HISTORIC DUKEDOM

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIII, 12 June 1929, Page 3

HISTORIC DUKEDOM

ENGLAND'S PREMIER PEER K.VMOUN HOWARD FAMILY Willi lite (UHiintg of <ngis•'recently of the .Duke of Norfolk vv{u> is Llto Premier Duke and Karl of England, a gleam from :i historic prist is shed mi t.he life <rf to-day. ''Che Lilies of Ihe sixteenth Duko of Norfolk and his family name, Howard, recall a thousand years of British 'history. A youth of 21 is Duke of Norfolk, Karl of Arundel, Surrey and Norfolk, Baron Eitzalau, Cluii, Oswaldostrc and Maltnivers, Karl Marshal and Hereditary .Marshal of England, Premier Duke and Premier Earl of England. Besides, lie is chief heir to "the blood of all I lie Howards.';

The young duke has held his titles since 1917. Being a minor, hn.we.ver, lie could not assume legal control of his vast properties, landed and personal. 1:1 is age would have prevented him, also, from exercising the chief duties of an Earl Marshal, if fate had brought a new king to the throne of England. First, among the duties of an Earl Marshal are those pertaining to> the. direction of a coronation, with all its traditional and colourful ceremonies. The father of the present duke was Earl Marshal .at the coronations of King Edward VII. and King George V. Had the Prince of Wales ascended the throne during the minority of the young duke, his uncle, Viscount Fitzalnn, would have officiated as Earl Marshal.

According to Burke's Peerage, the I "ducal and illustrious Howards" (of whom the Duke, of Norfolk is chief) "stand, next to the blood royal, at the head of the peerage of England." It is said that the first. Howard (or Hereward) of note lived in the of King Edgar, a century before the Norman Conquest. For centuries the Howards have played prominent parts in the drama of .English history. They have fought in all wars from the Wars of the Poses to the World War, and have distinguished themselves in the Church, in Statecraft, in art, in literature and in science. They have been Dukes of Norfolk since 1483. Sir Esme Howard, a kinsman of the duke, is now British ' Ambassador to the United States. . The late and fifteenth duke served in the South African War, and was also Postmaster-General of England. By his first marriage he had a son, who bore the courtesy title of Earl of Arundel and Surrey' and who died unmarried. The duke' later married the Baroness Heme's,' holder of one of the few titles in the British peerage which are hentable in the female, line. U she dies before her son. the duke, her title, will be merged with, those of the dukedom.