 | |
| Founded | 1769 |
|---|---|
| Founder | John Debrett |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Headquarters location | London, England |
| Distribution | Marston Book Services [1] |
| Publication types | Books |
| Nonfiction topics | Reference |
| Official website | debretts |
Debrett's ( /dəˈbrɛts/ [2] ) is a British professional coaching company, publisher and authority on etiquette and behaviour, [3] founded in 1769 with the publication of the first edition of The New Peerage. The company takes its name from its founder, John Debrett.
Debrett's Academy was established in 2012 to provide coaching in (i.e., enhancing) interpersonal skills to individuals and corporations. [4] Its courses for businesses cover topics such as public speaking, networking, sales pitches, relationship management, personal presentation and dress codes. [5] Its private client courses focus on confidence-building and social competence, as well as personal presentation and impact, career progression and digital networking. [6]
A non-profit arm, Debrett's Foundation, provides coaching through the Debrett's Academy to sixth form students from UK schools in business skills, as well as access to internships, work experience and mentoring opportunities. [7]
Debrett's has published a range of guides on traditional British etiquette, dating from the mid 1900s. Those currently in print include Debrett's A–Z of Modern Manners, Debrett's Guide for the Modern Gentleman and Debrett's Handbook, a revised and updated version of its Correct Form. Debrett's Wedding Guide (first published in 2007) was revised in 2017 and published as Debrett's Wedding Handbook.
Debrett's Peerage & Baronetage, a book which includes a short history of the family of each titleholder, [8] was previously published roughly every five years. The last printed edition was the 2019 and 150th edition, published in the company's 250th year. Charles Kidd was the editor of the Peerage for nearly 40 years; he was the consulting editor on the last edition, which was edited by Susan Morris, Wendy Bosberry-Scott and Gervase Belfield of Debrett Ancestry Research Ltd, a sister company of Debrett's. [9]
Debrett's [Illustrated Heraldic and Biographical] [10] House of Commons and the Judicial Bench [11] was published from 1867 to 1931. Butler calls it "particularly useful". [12] [13]
Debrett's People of Today, an annual publication between 1988 and 2017, contained biographical details of approximately 20,000 notable people from the entire spectrum of British society. [14] The selection of entrants was made by the editorial staff of Debrett's and entries were reviewed annually to ensure accuracy and relevance. Entries include details of career, education, family, recreations and membership of clubs as well as contact addresses. [15]
A feature was the style of address to be used when addressing correspondence to an entrant. The last edition of this book was published in 2017. Like its rival publication Who's Who , selection of entrants was at the editorial team's discretion and there was no payment or obligation to purchase. Unlike Who's Who, entries were removed if the subjects were no longer deemed to be suitable for inclusion. [16]
Since 2014 Debrett's has published an annual list of the UK's 500 most influential people across 24 sectors. [17] In 2017 the list was published in the Saturday Telegraph Magazine. [18]
Debrett's website contains information on British tradition, etiquette, dress codes and style, and the biographical profiles of those featured in People of Today and the Debrett's 500. [19]
John Debrett (8 January 1753 – 15 November 1822) was the London-born son of Jean Louys de Bret, a French cook of Huguenot extraction and his wife Rachel Panchaud. As a boy of thirteen, John Debrett was apprenticed to a Piccadilly bookseller and publisher, Robert Davis. He remained there until 1780, when he moved across Piccadilly to work for John Almon, bookseller and stationer. John Almon edited and published his first edition of The New Peerage in 1769, and went on to produce at least three further editions. [20]
By 1790 he had passed the editorship on to John Debrett who, in 1802, put his name to the two small volumes that made up The Correct Peerage of England, Scotland and Ireland. Despite twice being declared bankrupt, Debrett continued as a bookseller and editor of the Peerage. The last edition edited by him was the 15th edition, which was published in 1823. He was found dead at his lodgings on 15 November 1822, and was buried at St James's Church, Piccadilly. [21]
John Debrett married on 27 April 1787 in Piccadilly to Sophia Granger (1762–1833), daughter of Captain John Granger and Sophia Spencley. They had six children, none of whom followed their father into the book trade although Sophia did work with her husband and at one point ran the business herself. [22]
In the opening pages of Jane Austen's Persuasion (1818), the vain and snobbish Sir Walter Elliot loves to look at his own family's entry in Debrett's. [23]
An out-of-date Debrett's is a key plot element in an Elizabeth Mapp story[ vague ] (1920–1939) by E. F. Benson.
In series three of the television series Downton Abbey , Lady Cora Grantham mentions Debrett's in jest when defending the choice of her late daughter, Sybil, to have her daughter baptised as Catholic.
There was a storyline in Doonesbury where Zonker had a large cash windfall with which he planned to purchase a British peerage. To prepare for his new role, he had a friend quiz him from Debrett's, to great comic effect.
In Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh, Sebastian and Charles visit Brideshead together for the first time, and Sebastian will not let Charles meet his family. He comments: "You don't know what you've been saved. There are lots of us. Look them up in Debrett."
In Montague Rhodes James's The Residence at Whitminster, Uncle Oldys draws his information about the spooking Viscount Kildonan from Debrett's Peerage: "It's all in Debrett's – two little fat books".
Baron Carrington is a title that has been created three times, once in the Peerage of England, once in the Peerage of Ireland and once in the Peerage of Great Britain.
Baron Bruntisfield, of Boroughmuir in the City of Edinburgh, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1942 for the Scottish Conservative politician and former Vice-Chamberlain of the Household, Sir Victor Warrender, 8th Baronet. The Warrender family descends from George Warrender. He was Lord Provost of Edinburgh and represented Edinburgh in Parliament. In 1715 he was created a baronet, of Lochend in the County of Haddington, in the Baronetage of Great Britain. His grandson, the third Baronet, fought at the Battle of Minden in 1759, represented Haddington Burghs in the House of Commons and served as King’s Remembrancer of the Court of Exchequer from 1771 to 1791. He was succeeded by his son, the fourth Baronet. He sat as a Member of Parliament for Haddington Burghs, Truro, Sandwich, Westbury and Honiton and notably served as a Lord of the Admiralty from 1812 to 1812. In 1822 Warrender was admitted to the Privy Council. On his death the title passed to his younger brother, the fifth Baronet. His grandson, the seventh Baronet, was a Vice Admiral in the Royal Navy. He was succeeded by his son, the eighth Baronet, who was raised to the peerage as Baron Bruntisfield, of Boroughmuir in the City of Edinburgh, in 1942. As of 2010 the titles are held by the latter's grandson, the third Baron, who succeeded in 2007. He is a retired officer in the British Army and investment banker.
Burke's Peerage Limited is a British genealogical publisher founded in 1826, when the Irish genealogist John Burke began releasing books devoted to the ancestry and heraldry of the peerage, baronetage, knightage and landed gentry of Great Britain and Ireland. His first publication, a Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the United Kingdom, was updated sporadically until 1847, when the company began releasing new editions every year as Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage.
The Kennaway Baronetcy of Hyderabad in the East Indies, is a title in the Baronetage of Great Britain. It was created on 25 February 1791 for John Kennaway (1758–1836), British Resident at the Court of Nizam Ali Khan, Asaf Jah II, Nizam of Hyderabad, in recognition of his part in the negotiation of the 1790 alliance between the Nizam and the East India Company against Tipoo Sultan. The second Baronet was High Sheriff of Devon in 1866. The third Baronet was a Conservative politician.
Wilhelmina Iris Winifred Hasbach was a British actress in the first half of the twentieth century, both on stage and in movies.
Francis Needham, 1st Earl of Kilmorey, known as Francis Needham until 1818 and as The Viscount Kilmorey from 1818 to 1822, was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Member of Parliament.
Charles Gordon Mosley FRSA was a British genealogist who was among the foremost experts on British nobility. He was an author, broadcaster, editor, and publisher, best known for having been Editor-in-Chief of Burke's Peerage & Baronetage —its first update since 1970—and of the re-titled 107th edition, Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage (2003).
John Debrett was an English publisher and compiler. His name has become associated with reference books.
The Mordaunt Baronetcy, of Massingham Parva in the County of Norfolk, is a title in the Baronetage of England. It was created on 29 June 1611 for Lestrange Mordaunt, who had earlier distinguished himself in the Wars of the Low Countries during the reign of Elizabeth I. The fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth Baronets all represented Warwickshire in the House of Commons. The ninth and tenth Baronets sat as Members of Parliament for Warwickshire South.
The Fagge Baronetcy, of Wiston in the County of Sussex, is a title in the Baronetage of England.
There have been six baronetcies created for members of the Corbet family, four in the Baronetage of England, one in the Baronetage of Great Britain and one in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. All creations are extinct. The recipients were descendants of the ancient Norman family of Corbet which held substantial estates in Shropshire including Wattlesborough, Caus Castle, Moreton Corbet Castle and Acton Reynald Hall.
Sir John Swinburne, 6th Baronet was an English politician and patron of the arts.
Most prime ministers of the United Kingdom have enjoyed the right to display coats of arms and to this day, prime ministers can have their ancestral arms approved, or new armorial bearings granted, either by the College of Arms or the Lyon Court.
Sir John Geers Cotterell, 1st Baronet was a British politician. He served as the Conservative Member of Parliament for Herefordshire from 1802 to 1803, and from 1806 to 1831.
Emma Cust, Countess Brownlow,, formerly Lady Emma Sophia Edgcumbe, was the third wife of John Cust, 1st Earl Brownlow. The couple had no children, although the earl had children from his two previous marriages.
Armorial of the speakers of the House of Commons is displayed at the House of Commons in the Palace of Westminster. Speakers customarily take a grant of arms while in office, if they are not armigerous already. Their shields of arms are painted on the interior walls of Speaker's House, and after their elevation to the peerage they are displayed on the windows along the peers' staircase in the House of Lords.
John Christopher Ingham Roper-Curzon, 20th Baron Teynham was a British peer, land agent, and Army officer.
Mary Wood, Viscountess Halifax, formerly Mary Grey, was an English noblewoman. She was the wife of Charles Wood, 1st Viscount Halifax, and the mother of Charles Lindley Wood, 2nd Viscount Halifax.
Maj. James St Clair, 14th Lord Sinclair was a Scottish noble and representative peer.
Janetta Manners, Duchess of Rutland was an English aristocrat and writer.
Media related to Debrett's at Wikimedia Commons