Barry Maxwell, 12th Baron Farnham
The Rt. Hon. Barry Owen Somerset Maxwell, 12th Baron Farnham (7 July 1931 – 22 March 2001), was a British peer and baron.
The 12th Lord Farnham was the son of Somerset Arthur Maxwell, and grandson of Arthur Maxwell, 11th Baron Farnham. He was educated at Eton and Harvard Business School. On his grandfather's death, he succeeded as 12th Baron Farnham (and 15th of his family Baronetcy). He was a high ranking freemason[1] and held office in the United Grand Lodge of England as Senior Grand Warden 1977-78, Assistant Grand Master 1982-89, Deputy Grand Master 1989-91, and Pro Grand Master 1991-2001.[citation needed]
He was due to retire on or about his 70th birthday; a few months before which he died and was succeeded in the barony by his brother, Simon Kenlis Maxwell, who lived in England.
His wife, Diana, CVO, the Dowager Baroness since 1987, is a co-Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth II.[2] Lady Farnham rode alongside the Queen on the way to the Diamond Jubilee service on 5 June 2012 in the absence (through illness) of the Duke of Edinburgh.[3]
What is now Farnham Estate Hotel was the on-site replacement to the family seat and its main structure was commissioned around 1780 by Barry Maxwell, 1st Earl of Farnham and designed by James Wyatt. Its conversion was enabled when Lady Farnham sold it to a local entrepreneur.[4]
References
- ^ "Time to lift the apron: Pressure is mounting for the Freemasons in big business to reveal all". The Independent. 19 September 1992.
- ^ "Ladies in Waiting and Equerries". Official website of the Royal Family.
- ^ "Lady-in-waiting Diana Lady Farnham Accompanying The Queen at The..." Getty Images.
- ^ "National Library of Ireland - Collection List No. 95 - FARNHAM PAPERS" (PDF). National Library of Ireland. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
- Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990. (ISBN 033338847X)
- Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages [self-published source] [better source needed]
- Leigh Rayment's list of baronets
- Senior freemason appointed as Pro Grand Master
- Obituary. (dated 2 April 2001)