The Washington herald., 1911-10-11
MARRIAGE UNITES TWO
GREAT DUCAL HOUSES

PidCe next week, the date nAVlnB Occn
changed at the request Of King George
and Queen Mar. will unite two Of the
greatest ducal houses of England. The
prospective bridegroom is the son and
heir of the Duke of Northumberland,
and a nephew TO the Duke of Argyll, and
whose wife is Princess Louise, a daughter
of Queen Victoria. He saw service in
South Africa.
Lady Helen is the daughter of the
Duke of Richmond. and Gordon. The
royal pair will attend. 1t will be the
first wedding they will honor with their
presence since King Georges accession
to the throne
OF the two dukedoms, that of Richmond
is the more ancient. its title dating from
1913, when by the favor of King Charles
II, Lord Settrlngton. his son, by a royal
favorite. was enrolled in the British
peerage as Earl of March and Duke
Of Richmond. and a month later as
Duke of Lennox in Scotland The lady
IN question was Louise Rene de Per-
encourt de Querouaille. of France. whom
King Charles created a Duchess of
Portsmouth, Countess of Fareham. and
Baroness Peterfield. and who, by his
XIV, was made a Duchess dAubigny.
But not satisfied with showering all these
honors upon his illegitimate son. the
King made him a Knisht Of the Garter
also, and followed this up by making
him peer of Ireland. too, under the
name Of Duke of Gordon.
The Dukedom of Northumberland, il
Is true, dates only from 1714, when Sir
Hugh Smithson, second Earl of North
cumberland. was created a duke Of that
name, but the family was founded by
one of the chieftains of William the
Conqueror. in 1866. by the name of Will
lam de Percy. a descendant of Godfrey,
son of Manfred the Danish chief, who
in 9l2 assisted Rollo in subjugating Nor
mandy
Lady Helen. who was born in 1885, has
acted as hostess for her father since
the marriage of her elder sister, in 1904
and frequently entertained King Edward
and Queen Alexandra. both at Good
wood House and at Gordon Castle. She
was hostess also to King George and
Queen Mary this season when they Wis
tied her father, the duke, for the Scot
tish season.
Following close upon the demise of his
confrere. the Nizam of Hyderabad,
comes the announcement that the i'll
ness Of the Maharajah OF Cooch-B -Behar
has ended fatally. The Indian prince
had been in England since the corona
tion. He had been in poor health for
the past two years. The maharaj jah
paid his first visit to England over
thirty years ago had been there on
many occasion since, and was popular
in London society. He attended Queen
Victoria jubilee. and was one of her
majesty's escort OF Indian princes. while
at King Edwards coronation he was in
personal attendance on his majesty as
his aid de camp.
Born in 1862. he succeeded. when he was
a child, to the throne of Cooch Behar.
an important principality occupying a
considerable portion of Bengal. and hav-
Ing a population Of about 100000. Mar
ried at the age of sixteen. the prince be-
came the father of four sors and three
daughters. All the sons were educated
at Eton. and the eldest completed his
training a Christ Church, and for some
years has been associated with his faith
er in the administration Of the principal |
ity.
His highness held the commission Of
honorary colonel in the British army. In
1897 he volunteered for service in the
frontier war and was present at the
capture of Sha mana Ridge as we'll as at
Dargai. He also volunteered for service !
in the South African war. For his serv
Ices in the Tirah he received the Com |
panionship of the Bath. On the occa- !
sion of his installation as ruler of Cooch |
Behar, the prince declared, 1T shall he |
my earnest endeavor to do justice to the
great trust which l now undertake"
That pledge he fully redeemed, for no
native state has been better governed |
than that of Behar. He ruled with jus
tice and wisdom, and was beloved by his !
people. The result is that the state has
been one of the most prosperous in Ben |
gal and one of the few Indian principal |
tiles that has never known famine. |
incidentally, he has been the best shot |
in his tiger-infested domain. having !
slain more than 100 Of the Bengal man |
caters
Sir Charles lingo Thomas permanent
secretary to the British admiralty, re-
tired the end of last month, and was sue !
ceeded by Sir William Graham Greene, |
the present assistant secretary. Sir !
Charles Thomas belongs to the family of |
which his nephew, Lord Willingdon, is |
the head. The old Sussex family of Free |
mans have been settled at Ration for |
centuries, and his grandfather added the
name of Thomas under the terms of the /
will of his maternal uncle, Sir William !
Thomas. of Yapton. The family was |
gifted one, and Sir Charles brothers all |
rose to positions of distinction.
Born in 1916, he was educated at Marl- |
borough, and entered the secretary's de- |
partment at the admiralty in 1855. His |
and discretion soon won him
a place as private secretary to the sea :
lords. and from this he was promoted to
the important post of head Of the secret
and political branch. In this position he
had to deal with such important matters
as the Samoa and Fashoda Incidents, the |
relief expedition to Pekin, and the Cretan
question. The service which he was able
to render in this capacity brought him
the Order of the Bath, and nine years /
ago he succeeded to the post of assistant |
secretary of the admiralty. Having occu-
pied that position for five years, on the
of Sir Evan MacGregor he was |
made permanent secretary.
Sir William Greene, like his predeces-
sor, has been the head Of the political
and secret service branch Of the admiral
ty. He has been connected with that
office in one capacity or another for
thirty-two years, and for quite number
of years he acted as private secretary
to successive first lords. Two years aga
he was appointed a member Of the newly
created navy war council In this posi-
ton he had much to do with the prelimi-
Darv the organization |