OBITUARIES of KNIGHTS AND DAMES OF THE DELEGATION OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND
(as of 11 February 2008)
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HIS MOST EMINENT HIGHNESS FRÀ ANDREW BERTIE, KJ, GCJCO,
Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta
Rome: February 2008. The Chancery with profound regret notes the death on 7 February 2008 of His Most Eminent Highness Frà Andrew Bertie, 78th Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and Malta.
Frà Bertie was first invested by HRH The Duke of Castro as Head of the Royal House of Bourbon Two Sicilies into the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George as a Knight Grand Cross of Justice in 1985. The Prince and Grand Master was later elevated to the rank of Bailiff Grand Cross with Collar in 1988 - the highest distinction within the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George. In 1993, HMEH Frà Andrew Bertie, was invested as a Knight of Royal Order of Saint Januarius - the most senior Order of the Royal House of Bourbon Two Sicilies.
Andrew Willoughby Ninian Bertie was the first Englishman to be elected to the post of Grand Master in the Order of Malta’s 900-year history. Born on 15 May 1929, he was educated at Ampleforth College, Christ Church Oxford and the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. After military service in the Scots Guards, he worked as a financial journalist in the City of London, before taking up the senior post in Modern Languages (French and Spanish) at Worth School, Sussex. Admitted to the Order of Malta in 1956, he took solemn religious vows in 1981 and served on the Sovereign Council (the government of the Order of the Malta) for the following seven years before being elected Grand Master on 8th April 1988.
His Most Eminent Highness Frà Andrew Bertie, who spoke five languages fluently, oversaw many changes in the Order of Malta, instituting a modern approach to the Order’s humanitarian programmes, increasing the membership and extending the possibilities of aid to the poor and the needy in far-flung regions. He augmented from 49 to 100 the number of the Order’s bilateral diplomatic mission, whose delicate mission it is also to offer assistance to afflicted countries in times of natural disasters or armed conflicts. He set up international conferences where members were invited to contribute to the Order’s humanitarian strategies and encouraged a greater commitment to the spiritual side of the Order’s stated mission to help the sick and the poor and to provide an example of living according to Christian principles. In addition, he modernised the internal structure and administration of the Order.
A man of quiet reflection and wide interests, although of a certain British reserve, Frà Andrew was much loved by all who worked with him on his many Order of Malta projects. He greatly enjoyed
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the company of the young, and his former students were often among his visitors to the Magistral Palace in Rome. He always much enjoyed meeting and talking with all those involved in the good works of the Order, many of whom he met on his travels around the world to visit the Order’s charitable activities and consult with the national associations involved. When possible, he spent his holidays at his home in Malta, where he was very involved in organising and teaching judo courses for children as well as tending his farm, whose four different varieties of oranges were a constant source of pride in good weather and anxiety in bad.
That His Most Eminent Highness was held in high regard is evidenced by the many honours bestowed on him: honorary citizen of Rapallo (1992), of Veroli (1993), Lourdes (1999), Magione (2002), Birgu (2003) and Santa Severina (2003). In Bolivia in 2002 he was created Huesped Ilustre (La Paz, El Alto and Santa Cruz), Path to Peace Award 2005, Matteo Ricci Award 2006. Honorary doctorates included Medicine and surgery, University of Bologna (1992); Jurisprudence, University of Malta (1993), Humanities, University of Santo Domingo (1995), Universidad Catolica Boliviana San Pablo, Bolivia (2002) and Laws, St. John’s University, Minnesota (2003).
His Most Eminent Highness was also the holder of many decorations from over 50 countries and dynasties. These included the Collar of the Order of Pius IX from the Holy See, the Collar of the Italian Republic and the Grand Cross of the Legion d’Honneur of France.
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Sidney Shipton, OBE, KFO,
London - January 2008.The Chancery regrets to announce the death of 11 January 2008 of Mr Sidney Shipton, OBE, - a Knight First Class of the Royal Order of Francis I. Mr Shipton was invested into the Order in London in November 2006.
Sidney Lawrence Shipton was born in London in 1929 and was a solicitor by profession with a Bachelor’s of Law from the University of London. He practised Law from 1954 until the 1970s when he became a full time professional in the voluntary not for profit sector. He obtained his Master’s in Business Administration from Middlesex Business School. Mr Shipton was a Freeman of the City of London; a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. Mr Shipton was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2004 New Years Honours list.
Those within the Order will have known Mr Shipton for his longstanding work as the Co-ordinator (and later Director) of the Three Faiths Forum (a National interfaith dialogue forum for Muslims, Christians and Jews and partner money of the Constantinian Order.
Sidney Shipton held both honorary offices and the post of Chief Executive with several national and international voluntary organisations. He served on the Board of Deputies of British Jews for many years. For some years he was the honorary secretary of the British Section of the International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists and honorary secretary and later vice chairman of the British Section of the World Jewish Congress. In 1987 he set up and organised an educational and charitable organisation with the purpose of bringing together Jews of differing streams of Judaism, background and heritage with a view to promoting mutual understanding. Mr Shipton was an Executive Member of the London Civic Forum and was an active participant in three Wilton Park Conferences on Islam. During 2005-2006 Mr Shipton participated in interfaith conferences in Sarajevo, Seville and Doha.
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The Most Reverend Maurice Couve de Murville, GCGCO, MA, STL,
Littlehampton - November 2007. The Chancery regrets to announce the death of 21 November 2007 of The Most Reverend Maurice Couve de Murville, Emeritus Archbishop of Birmingham and an Ecclesiastical Knight Grand Cross of Grace of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George. Archbishop Couve de Murville was invested into the Order on 12 July 1994.
Archbishop Couve de Murville was born in St Germain-en-Laye, France, into a distinguished French family originally from Mauritius. He was educated at Downside School in Bath, and read history at Trinity College, Cambridge (MA). He studied at the seminary of Saint-Suplice, and earned his STL from the Institut Catholique in Paris.
The Archbishop was ordained a priest on 29 June 1957, for the Diocese of Southwark. His first appointment was as curate at St Anselm's, Dartford (1957-60), and as curate at St Joseph's, Brighton (1960-61). He later served as Priest-in-Charge at St Francis, Moulescoomb (1961-64). In 1961, he was also appointed as chaplain at the University of Sussex. He established a Catholic chaplaincy in Brighton in 1964, called Howard House.
Archbishop Maurice received an MPhil in Assyro-Babylonian studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London in 1975, and moved to Cambridge in 1977, when he was appointed chaplain at Cambridge University, based at Fisher House. He remained in Cambridge until the surprise announcement from the Holy See on 22 January 1982 that he was to succeed Archbishop George Patrick Dwyer as Archbishop of Birmingham, the third most senior post in the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales. He was ordained as Archbishop at St Chad's Metropolitan Cathedral on the Feast of the Annunciation, 25 March 1982. One of his first duties was to welcome Pope John Paul II at Coventry Airport on Pentecost Sunday, 30 May 1982, the third day of the Pope's Pastoral Visit to Great Britain.
The Archbishop was particularly involved in developing religious education of the laity in his Archdiocese, and helped to establish the Maryvale Institute, near Birmingham, as an international Catholic College for Theology, Religious Education and Catechesis. Cardinal Newman established the English Congregation of the Oratory at Maryvale on 1 February 1848. With validation from the Pontifical University, Maynooth and the Open University, it now offers undergraduate, postgraduate and research degree programmes.
He was Chairman of the Governing Body of the Newman College of Higher Education in Birmingham. In 2007, it was announced that Newman College would become a University College and obtain degree-awarding powers. He fostered ties between Oscott and the Catholic University of Louvain, and established links with Birmingham University.
Archbishop Maurice was a member of the Friends of Cardinal Newman, and supported the Fathers of the Birmingham Oratory in the Cause for his beatification and canonisation of their founder, the Venerable John Henry Cardinal Newman. In 1999, following a prostate operation, he submitted his resignation to the Pope, who permitted him to retire five years early, on health grounds.
In retirement, the Archbishop returned to Sussex and lived in Horsham. He was the Principal Chaplain of the British Association of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (1987-1991, 2001-2007). He became an Honorary Doctor of Divinity at Birmingham University in 1996.
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Captain Gerard Salvin, KM, KJCO,
Durham - November 2006. The Chancery regrets to announce the death of 2 November 2006 of Captain Gerard Salvin, a Knight of Justice of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George. Captain Salvin was invested into the Order in London on 30 June 1988.
Captain Salvin was an officer in the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards. He was also a landowner in County Durham. Gerard was born Gerard Roberts, the son of ML Roberts in County Durham. Gerard Salvin married Rosemary Green on 24 September 1955 at Ampleforth Abbey. Captain Salvin was also a Knight of Malta.
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Major-General The Right Honourable Viscount Monckton of Brenchley, CB, OBE, MC, KM, GCJCO, GCFO, DL,
Harrietsham - June 2006. Major-General The Right Honourable Viscount Monckton of Brenchley, CB, OBE, MC, KM, GCJCO, GCFO, DL,
Harrietsham - June 2006. It is with much sadness that the Chancery of the Delegation announces the death of longstanding delegation member, Major-General The Right Honourable Viscount Monckton of Brenchley, a Bailiff Knight Grand Cross of Justice of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St George and Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Francis I. Viscount Monckton was born in 1915 and was first invested in the Order in 1975.
Viscount Monckton graduated from Harrow and Trinity College in Cambridge in 1939 and was commissioned into the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards with which he joined the British Expeditionary Force in France. In 1940 Viscount Monckton was awarded the Military Cross. Later he was a Brigade Major of an armoured brigade in England and joined the 3rd King’s Own Hussars in 1944 in Palestine. He went with it to Italy and serve there until the end of the Italian Campaign when he returned to his own regiment in Germany.
Viscount Monckton commanded A Squadron of the “Skins” in Korea between 1951-1952 and was promoted lieutenant–colonel to join the military operations branch in the War Office in 1953. During his subsequent 2 years in Whitehall he was a member of the British delegation to the Geneva Conference on French Indo-China and Korea and was appointed by HM The Queen as an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services in 1956. He was then appointed to command the 12th Royal Lancers with the British Army of the Rhine and was later promoted to Commander of the Royal Armoured Corps units in the 3rd Division and elsewhere in the UK. Viscount Monckton who was appointed by HM The Queen as a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1966 before leaving the British Army in 1967 two years after assuming the viscountcy. He was appointed High Sheriff of Kent in 1981.
Viscount Monckton had been a very supportive member of the British and Irish delegation of the Constantinian Order and its charitable activities and in recognition of this and in addition to holding one of the highest ranks within the Constantinian Order was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Francis I in 2006.
Viscount Monckton was also a Knight of the Venerable Order of St John and Chairman of the Council of the Order of St John for Kent between 1969–1975. Viscount Monckton converted to the Roman Catholic faith and later became President of the British Association of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta from 1974 to 1983. V He was invested as a Bailiff Grand Cross of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta in the rank of Grand Cross of Obedience. He was responsible for the formation of the Order of Malta Volunteers (OMV) that encouraged young Catholics to work together, by accompanying pilgrimages to Lourdes and helping the destitute.
He was Colonel of the 9th/12th Royal Lancers between 1967-1973, Honorary Colonel of the Kent and Sharpshooters Yeomanry Squadron, 1974-1979, President of the Anglo-Belgian Union 1973-1983, ( he was decorated by HM The King of the Belgians as a Commander of the Order of the Crown and a Grand Officer of the Order of Leopold II), the Medway Production Association, 1968-1972, the Kent Archaeological Society, 1968-1975 and the Kent Association of Boy’s Clubs, 1965-1978.
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Mr Nicola Vecchione, KSG, KCMCO,
Ruislip - June 2006. The Chancery regrets to announce the death of longstanding delegation member, Nicola Vecchione, - a Knight Commander of Merit with Star of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St George, within the British and Irish Delegation.
Mr Vecchione was first invested in the Order in 1989 and was knighted by the His late Holiness Pope John Paul II as a Knight of the Pontifical Order of St Gregory the Great in recognition of his contribution to the Catholic community in Great Britain.
Mr Vecchione was also honoured by the Polish Government-in-Exile shortly before the restoration of democracy in the Central European nation. He was also a member of the Education Commission of the Archdiocese of Westminster and a prominent businessman.
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John Brooke-Little, CVO, KM, GCGCO, FSA,
London – February 2006. The Chancery regrets to announce the death of longstanding delegation member, John Brooke-Little, - a Knight Grand Cross of Grace of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St George.
Mr Brooke-Little was first invested in the Order in 1975 and had been a supportive member of the British and Irish delegation and its charitable activities even though his period of long illness.
Mr Brooke-Little joined the College of Arms in 1957 and held the posts of Norroy & Ulster King of Arms from 1980 to 1995 and Clarenceux King of Arms from 1995 until his retirement in 1997. He founded the Heraldry Society in 1950 and became its President in 1997 as well as edited its magazine "Coat of Arms".
A renowned author and editor of numerous books and publications on the subject of heraldry, Mr Brooke-Little was also the Director of the Heralds' Museum at the Tower of London.
HM The Queen appointed him a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in 1984. Mr Brooke-Little also served as Chancellor of the British Association of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta from 1973-1977 and eventually held the rank of Knight Grand Cross of Grace and Devotion. Among numerous other awards were those of Knight of Justice of the Most Venerable Order of St John of Jerusalem and the Cruz Distinguida (1st class) de San Raimundo de Penafort (Spain).
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His Excellency Sheikh Zaki Badawi, KBE, GCFO,
London – January 2006. The Chancery regrets to announce the death of His Excellency Sheikh Zaki Badawi a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Francis I, within the Delegation of Great Britain and Ireland. Sheikh Zaki was decreed into the Royal Order in 2005.
Sheikh Zaki, who was decreed a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Francis I in 2005, was one of the principal driving forces behind the inter-religious activities of the Constantinian Order and the Royal Order of Francis I in Britain and Ireland as well as across the Arab and Muslim world. Sheikh Zaki, who was awarded an honorary knighthood in 2004 by HM The Queen, was Principal of the Muslim College of Great Britain and Co-Founder of the Three Faith Forum which he created together with longstanding Delegation member, Sir Sigmund Sternberg.
Sheikh Zaki attended many of the events of the Delegation and also spoke at our 2003 Annual Dinner held in the presence of the Delegation’s prior, His Eminence Cormac, Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor, Archbishop of Westminster.
British and Irish Delegate Anthony Bailey said “Zaki’s passing has come as a great shock to me personally and undoubtedly to the many in our dynastic orders who worked with him on developing our Order’s interfaith projects at home and abroad. He was a true giant among men and represented the very best of not only his Muslim faith but also of the Christian and Jewish faiths. Zaki is truly irreplaceable and the country and the world has lost, and will greatly mourn, a great man devoted to peace and harmony among God’s people”.
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Mr John Victor Monckton, KM, KJCO,
London – November 2004. The Chancery regrets to announce the death of Mr John Victor Monckton, as a Knight of Justice of the Constantinian Order in 1988.
John, a well known London businessman, was tragically murdered following a break in at his home in central London.
Educated at Downside and Lincoln College, Oxford, John went into the City of London and rose to the position of Managing Director of Bonds at Legal & General Group PLC – a leading insurance firm. John was a cousin of the late Gilbert, Viscount Monckton of Brenchley himself a Constantinian Knight. John Victor Monckton also became a Knight of Malta in 1977.
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Mrs Coral Elletson, DGCO,
Lancaster – June 2004. The Chancery regrets to announce the death of Mrs Coral Elletson, Dame of Grace of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George within the Delegation of Great Britain and Ireland. Mrs Elletson was invested into the Order in 2001 and was the mother of former MP, Dr Harold Elletson – a Knight of the Royal Order of Francis I.
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Dr Peter Bander-van Duren, CStJ, KCSG, GCCO, GOML, CCVV, FCCR,
Gerrards Cross – April 2004. It is with much sadness that the Chancery of the British & Irish Delegations notes the death on 21 April 2004, aged 73, of our confrere and renowned author, Dr Peter Bander van Duren.
Dr Bander van Duren was first invested into the Constantinian Order as a Knight of Grace in December 1981 and was promoted by order of HRH The Grand Master, to the high rank of Knight Grand Cross with Gold Star within the Special Category, on St George's Day 1985.
Peter Bander van Duren was a well known and much liked Delegation member, and was the leading international authority on papal, state, catholic and dynastic orders of knighthood. Dr Bander van Duren's noteworthy titles included ‘Orders of Knighthood and of Merit and their relationship to the Apostolic See' and ‘The Cross and the Sword'.
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Mrs Florence Riggs, DGCO,
Waterford – June 2003. The Chancery regrets to announce the death of Mrs Florence Riggs, Dame of Grace of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George within the Delegation of Great Britain and Ireland. Mrs Riggs was invested into the Order in 2001 and was devoted to many charitable and Catholic causes across Great Britain and Ireland.
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Mr Desmond Fitz Gerald, KM, KJCO,
Cirencester - April 2003. The Chancery regrets to announce the death of Mr Desmond Fitz Gerald, Knight of Justice of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George within the Delegation of Great Britain and Ireland. Mr Fitz Gerald was invested into the Order in 1986.
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Mr Rory O’Donoghue, KM, KGCO,
London – November 2002. The Chancery regrets to announce the death of Mr Rory O’Donoghue, Knight of Grace of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George within the Delegation of Great Britain and Ireland. Mr O’Donoghue was invested into the Order in 2000.
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The Right Honourable Lord Hailsham of Saint Marylebone,
KG, CH, QC, FRS,
London – October 2001. It is with much regret that the Chancery notes the passing of the Rt Hon Lord Hailsham of Saint Marylebone. Lord Hailsham was a gold medallist of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George, and died on 12 October 2001 at the age of 94.
Lord Hailsham (left) was one of the greatest and most colourful figures of both British politics and English Law since the Second World War. His life spanned almost the whole of the last century and he played a leading role in many of the main events of it.
The eldest son of the 1st Viscount Hailsham, Lord High Chancellor of England, Quintin McGarel Hogg followed his father into politics and the law after a distinguished career at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, where he gained firsts in Mods and Greats and was elected a Fellow of All Souls at the age of 24. He was called to the Bar in 1932 and elected to Parliament in a controversial by-election in 1938.
When war broke out, he joined the Rifle Brigade and was wounded serving with the Middle Eastern Land Forces in the Western Desert in 1941. When he returned to politics, Prime Minister Winston Churchill appointed him Under-Secretary of State for Air.
He was elevated to the House of Lords in 1950 after his father's death and took silk in 1953, becoming a Bencher of Lincoln's Inn in 1956. That same year, Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden asked him to serve as First Lord of the Admiralty and he played a prominent part in the Suez crisis, defending the deployment of British troops in the Canal Zone. He served as Education Minister under Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and was appointed Lord President of the Council and Chairman of the Conservative Party in 1957. He became Lord Privy Seal after the Conservatives' election victory in 1959 and was given various ad hoc tasks, including the negotiation of a nuclear test ban treaty in Moscow.
In 1963, he suffered the greatest disappointment of his career when he was defeated in his bid for the leadership of the Conservative Party. Consolation came in 1970, however, when Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath gave him the chance to follow his father onto the Woolsack as Lord High Chancellor, a position he also occupied in Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's government from 1979-87.
He was appointed by Her Majesty The Queen a Companion of Honour in 1974 and created a Knight of the Garter in 1988. He is succeeded by his son the Hon Douglas Hogg, MP, and leaves one other son and three daughters.
REQUIESCANT IN PACEM
