Lady Naomi Gordon-Lennox | |
---|---|
Born | March 1962 62) Kingston upon Thames, England | (age
Other names | Nimmy March |
Occupation | Actress |
Spouse | Gavin Burke (m. 1999; div.) |
Children | 3 |
Parent(s) | By adoption: Charles Gordon-Lennox, 10th Duke of Richmond Susan Grenville-Grey |
Lady Naomi Anna Gordon-Lennox (born March 1962), known as Nimmy March, is an English actress.
March's biological parents were a black South African father from Lesotho and a white English mother. [1] As an illegitimate child, [2] she was abandoned by her birth mother.
She was adopted by the Earl and Countess of March and Kinrara, who later became the Duke and Duchess of Richmond. Because of her race, the adoption caused a stir within the peerage and the future Duke and Duchess were vilified by some for "sullying the aristocracy", as March herself described it. [3] [4]
She went to Bedales, an exclusive Hampshire school, before going on to drama school.
March's television screen credits include Coronation Street , Albion Market , Common As Muck , Goodnight Sweetheart , Casualty , William and Mary , Doctors , Strictly Confidential , The Bill , London's Burning , Waking the Dead , Death in Paradise , Agatha Raisin and Emmerdale .
She narrated the 2008 TV serial Last Voices of World War 1 on the History Channel, along with the BBC1 documentary The War On Loan Sharks.
Until 2004, children who were adopted by peers had no right to any noble or courtesy title. However, as a result of a Royal Warrant dated 30 April 2004, all children are now automatically entitled to the same styles and courtesy titles. [5] Therefore, on that date, she became The Lady Naomi Gordon-Lennox.
She married Gavin Burke in 1999, but they subsequently divorced. They have three children: Khaya (born 1999), Malachy (born 2001), and Carlotta (born 2005). [6]
She has four siblings, including a sister who is also mixed-race. [2] She is Buddhist and bisexual. [7] [8]
A courtesy title is a form of address in systems of nobility used for children, former wives and other close relatives of a peer, as well as certain officials such as some judges and members of the Scottish gentry. These styles are used "by courtesy" in the sense that persons referred to by these titles do not in law hold the substantive title. There are several different kinds of courtesy titles in the British peerage system.
General Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond, 4th Duke of Lennox, 4th Duke of Aubigny, was a British peer, soldier, politician and Governor-General of British North America.
Charles Henry Gordon-Lennox, 6th Duke of Richmond, 6th Duke of Lennox, and 1st Duke of Gordon,, styled the Earl of March until 1860, was a British Conservative politician.
Duke of Richmond is a title in the Peerage of England that has been created four times in British history. It has been held by members of the royal Tudor and Stuart families.
Charles Gordon-Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond,, styled the Earl of March from 1806 until 1819, was a British peer, soldier and prominent Conservative politician. Upon the death of his uncle in 1836, he inherited the Gordon estates and per the terms of the bequest, adopted thus additional surname.
Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond, 1st Duke of Lennox, of Goodwood House near Chichester in Sussex, was the youngest of the seven illegitimate sons of King Charles II, and was that king's only son by his French-born mistress Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth. He was appointed Hereditary Constable of Inverness Castle.
Charles Henry Gordon-Lennox, 7th Duke of Richmond and Lennox, 2nd Duke of Gordon,, 7th Duke of Aubigny, styled Lord Settrington until 1860 and Earl of March between 1860 and 1903, was a British politician and peer.
The Earl or Mormaer of Lennox was the ruler of the region of the Lennox in western Scotland. It was first created in the 12th century for David of Scotland, Earl of Huntingdon and later held by the Stewart dynasty.
Charles Henry Gordon-Lennox, 8th Duke of Richmond, 8th Duke of Lennox, 3rd Duke of Gordon, known as Lord Settrington 1870–1903, and as Earl of March 1903–1928, was a British peer and politician.
Charles Henry Gordon-Lennox, 10th Duke of Richmond, 10th Duke of Lennox, 10th Duke of Aubigny, 5th Duke of Gordon, styled Lord Settrington until 1935 and Earl of March and Kinrara between 1935 and 1989, was an English peer and landowner.
Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, 2nd Duke of Lennox, 2nd Duke of Aubigny, of Goodwood House near Chichester in Sussex, was a British nobleman and politician. He was the son of Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond, 1st Duke of Lennox, the youngest of the seven illegitimate sons of King Charles II. He was the most important of the early patrons of the game of cricket and did much to help its evolution from village cricket to first-class cricket.
Helen Percy, Duchess of Northumberland, was an English aristocrat and courtier.
Sarah Lennox, Duchess of Richmond, was Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Caroline from 1724 to 1737. She was the mother of the famous Lennox sisters.
Charles Henry Gordon-Lennox, 11th Duke of Richmond, 11th Duke of Lennox, 11th Duke of Aubigny, 6th Duke of Gordon,, styled Lord Settrington until 1989 and then Earl of March and Kinrara until 2017, is a British aristocrat and owner of Goodwood Estate in Sussex. He is the founder of the Goodwood Festival of Speed and the Goodwood Revival.
Duke of Aubigny is a title that was created in the Peerage of France in 1684. It was granted by King Louis XIV of France to Louise de Kérouaille, the last mistress of King Charles II of England, and to descend to Charles's illegitimate issue by her, namely to the descendants of Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond, 1st Duke of Lennox (1672–1723) of Goodwood House in Sussex. Louis XIV also granted her the Château de la Verrerie, a former secondary seat of the Stewart Seigneurs d'Aubigny, Franco-Scottish cousins of the Stewart monarchs, seated from 1422 to 1672 at the Château d'Aubigny in the parish and manor of Aubigny-sur-Nère in the ancient province of Berry in France.
Hilda Madeline Gordon-Lennox, Duchess of Richmond was the daughter of Henry Brassey and Anna Harriet Stevenson, and granddaughter of the railway pioneer Thomas Brassey. She was known as Lady Settrington from 1893 to 1903, and as Countess of March from 1903 to 1928, when her husband inherited the dukedom.
The Lennox sisters were four eighteenth-century British aristocrats, the daughters of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond (1701–1750) by his wife Lady Sarah Cadogan (1705–1751).
Ivy Cavendish-Bentinck, Duchess of Portland GBE was Duchess of Portland from 1943 – 1977 and afterwards Dowager Duchess. She initiated the Harley Foundation, "to encourage creativity".
Charlotte Lennox, Duchess of Richmond, was a British aristocrat and peeress best known as the hostess of the Duchess of Richmond's ball.
Anne Lennox, Duchess of Richmond, formerly Anne Brudenell, was the wife of two English noblemen: first, Henry Belasyse, 2nd Baron Belasyse of Worlaby, and second, Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond. She was the mother of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond.