre des Pairs under the Bourbon Restoration (1814–1848).

In Spain and Portugal, the closest equivalent title was Grandee; in Hungary, Magnat.

In the Kingdom of Sicily a peerage was instituted in 1812 in connection with the abolition of feudalism: peers were nominated based on the taxable incomes of their formerly feudal estates.

In the Holy Roman Empire, instead of an exclusive aristocratic assembly, the legislative body was the Imperial Diet, membership of which, expressed by the title Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, was granted to allied princely families (and various minor ones), as well as to Princes of the Church (parallel to the Lords Spiritual) and in some cases was restricted to a collective 'curiate' vote in a 'bench', such as the Grafenbank.

In the medieval Irish nobility, Gaelic nobles were those presented with the White Wand or slat in a formal ceremony, and presented it by another noble. It was the primary symbol of lordship and effectively reserved only for the three tiers of kings (provincial, regional, local) and for those princely and comital families descending from them in control of significant territories. The total number was between 100 and 150 at any time.

See also

Related
 British honours system
 British nobility
 Social class in the United Kingdom
 Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom
 Forms of address in the United Kingdom
 Post-nominal letters
 Nobiliary particle
 College of Arms
 Court of the Lord Lyon
 Scottish clan

Peerages in the British Isles
 List of life peerages (Life Peerages Act, 1958)
 List of law life peerages (Appellate Jurisdiction Act, 1876)
 List of spiritual peers
 Peerage of England
 Peerage of Scotland
 List of Scottish representative peers
 Welsh peers and baronets
 Peerage of Ireland
 List of Irish representative peers
 List of British Jewish nobility and gentry
 List of courtesy titles in the peerages of Britain and Ireland
 Substantive title

Peerages in the Commonwealth
 Australian peers
 Canadian Peers and Baronets
 Canadian titles debate
 Orders, decorations, and medals of New Zealand

Legal
 Peerage law
 Baronies created by error
 Cash for Honours
 False titles of nobility

Other
 Monarchy
 Aristocracy
 Feudalism
 Nobility
 Landed gentry
 Upper class
 Caste

References

Bibliography

 Bush, Michael L. The English Aristocracy: a Comparative Synthesis. Manchester University Press, 1984. Concise comparative historical treatment.
 Farnborough, T. E. May, 1st Baron. (1896). Constitutional History of England since the Accession of George the Third, 11th ed. London: Longmans, Green and Co.
 Paul, James Balfour (ed.). The Scots Peerage Founded on ... Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage of Scotland. 9v. Edinburgh: David Douglas, 1904–14.
 "Peerage." (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th ed. London: Cambridge University Press.
 Peerage Act 1963. (1963 c. 48). London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office.
 Plowden. Alison. Lords of the Land. Michael Joseph, 1984.
 Sanford, John Langton and Meredith Townsend. The Great Governing Families of England. 2v. Blackwood & Sons, 1865 (Books for Libraries Press, 1972).

External links

 Burke's Peerage & Gentry

Peerages in the United Kingdom


Margaret JoBeth Williams (born December 6, 1948) is an American movie, television, stage, voice actress, and movie director. She is known for her roles in Poltergeist, The Big Year, The Big Chill, Poltergeist II: The Other Side, Kramer vs. Kramer, and in Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot.

Williams was born on December 6, 1948 in Houston, Texas. Williams studied at Jones High School and at Brown University. She married John Pasquin in 1982. They have two children.

References

Other websites

1948 births
Living people
American movie actors
American television actors
American stage actors
American voice actors
American movie directors
Actors from Houston

JoBeth Williams


The National Telephone Company (NTC) was a British telephone company from 1881 until 1911 which brought together smaller local companies in the early years of the telephone. Under the Telephone Transfer Act 1911 it was taken over by the General Post Office (GPO) in 1912.

History
Three years after the first telephone company, The Telephone Company (Bells Patents) Ltd, appeared in London (in fact it was the first in Europe), the National Telephone Company was formed on 10 March 1881, as a provincial subsidiary of the United Telephone Company Limited (UTC). The NTC was initially formed to develop and operate telephone services in Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Ulster and parts of Scotland, taking over UTC operations in those places.

The UTC developed other similar provincial companies throughout the British Isles between 1881 and 1885. The UTC then wished to create a new company for the amalgamation of all their associated companies. However, the government declined to issue the proposed new company with a licence to operate or to allow the transfer of an existing licence. The UTC then decided to use one of its provincial companies as a vehicle for their policy of amalgamation, starting in 1889 with the merger of the UTC with the Lancashire and Cheshire Telephone Company and the NTC. The 'National Telephone Company Limited' name being retained.

In 1886, it built an ornate red brick and terracotta building 19, Newhall Street, now grade I listed, for its Birmingham Central exchange, opened in 1887.

In 1899 it commissioned Telephone House in London's Temple Lane. The building still bears the company's NT logo and some cherubs holding what appear to be old style telephone handsets.

The amalgamation policy continued; in 1890 the NTC absorbed the Northern District Telephone Company and the South of England Telephone Company, in 1892 the Western Counties and South Wales Company and the Sheffield Telephone Exchange and Electric Light Company and in 1893 the Telephone Company of Ireland Limited. Throughout this period the NTC also took over smaller telephone companies.

With the policy of amalgamation, the NTC, under the direction of William E L Gaine as general manager and Dane Sinclair as engineer in chief, set about creating a uniform organisation over eight districts; Metropolitan, Southern, Western, Midland, North-Western, Northern, Scotland and Ireland.

Following the Telegraph Acts of 1892 and 1896, NTC trunk lines were acquired and transferred to the Post Office between 1896 and 1897. In 1901, the  Postmaster General and the NTC signed an agreement to prevent unnecessary duplication of plant and wasteful competition in London.

In 1905, the Postmaster General and the NTC signed a further agreement for the purchase of the NTC's system on the expiry of its licence on 31 December 1911, an option for the Post Office that formed a part of the original licence agreement of 1881. On 31 December 1911 the NTC ceased to formally trade. The Postmaster General took over the NTC and its telephone systems and the NTC passed into liquidation.

The National Telephone Company also issued stamps in various values to enable the public to pre pay for telephone calls made from company premises.

Historical documents
 Records of the National Telephone Company (51 boxes, 8 volumes), c.1880s–c.1946 are held by BT Archives.

See also
 Timeline of telephone companies in Birmingham, England
 Sir William Quilter, 1st Baronet

Sources
 Hold the Line Please - The Story of the Hello Girls, Sally Southall,
 Records of the National Telephone Company, BT Archives (reference TPF)

External links
 BT Archives official site
 BT Archives online catalogue
 Edison Companies website
 Bob Estreich's website: The National Telephone Company of Britain

British companies established in 1881
Defunct telecommunications companies of the United Kingdom
Archives in the London Borough of Camden
Business and industry archives
Alexander Graham Bell
British companies disestablished in 1911
Telecommunications companies established in 1881
Telecommunications companies disestablished in 1911
1881 establishments in England
1911 disestablishments in England

National Telephone Company


Anthony Greyvensteyn Botha (born 17 November 1976) is a South African former cricketer who played for the cricket Natal, KwaZulu-Natal, Easterns, Derbyshire and Warwickshire.

Botha was born in Pretoria, Transvaal Province, South Africa and he made his domestic debut for Natal B in the UCB Bowl of 1996 and a month later was representing the South African Under-19s cricket team in a tour of India, picking up three Youth Test appearances. He played for the full Natal team in the same year, helping them to third place in the Standard Bank League of 1996–97.

His breakthrough to England was to come in 2003, when he first represented Sussex Second XI, though he was quickly to move to Derbyshire, making his debut in April 2004. Out for a golden duck in his first innings, his blushes would be saved at the expense of fellow South African James Bryant, who retired hurt in the second innings. Late in 2005, Botha hit 158 against Yorkshire, batting at number eight in the lineup, with a calculated mixture of brave and fearless shots.

In 2007, Botha with Derbyshire took part in the Twenty20 Floodlit cup. Alongside Essex Eagles, 2006's Twenty20 Cup Semi-Finalists, and the PCA Masters. Derbyshire qualified for the final where they lost to Essex.

Botha signed to play for Warwickshire in 2008. He once took over the captaincy as third captain after the injuries of Darren Maddy and Ian Westwood. He was forced to retire in 2011 aged 34 due to an unsuccessful struggle against an elbow injury.

References

1976 births
South African cricketers
Derbyshire cricketers
KwaZulu-Natal cricketers
Warwickshire cricketers
Easterns cricketers
Living people
Alumni of Maritzburg College

Ant Botha


The Brahms House (Brahms-Haus), also known as Lichtental No. 8, is a biographical museum dedicated to Johannes Brahms in Baden-Baden, Germany. The museum is centered on the building's attic, where Brahms lived and worked on his music while in residence.

History
Johannes Brahms lived seasonally in Lichtental No. 8 from 1865 to 1874, originally because of a tip from Clara Schumann. His first stay at the house lasted from May to October 1865. While residing here, Brahms worked on his first and second symphonies, the piano quintet, second string sextet, the Alto Rhapsody, and parts of A German Requiem.

By 1963, Lichtental No. 8 was in disrepair and was faced with demolition. To prevent this, the Brahms Society of Baden-Baden (Brahms Gesellschaft Baden-Baden) was formed in 1966 and began gathering donations. With those funds, the Society purchased the house in June 1967 and began renovating it. The house was opened to the public as the Brahms-Haus Museum a year later.

Museum
Brahms's summer-time residence in the attic of Lichtental No. 8 is the center of the museum documenting the composer's life.

Every two years, the Baden-Baden Brahms Society organizes and hosts the Brahms Days in the city's concert halls.

A studio apartment is made available to qualifying guest musicians selected by the museum staff.

See also
 List of music museums

References

External links

 Official website

Citations

Johannes Brahms
Music museums in Germany
Buildings and structures in Baden-Baden
Biographical museums in Germany

Brahms House (Baden-Baden)


The 1970s proved to be a pivotal period for the anti-nuclear movement in California. There was confrontation between nuclear power advocates and environmentalists. In 1981, 1,900 activists were arrested during protests at Diablo Canyon Power Plant. In 1984, the Davis City Council declared the city to be a nuclear free zone. California has banned the approval of new nuclear reactors since the late 1970s because of concerns over waste disposal.

Early conflicts
The start of the anti-nuclear movement in California was the controversy over Pacific Gas & Electric's attempt to build the nation's first nuclear power plant in Bodega Bay. This conflict began in 1958 and ended in 1964, with the forced abandonment of these plans. Subsequent plans to build a nuclear power plant in Malibu were also abandoned.

Into the seventies
The anti-nuclear movement grew in California between 1964 and 1974. It was during this period that some scientists and engineers began supporting the positions of the activists. They were influenced by the non-material philosophy that had inspired activists and had impacted the public consciousness. While Californian voters failed to pass a 1972 proposal placing a 5-year moratorium on nuclear plant construction, anti-nuclear groups campaigned to stop construction of several proposed plants in the seventies, especially those located on the coast and near fault lines. These proposals included the Sundesert Nuclear Power Plant, which was never built.

Over a two-week period in 1981, 1,900 activists were arrested at Diablo Canyon Power Plant. It was the largest arrest in the history of the U.S. anti-nuclear movement.

In this period there were controversies within the Sierra Club about how to lead the anti-nuclear movement, and this led to a split over the Diablo Canyon plant which ended in success for the utilities. The split led to the formation of Friends of the Earth, led by David Brower.

In 1979, Abalone Alliance members held a 38-day sit-in in the Californian Governor Jerry Brown's office to protest continued operation of Rancho Seco Nuclear Generating Station, which was a duplicate of the Three Mile Island facility. In 1989, Sacremento voters voted to shut down the Rancho Seco power plant.

California has banned the approval of new nuclear reactors since the late 1970s because of concerns over waste disposal.

Nuclear-free communities

On November 14th 1984 the Davis, California City Council declared the city to be a nuclear free zone. Another well-known nuclear-free community is Berkeley, California, whose citizens passed the Nuclear Free Berkeley Act in 1986 which allows the city to levy fines for nuclear weapons-related activity and to boycott companies involved in the United States nuclear infrastructure.

Related pages
 Anti-nuclear movement in the United States
 List of anti-nuclear protests in the United States
 Nuclear debate
 Nuclear free zone

References

Further reading
 Ondaatje, Elizabeth H. (c1988). Trends in antinuclear protests in the United States, 1984-1987.
 Wellock, Thomas R. (1998). Critical Masses: Opposition to Nuclear Power in California, 1958-1978.
 Wills, John (2006). Conservation Fallout: Nuclear Protest at Diablo Canyon.

Other websites
 The Struggle over Nuclear Power
 Conservation Fallout: Nuclear Protest at Diablo Canyon
 Police arrest 64 at California anti-nuclear protest

Environment
Nuclear energy

Anti-nuclear movement in California


Easton Maudit is a small village and civil parish in rural Northamptonshire. It takes its name from the Maudit (or Mauduit) family who purchased the estate at what was then just Easton, in 1131. There was no residential landowner in the village until 1578 when the village was acquired by Sir Christopher Yelverton. It is about  east of Northampton town centre. At the 2011 census the population remained less than 100 and is included in the civil parish of Bozeat.

Thomas Percy was made the rector of the parish at the age of 24; he was a friend of Samuel Johnson, who was a frequent visitor to the Rectory.

Church

The church is dedicated to St Peter and St Paul.

The church floor was designed by Lord Alwyne Compton, Bishop of Ely, and includes the motto of the Marquesses of Northampton.

Samuel Johnson, Oliver Goldsmith, David Garrick and other members of the Garrick Club, were friends of the then rector and as well as staying in the village worshipped in the church. The chief monument is to Sir Christopher Yelverton, a Speaker of the House of Commons, who composed the prayer which is still said daily in Parliament. Yelverton's son Henry was Attorney-General to James I.

Outside the churchyard are the remains of a large oak tree - the shell of which is now artificially supported. The village and church feature in "The Hammer of God", the first episode of the 1974 Father Brown television series, starring Kenneth More.

Manor house

The village once housed a manor house. The house was purchased by the Compton family from Castle Ashby and they had the house demolished. All that now remains is the plot of the house surrounded by Lebanon Cedars.

Notable residents

Derek Nimmo the actor lived in Easton Maudit and is buried in the village graveyard.

Other information

There is a fine set of Roman remains in the village. There is a riding school at Manor Farm, and a small airfield.

References

External links

Website for the excavation of the Romano-British villa at Easton Maudit

Other village pictures

Villages in Northamptonshire
North Northamptonshire
Civil parishes in Northamptonshire

Easton Maudit


The Helvetic Confessions are two documents expressing the common belief of Calvinist churches, especially in Switzerland.

History
The First Helvetic Confession (), known also as the Second Confession of Basel, was drawn up in Basel in 1536 by Heinrich Bullinger and Leo Jud of Zürich, Kaspar Megander of Bern, Oswald Myconius and Simon Grynaeus of Basel, Martin Bucer and Wolfgang Capito of Strasbourg, with other representatives from Schaffhausen, St Gall, Mühlhausen and Biel. The first draft was written in Latin and the Zürich delegates objected to its Lutheran phraseology. However, Leo Jud's German translation was accepted by all, and after Myconius and Grynaeus had modified the Latin form, both versions were agreed to and adopted on February 26, 1536.

The Second Helvetic Confession (Latin: Confessio Helvetica posterior) was written by Bullinger in 1562 and revised in 1564 as a private exercise. It came to the notice of Elector Palatine Frederick III, who had it translated into German and published. It was attractive to some Reformed leaders as a corrective to what they saw as the overly Lutheran statements of the Strasbourg Consensus. An attempt was made in early 1566 to have all the churches of Switzerland sign the Second Helvetic Confession as a common statement of faith. It gained a favorable hold on the Swiss churches, who had found the First Confession too short and too Lutheran. However, "the Basel clergy refused to sign the confession, stating that although they found no fault with it, they preferred to stand by their own Basel Confession of 1534".

It was adopted by the Reformed Church not only throughout Switzerland but in Scotland (1566), Hungary (1567), France (1571), Poland (1578), and along with the Thirty-nine Articles, the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Scots Confession and the Heidelberg Catechism is one the most generally recognized confessions of the Reformed Church. The Second Helvetic Confession was also included in the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.'s Book of Confessions, in 1967, and remains in the Book of Confessions adopted by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

Marian views
Mary is mentioned several times in the Second Helvetic Confession, which expounds Bullinger's mariology.   Chapter Three quotes the angel's message to the Virgin Mary, " – the Holy Spirit will come over you " – as an indication of the existence of the Holy Spirit and the Trinity. The Latin text described  Mary as diva, indicating her rank as a person, who dedicated herself to God. In Chapter Nine,  the Virgin birth of Jesus is said to be conceived by the Holy Spirit and born without the participation of any man. The Second Helvetic Confession accepted the "Ever Virgin" notion from John Calvin, which spread throughout much of Europe  with the approbation of this document in the above-mentioned countries. Bullinger's 1539 polemical treatise against idolatry expressed his belief that Mary's "sacrosanctum corpus" ("sacrosanct body") had been assumed into heaven by angels:Hac causa credimus et Deiparae virginis Mariae purissimum thalamum et spiritus sancti templum, hoc est, sacrosanctum corpus ejus deportatum esse ab angelis in coelum.

For this reason we believe that the Virgin Mary, Begetter of God, the most pure bed and temple of the Holy Spirit, that is, her most holy body, was carried to heaven by angels.The French Confession de Foy, the Scottish Confessio Fidei, the Belgian Ecclasiarum Belgicarum Confessio and the Heidelberg Catechism, all include references to the Virgin Birth, mentioning specifically, that Jesus was born without the participation of a man. Invocations to Mary were not tolerated, however, in light of Calvin's position that any prayer to saints in front of an altar is prohibited.

See also
Reformation in Switzerland
Helvetic Consensus
Confession of Basel
Consensus Tigurinus

References

Literature
Louis Thomas, La Confession helvétique (Geneva, 1853);
Philip Schaff, Creeds of Christendom, i. 390–420, iii. 234–306;
Julius Müller, Die Bekenntnisschriften der reformierten Kirche (Leipzig, 1903).

External links
The Second Helvetic Confession in English Translation
 Text of the creeds from Schaff's Creeds of Christendom (vol. 3) at the Christian Classics Ethereal Library:
The First Helvetic Confession (in its original Latin and High German translation)
The Second Helvetic Confession (in its original Latin)
 History of the creeds from Schaff's Creeds of Christendom (vol. 1) at the Christian Classics Ethereal Library:
"The First Helvetic Confession"
"The Second Helvetic Confession"

1536 works
1562 works
16th-century Christian texts
Reformation in Switzerland
Reformed confessions of faith

Helvetic Confessions


William Joseph Haselman (born May 25, 1966) is an American professional baseball coach and former player. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 13 seasons between 1990 and 2003. A first-round selection in the 1987 MLB draft, he played for the Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers. He later was the bullpen coach and first base coach for the Red Sox, and currently is the third base coach for the Los Angeles Angels. He has also served as a manager in Minor League Baseball.

Early life
Haselman was born in Long Branch, New Jersey, and graduated from Saratoga High School in Saratoga, California. At Saratoga, he played high school football in addition to baseball. He committed to play college football at the University of Nevada, Reno, but backed out in order to attend the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). There, he played for the UCLA Bruins baseball team as an understudy to Todd Zeile. He also played briefly for the UCLA Bruins football team—while some sources state he was a backup for starting quarterback Troy Aikman, Haselman has stated this is incorrect, as during his half-season with the team, the starting quarterback was David Norrie.

Playing career

Texas Rangers
Haselman was drafted as the 23rd pick of the first round of the 1987 Major League Baseball draft by the Texas Rangers. He began his professional career that year for the Gastonia Rangers of the South Atlantic League. In 1988, he was promoted to the Port Charlotte Rangers of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League, where he hit .245 in 122 games.

Haselman spent 1989 and 1990 with the Double-A Tulsa Drillers of the Texas League. He was a September call-up with the Rangers in 1990 and made his MLB debut at the age of 24 as a pinch hitter on September 3, 1990, against the Cleveland Indians.  He recorded his first hit, also as a pinch hitter, off Joe Klink of the Oakland Athletics on September 27. In 14 games, he had two hits in 13 at bats.

Haselman returned to the minors and spent 1991 and the first part of 1992 with the Oklahoma City 89ers of the Triple-A American Association.

Seattle Mariners
On May 29, 1992, Haselman was selected off waivers by the Seattle Mariners, who assigned him to the Calgary Cannons of the Pacific Coast League, where he hit .255 in 88 games with 19 home runs and 53 runs batted in (RBI). He also appeared in eight games for the Mariners in September and had five hits in 19 at bats.

Haselman spent most of 1993 as the Mariners back-up catcher and hit his first home run on May 8 off of Jim Deshaies of the Minnesota Twins. On June 6, 1993, Haselman was hit by a pitch thrown by Baltimore Orioles pitcher Mike Mussina, leading to him charging the mound and igniting a bench-clearing brawl. In parts of three seasons with Seattle, he appeared in 104 games and hit .234 with 6 home runs and 24 RBI.

Boston Red Sox
Haselman signed as a free agent with the Boston Red Sox on November 7, 1994, and played with the Red Sox through the 1997 season as a backup catcher. Haselman's most dramatic offensive performance came in a game at Fenway Park against the Toronto Blue Jays on June 27, 1995. With the bases empty and the score tied, 5–5, he pinch hit for catcher Mike Macfarlane in the bottom of the 11th inning. Haselman shattered his bat, sending a Woody Williams' offering sailing over the Green Monster to give the Red Sox their first walk-off win of their 1995 American League East division-winning campaign. Haselman's only postseason appearance was during the 1995 American League Division Series, when he played in one game against Cleveland and was hitless in two at bats.

Haselman had his best season in 1996, when he hit .274 with 8 home runs and 34 RBI in a career-high 237 at bats for the Red Sox. He also led American League catchers with a 7.64 range factor. Haselman was the battery-mate for Red Sox pitcher Roger Clemens on September 18, 1996, when Clemens struck out 20 batters in a game against the Detroit Tigers to tie his own major league single-game strikeout record in a nine-inning game.  It was also a productive night for Haselman, who had three hits and two RBIs in the memorable Red Sox victory.

Texas Rangers (second stint)
The Red Sox traded Haselman (along with Mark Brandenburg and Aaron Sele) on November 6, 1997, to the Texas Rangers for Damon Buford and Jim Leyritz. In 40 games, he hit .314 with 6 home runs.

Detroit Tigers
Haselman signed as a free agent with the Detroit Tigers on December 14, 1998. With the 1999 Tigers, he hit .273 in 48 games. The Tigers traded Haselman back to the Rangers (along with Frank Catalanotto, Francisco Cordero, Gabe Kapler, Justin Thompson and a minor leaguer) on November 2, 1999, in exchange for Juan González, Danny Patterson and Gregg Zaun.

Texas Rangers (third stint)
Haselman remained with Texas from 2000 through 2002. He appeared in at least 47 MLB games during each of those seasons. Overall, in three stints spanning parts of five seasons with the Rangers, Haselman played in 225 games and hit .273.

Late career
Haselman rejoined the Tigers again on a free agent contract on January 20, 2003, but was released on March 27, before the season started.

Haselman was signed as a free agent by the Red Sox on April 11, 2003. In his second stint with Boston, he was hitless in three at bats in four games. He played in his final major league game on September 27, 2003. He also played in 79 games with the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox.

Haselman signed as a minor-league free agent with the Baltimore Orioles on December 3, 2003, but retired at the age of 37 before playing in any games.

Career statistics
In a thirteen-year major-league career, Haselman played in 589 games, accumulating 416 hits in 1,606 at bats for a .259 career batting average, along with 47 home runs, 210 RBI and a .311 on-base percentage. He had a .991 career fielding percentage as a catcher. While predominantly a catcher (524 games), Haselman also made appearances as a designated hitter (39 games), outfielder (six games), first baseman (three games), and third baseman (one game).

Haselman played in 783 minor-league games over 10 seasons, batting .269 with 95 home runs and 400 RBIs.

Coaching and managing career
Haselman served as the Red Sox' interim first base coach in 2004, filling in for Lynn Jones from early May to late July, after Jones sustained a non-baseball eye injury. The team went on to win the World Series. Haselman served as the team's bullpen coach in 2005, and was first base coach for the 2006 season. Boston then offered him a manager position in the minor leagues, but Haselman declined, as he did not want to spend that much time away from his family.

In August 2009, Haselman was named a volunteer assistant coach, to work with catchers and act as first base coach, for the Washington Huskies baseball team, under head coach Lindsay Meggs.

In 2010, Haselman returned to professional baseball as manager of the Class A Bakersfield Blaze, a California League affiliate of the Texas Rangers. In 2011, the Red Sox hired Haselman to assist their minor-league catching instructor. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim named Haselman as the manager of the club's Inland Empire 66ers minor league team on January 9, 2012. In 2013, Haselman guided Inland Empire to a California League title.

Haselman joined the Los Angeles Dodgers organization in 2014 as the manager for the Great Lakes Loons of the Midwest League. In 2015, the Dodgers assigned Haselman to be the manager of the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes of the California League. He led them to a 78–62 record and the team's first California League championship since 1994. In 2016, Haselman became the manager of the Oklahoma City Dodgers in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League (PCL). That season, the team compiled an 81–60 record and advanced to the championship series of the PCL. He remained with the team as their manager through the 2018 season.

Following cancellation of the 2020 minor-league season, Heselman returned to Oklahoma City as bench coach and third base coach for the 2021 season.

Haselman joined the Angels' major-league staff in January 2022 as the team's catching instructor, succeeding José Molina. In July, he temporarily served as the Angels' manager for two games, due to the suspension of interim manager Phil Nevin and acting interim manager Ray Montgomery. For the 2023 season, Haselman was named the Angels' third base coach, succeeding Mike Gallego.

Personal life
Haselman and his wife have two children. After he left the Red Sox following the 2006 season, Haselman took a position working for Merrill Lynch and also worked as a postgame radio host during Seattle Mariners games. Son Ty was a catcher for the UCLA Bruins during the 2018 season.

References

External links
, or Pelota Binaria (Venezuelan Winter League)

1966 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Long Branch, New Jersey
Baseball players from Monmouth County, New Jersey
Baseball coaches from New Jersey
Major League Baseball catchers
Major League Baseball first base coaches
Los Angeles Angels coaches
Boston Red Sox coaches
Boston Red Sox players
Detroit Tigers players
Seattle Mariners players
Texas Rangers players
Bakersfield Blaze coaches
Calgary Cannons players
Cardenales de Lara players
Charlotte Rangers players
Gastonia Rangers players
Gulf Coast Red Sox players
Inland Empire 66ers coaches
Oklahoma City 89ers players
Oklahoma City Dodgers managers
Oklahoma RedHawks players
Pawtucket Red Sox players
Tiburones de La Guaira players
Trenton Thunder players
Tulsa Drillers players
UCLA Bruins baseball players
American expatriate baseball players in Canada
American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela

Bill Haselman


The law recognising the equality of the two linguistic communities of New Brunswick, or the more succinct Law 88, is a law adopted by the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, recognising the equality of the Anglophone and Francophone linguistic communities of the province.

Description

On the 17 July 1981, the Legislative Assembly adopted the law, with consists of three articles. For the first time, the statutory equality of the Acadians as a linguistic community, and urges the provincial government to protect and promote the development of the Acadian community. Law 88, more commonly referred to as "Bill 88" in English, complemented the 1969 Official Languages of New Brunswick law, which established French and English as official languages of the legislature and of the provincial administration.

The law was, however, more declaratory than practical: "The vagueness of the legislation made it extremely difficult to implement. Consequently, it ... remained idle until its [later] inclusion in the companion resolution to the 1987 Meech Lake Accord". The so-called "companion resolution" was enacted in 1993 as  Section 16.1 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Reasons for introducing the law

In 1979, the Société des Acadiens du Nouveau Brunswick had voted, at a provincial conference, for the Acadian-majority areas in the north and north-east of the province to break away and form an independent Acadian province. As well, a separatist Acadian party had been formed. As Premier Richard Hatfield would later on explain, these considerations caused Michel Bastarache, a prominent Acadian lawyer, to recommend to the premier's French lieutenant that the government "come up with some initiative to satisfy 'les Acadiens', and Bill 88 was the result."

See also

Acadia
Constitution of Canada
Richard Hatfield

Notes

External links
Loi reconnaissant l'égalité des deux communautés linguistiques officielles au Nouveau-Brunswick, L.N.-B., chap. O-1.1, 1981.

Bilingualism in Canada
New Brunswick provincial legislation
1981 in Canadian law
20th century in New Brunswick
Language legislation
1981 in New Brunswick

An Act Recognizing the Equality of the Two Official Linguistic Communities in New Brunswick