Baroness Role Models

Angela Burdett-Coutts, 1st Baroness Burdett-Coutts.

King Edward VII is reported to have said "After my mother (Queen Victoria), the most remarkable woman in the kingdom."

In my search to find out what a Baroness does, I came across this article in wikipedia and would love to aspire to this and do such good one day.

Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts, 1st Baroness Burdett-Coutts (24 April 1814 – 30 December 1906), born Angela Georgina Burdett, was the daughter of Sir Francis Burdett, 5th Baronet, an MP, and the former Sophia Coutts, who was the daughter of Thomas Coutts, the wealthy banker who founded Coutts & Co.

In 1837 she became the wealthiest woman in England when she inherited her grandfather's fortune of nearly three million pounds sterling via his wife Harriot Mellon, joining, by Royal Licence, the surnames of her father and grandfather to become Burdett-Coutts, and was widely known as "the richest heiress in England". She was a collector of significant paintings, and following the Westminster Hall competition of 1847, she purchased Robert Scott Lauder's Christ Walking on the Sea. The Reverend Richard Harris Barham, in a ballad he wrote under the pen name "Thomas Ingoldsby" for the Queen's coronation as part of the Ingoldsby Legends, referred to her as 'Miss Anjaley Coutts' and she became a notable subject of public curiosity, receiving numerous offers of marriage.

She also inherited the country house at The Holly Lodge in Highgate, which was then just outside London, where she was famous for throwing large parties. However, she spent the majority of her inherited wealth on scholarships, endowments, and a wide range of philanthropic causes. One of her earliest was to establish a home to help young women who had 'turned to a life of immorality' escape from prostitution.

 

Some other projects she did were:

• President, British Beekeepers Association 1878–1906
• President of the Ladies Committee of the RSPCA (England/Scotland).
• the building of Anglican churches
• church bells for St Paul's cathedral
• cotton gins for Nigeria
• drinking fountains for dogs
• help for Turkish peasants and the refugees of the 1877 Russo-Turkish War, receiving the order of the Medjidieh, the only time it was conferred on a woman
• housing schemes for the working-class
• lifeboats in Brittany, France
• The London Ragged School Union
• a sewing school for women in Spitalfields when the silk trade declined
• soup kitchens
• support organisations for the aboriginal peoples of Australia and for the Dayaks of Borneo
• The Temperance Society
• in Ireland she helped to promote the fishing industry by starting schools, and providing boats, also advancing £250,000 in 1880 for supplying seed to the impoverished tenants
• placement of hundreds of destitute boys in training-ships for the navy and merchant service
• financing the first archaeological survey of Jerusalem in 1864 to improve its sanitation
• prominent supporter of the British Horological Institute at a crucial time in its history, due to her acquaintance with John Jones, a BHI founder

 

She also established the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) in 1883, the Westminster Technical Institute in 1893 and was closely involved with the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA). Angela also founded Columbia Road market in 1869 in Bethnal Green in the East End of London, the district where much of her work was carried out. Through her support of missionary and nursing efforts she was associated with Louisa Twining and Florence Nightingale.

Audrey Hepburn, daughter of a Dutch Baroness

Since finding out about the title I have been looking for role models; being that my mother passed away and she is not here to guide me through. Also I have been looking critically at how society views Baronesses. I have done this by learning about Baronesses and have decided to feature some of the ones I find the most interesting.

Whenever anyone thinks of unassuming style and sophistication, Audrey Hepburn comes to mind. I was watching one of my favorite movies Roman Holiday and started wondering if Audrey had some royal blood because she is so aristocratic looking in all of her roles and even if she didn't she is an excellent role model for an aristocrat.

I came across How to Be Lovely: The Audrey Hepburn Way of Life. This biography is a selection of Audrey's thoughts on issues ranging from poverty stricken countries to her views on how to be charming. One of the excerpts mentioned her mother who turns out to BE A BARONESS!?
What better way to learn about a Baroness then from her own daughter? Below is the excerpt.

Listen to Your Mother
Audrey's mother, born Baroness Ella van Heemstra, grew up "wanting more than anything else to be English, slim, and an actress," but her aristocratic heritage prevented such foolishness. Marriage and motherhood were on her agenda.

"Being the daughter of a baroness doesn't make you any different, except that my mother was born in 1900 and had had herself a very strict, Victorian upbringing, if you like. So, she was very demanding of us-of me and my brothers. 'Manners,' as she would say, 'don't forget, are kindnesses. You must always be kind.' Opening the door for old ladies is just a routine so that you know she's helped. And she was always very adamant about that."
"My mother taught me to stand straight, sit erect, use discipline with wine and sweets and to smoke only six cigarettes a day."
"I was given an outlook on life by my mother. . . . It was frowned upon not to think of others first. It was frowned upon not to be disciplined."
"It's that wonderful old-fashioned idea that others come first and you come second. This was the whole ethic by which I was brought up. Others matter more than you do, so don't fuss, dear; get on with it."
"As a child, I was taught that it was bad manners to bring attention to yourself, and to never, ever make a spectacle of yourself. . . .
All of which I've earned a living doing."

-Audrey Hepburn

"I can really take no credit for any talent that Audrey may have. If it's real talent, it's God-given. I might as well be proud of a blue sky, or the paintings in the Flemish exhibition at the Royal Academy."
—her mother, Baroness Ella van Heemstra Hepburn-Ruston

Busy Baroness

Well I have gotten the ok from the association governing the title and now am completely official. Then on the same day I received a huge assignment for school. I wonder what they would do if I sent it back with a note speaking in third person like, " The Baroness shall not be doing anymore work for the semester she is busy getting ready for meeting the Ambassador, two Galas, and on top of that planning a wedding to her "fiancee" who has really been her husband for almost four years. Also he recently found out that he has a little royal blood in him as well and we are now appealing to the Court of Lyon in Scotland to get more information.

Now i see why royalty has assistants! So to help ease the to-do list we have decided to sign up for an online concierge service called Red Butler. Their link is http://www.redbutler.com/ They are $35 a month and look very competent and we chose them over http://www.asksunday.com/. Both are competent companies but Red Butler seemed to have that extra polish we needed in order to arrange all the particulars for the social calendar that has come with the title. In addition we have just, out of shear luck, secured a very chic apartment in a sought after upscale elevator doorman building and we are getting a maid to come twice a month.

I have never been very good at pampering myself but since I found out about my title it seemed like a good excuse to make some little changes. Little changes turned into big changes and I look forward to what the future will bring.

I feel a bit of responsibility to the country the title comes from, even though there is no monarchy there anymore I would like to help the poor anyway that I could. So I am donating some money to a children's charity for the country. It is not much because I am essentially a broke Baroness until I finish law school. But in time I hope to do more. In this way I see that a title is in someway an obligation to try and do more for the country it comes from.

"Would you like to meet the ambassador"?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not actual invitation but looks the same

 

Hi-

So I have not used my title at a restaurant or at a hotel to try and get upgrades yet. But I have sent it over to be reviewed by the governing body of the Nobility which the title comes from. I am a law student and I want to shore up any lose ends so as to avoid an embarrassing episode with me being announced as the Baroness X and then seeing that the Baroness X was already at the event. That would be really embarrassing.

I did not expect to get a response from the governing body but they got back to me within 2 days!!!!

They sent me over thier social calendar for the year and it included dinner with the Ambassador of the Country. So now what do I do?

There is no way that I can go because it falls smack in the middle of my final exams for Lawschool and I do not think it would go over well if I requested to take them off to meet the Ambassador. I could see the blank face and possible motioning for security by my school's Registrar.

The good news is I get to write my first letter kindly declinng the invitation and using my title. Not even sure how to do that so I am going to Barnes and Nobles to buy a book on it, hopefully they have one.

Any advice on if I should ask my school to reschedule my exam or any royal letter writing advice would be great too!!!!

I'm a Baroness but my friend is a Princess !

Well I have had my first encounter with royalty and apparently it happened in 1998 and I didnt even know it. I met a friend in college who I am still very close with and I confided to her my new family history discovery. Well...it turns out that she beat me to the whole royal title thing and her grandmother was part of the imperial family of a now defunct Monarchy. Based on this her father was eligible for the title of Prince but in order to get the title he would have had to become a resident of the country, live there for about 5 years and then he could claim his title. Now the title of Prince is not that of a ruling Prince it is that of a Princely family so it is easy to see how one generation may break the chain and decided not to claim it.

But I have high hopes in the future that her father may decide to claim it and then she might become an official. Not that it matters because she is awsome eitherway. So my royalty thunder has been stolen a little bit because Princess definitely tops Baroness and there is no one I would rather be a sister of blue blood then her.

I'll take the title with the moon roof and leather seats.

My education on royal titles is growing everyday. Titles are like physical property, they have a deed like grant, and usually have to be registered. It seems the process of acquiring and registering a title is very similar to buying a car. In may case it was inherited so I did not get to pick it out or alter it. I am not complaining I just found that there is a whole industry , some say legit and some say scams, but an industry nonetheless devoted to the selling of titles.

According to various sources you can buy a title for as low as $200 to over a million dollars. Out of curiosity I looked at the titles that were offered for about $200. These titles could be Lord, Lady, Countess, Duchess, and even Baroness?! But a closer looks shows that these titles are nothing but a legal name change which allows the buyer of the title to change their name to Lord or Lady etc. ......... The benefits are that they get a new passport, debit cards, and any other piece of ID with their new identity and title. Also stylish flashy business cards and even a coat of arms and parchment with title written on it.

After seeing all these perks I rushed to examine mine to see if I could get all those bells and whistles. To my surprise I found that it is frowned upon to put ones title on passports and the like. So this leaves me again to wonder, 'What the hell do you do with one?" I am still curious about what to do with it and have made appointment with the manager of my bank to see if they put a royal title on the account info or have ever been asked that question. I will blog about my experience and hopefully will have some funny story out of it where I do not end up getting escorted out my security.

U.S. Constitution

I just wanted to put this out there that I know that the "title" is not recognized in the U.S. because according to the Constiution no American has to recognize a foreign title. Just wanted to put that disclaimer out there.

My husband is now a Baron

Hello-

I have spoken to my husband and after a few minutes of explaning the family tree and papers scanned and e-mailed by my mother's relatives. He obviously, was very skeptical but then after careful analyzation of the documents and sending them to his lawyer to review he has accepted it.

Now he is in the same boat as I am in not knowing how to use the title or even if to use it. He does think the social expirement is a good idea and we intend to use the name when we go to NYC on vacation. To practice we have tried to say the title out loud. We usually could not get through Baron or Baroness without laughing. This is never going to work if we can't say the title without laughing about how rediculous it is and also due to the country it is from it is really hard to say. We also do not speak the language of the country so I can only imagine what problems we may run into. So we have decided to start to learn the language just in case.

We have also gotten the suggestion from our lawyer to hire someone to coordinate our activites with the title. Again, I re-emphasize that this is not an option due to the title having no wealth and that we are not going to dig into our pockets. Also we have decided to not tell my husband's family.

Now we are the clueless Baroness and Baron. I am embarassed to convey my confusion to my mother's family because they are Counts and Countesses and I am worried that if I ask questions they may look at me like I have two heads because I do not know the answers and obviously did not get all the proper "training". What makes things more complicated is I am going to meet them next year and so I would like to have more wherewithall by then.

I'm a Baroness?!

So, I have never blogged before and now I think might be a good time. How to start? Maybe I should start with how my parents met? No, that isn't what I want to talk about. What I want to talk about does have to do with family though. My mother passed when I was young and came from a very well off European Family. Since my mother passing away I have not known her family or cousins up until a few years ago when we found each other on the internet. Geneology seems to run in our blood so I found my mother's father's family and so on. I have just been informed by this family that my mother had a minor royal title. I won't mention the country because I am writing this blog kind of as a social experiment as to what will happen if I use the royal title, since it apparently passed to me.

I just wanted to start out by saying that I fully respect royalty and do not take the title lightly but it is a bankrupt title with no land but the actual name. So I have no entourage or benefits but also means I have no real responsibility to the title. I come from a well off family. My mother's family was into oil and before he retired my father was a CFO of a fortune 500 business but not equal to what most would consider "Royalty".

At last those counteless hours of ettiquette and ballroom dancing classes that my mother forcced me to take made a little, not a lot, but a little more sense. With that said, what does one do with a royal title with no one around to really show them what is proper etiquette with the title.

I don't intend to introduce myself as the Baroness XXXXX-XX to just anyone I meet and what is a title if no one knows about it. With this in mind I decided to do a social expiriment and blog about how the use or non use of the name effects certain social interactions. My first use of the name will be when I check into a very upscale hotel in NYC. I am intrigued to see if it really makes a difference.

The history of the Title: The title was created in the mid 1800's and passed to my family in the early 1900's because the title holder, after bankrupting the title with thier esoteric lifestyle, died with no heirs and it passed to the eldest male in the family which was my mother's father.

I am proud to find such a unique part of my heritage and view it like any other fun little genealogical tidbit. However, it also makes me said because my mother is not around to guide me or to chat about it. When I found out about this title I went through a few stages. One was shock, that lasted for about a day off and on. Like I said, I may be "royalty" but I still have a job and go to lawschool so I don't exactly have hours upon hours to ponder what all of it means or how it fits into the mystery of life. The surprising part of it all is that I really have no clue what a baroness does or what "it" even is. The only encounter with a Baroness I ever had was playing the Baroness in the Sound of Music.

Somehow, prancing around in 1940's clothes and smoking a cigar did not seem to be the appropriate course of action. Then I was struck with a brilliant idea. Where is the one place in the world that I could turn to and be educated properly on royalty. DISNEY. Yes, those movies have instructed countless generations of young girls on how to be a princess. I avidly went to Blockbuster eager to begin my new education. Sleeping Beauty would be a good start. I love that movie but alas no Baroness role models for me to emulate. There are no Disney movies that have a Baroness in them that I know of and I would welcome any suggestions as to if anyone knows a Disney movie.

My next step is that I need to tell my husband because accoring to the title he is now the Baron XXX-XXXX. I will report back and tell you how that goes.

Also I want input on my social expirement. Please post ideas of how I should use or not use the title and I will do some of suggested situation and report back.