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, at the time 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 , Desmond's 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 Lady Naomi Burke.
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 and/or reference 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.
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Charles Gordon-Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond,, styled the Earl of March from 1806–19, was a Scottish 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. His near-complete correspondence is now held at the West Sussex Archives.
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.
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 1935–89, was a British peer and landowner.
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Amy Mary Gordon-Lennox, Countess of March was an English peeress from the Ricardo family. She was the first wife of Charles Gordon-Lennox, 7th Duke of Richmond, and the mother of Charles Gordon-Lennox, 8th Duke of Richmond. She died before her husband inherited the dukedom.
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