Sir Norman Murray Archibald MacGregor Pringle, 10th Baronet FCMA (born 3 August 1941) [1] is a Scottish accountant. In 2016, he won a legal case establishing that he was the rightful heir to the Pringle baronetcy, using DNA evidence that proved his cousin, who had been accepted as the 9th Baronet in 1919, was not the biological son of the 8th Baronet.
Murray Pringle was born in 1941, the eldest of two sons born to Ronald Steuart Pringle (1905–1968) and his wife, Janet Patricia Pickford, daughter of Capt. George Todd Pickford of Nairobi. Ronald Steuart was the second son of Sir Norman Robert Pringle, 8th Baronet (1871–1919) by his wife, Florence Madge Vaughan. [1] The 8th Baronet married on 16 October 1902, and his wife gave birth to a first son, Norman Hamilton Pringle, seven months later on 13 May 1903, leading to questions of legitimacy that were not resolved until more than a century later.
Squadron Leader Norman Hamilton Pringle, de facto 9th Baronet (1903–1961) inherited the Pringle baronetcy as a teenager in 1919, when the 8th Baronet died of tuberculosis following the First World War. [2] In turn, Norman Hamilton Pringle was succeeded by his eldest son, Sir Steuart Pringle KCB and de facto 10th Baronet. After Sir Steuart's death in 2013, DNA evidence demonstrated that Sir Steuart's father was not the biological son of Sir Norman Pringle, 8th Baronet. In 2016, the court agreed Norman Murray Pringle was the rightful heir to the baronetcy instead of his first cousin once removed Simon Pringle, Sir Steuart's eldest son and heir apparent. The court determined that Norman Hamilton Pringle was proven with a "high degree of probability" to be fathered not by the 8th Baronet, and Sir Steuart and his father were removed posthumously from the Official Roll of the Baronetage. [3]
The Queen, acting under the Judicial Committee Act 1833, [4] referred the matter to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, [5] which held its hearings on the matter in November 2015 [6] and January 2016. [7] [8] It delivered its ruling on 20 June 2016, [9] determining that DNA evidence proved that Sir Norman Hamilton Pringle, 9th de facto Baronet, was conceived by an unknown father and was not the biological son of Sir Norman Robert Pringle, 8th Baronet. [10]
In delivering the judgment, Lord Hodge stated that the court had no reason to reject DNA evidence in title claims, and it was not for the court to consider potential social outcomes based on DNA evidence: [11]
In the past, the absence of scientific evidence meant that the presumption of legitimacy could rarely be rebutted and claims based on assertions that irregular procreations had occurred in the distant past were particularly difficult to establish. Not so now. It is not for the Board to express any view on what social policy should be. It notes the ability of DNA evidence to reopen a family succession many generations into the past. Whether this is a good thing and whether legal measures are needed to protect property transactions in the past, the rights of the perceived beneficiary of a trust of property, and the long established expectations of a family, are questions for others to consider.
On 27 June 2016, Grant Bavister, Assistant Register to the Baronetage at the Ministry of Justice, entered Sir Ronald Steuart Pringle and his son Sir Norman Murray Pringle onto the Official Roll of the Baronetage, as the 9th and 10th de jure Baronets. He also removed the de facto 9th and 10th Baronets, Norman Hamilton Pringle and his son Steuart Robert Pringle, from the Roll, in accordance with the Royal Warrant of 1910. Certificates of succession to this effect were issued to Sir Norman Murray Pringle on 1 July 2016.
Sir Norman married firstly Lysbet Watkins-Pitchford on 11 September 1966. They had two children: [1]
Lysbet died in 1991. He married secondly Patricia Nadine Millem on 24 August 1992. [1]
Baron Denham, of Weston Underwood in the County of Buckingham, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1937 for Sir George Bowyer, 1st Baronet, a Conservative politician who had earlier represented Buckingham in the House of Commons. He had already been created a baronet, of Weston Underwood, in 1933. Bowyer was a great-great-great-grandson of Sir William Bowyer, 3rd Baronet, of Denham Court. As of 2017 the titles are held by his second but only surviving son, the 2nd Baron, who succeeded in 1948. In 1950 he also succeeded his distant relative in the Bowyer baronetcy, of Denham Court. Like his father, the 2nd Baron Denham was a Conservative politician and one of the ninety elected hereditary peers that remain in the House of Lords after the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999.
There have been two baronetcies created for persons with the surname Burke, both in the Baronetage of Ireland. As of 2014 one creation is extant.
The Egerton, laterGrey Egerton, later stillEgerton baronetcy, of Egerton and Oulton in the county of Chester, is a title in the Baronetage of England held by the senior patrilineal branch of the Egerton family.
There have been five baronetcies created for people with the surname Forbes, four in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia and one in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. The first holder of the Burn baronetcy of Jessfield, created in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom in 1923, assumed the surname of Forbes-Leith of Fyvie in 1925.
There have been four baronetcies created for persons with the surname Hall, one in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia and three in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. Three of the creations are extant as of 2010.
There have been nine baronetcies created for persons with the surname Moore, two in the Baronetage of England, one in the Baronetage of Ireland, two in the Baronetage of Great Britain and four in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. As of 2014 two creations are extant and one is considered dormant.
There have been four baronetcies created for persons with the surname Jardine, one in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia and three in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom.
There have been three baronetcies created for persons with the surname Munro, one in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia and two in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom.
There have been seven baronetcies created for persons with the surname Watson, one in the Baronetage of England, one in the Baronetage of Great Britain and five in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. One creation is extant as of 2016.
Lieutenant General Sir Steuart Robert Pringle was a Scottish Royal Marines officer who served as Commandant General Royal Marines from 1981 to 1985. He was seriously injured by an IRA car bomb in 1981, in which he lost his right leg.
There have been seven baronetcies created for persons with the surname Sinclair, six in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia and one in the Baronetage of Great Britain. Four of the creations are extant as of 2008.
The Isham Baronetcy, of Lamport in the County of Northampton, is a title in the Baronetage of England.
There have been two baronetcies created for members of the Scottish Pringle family, one in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia and one in the Baronetage of Great Britain. As of 2024, one creation is extant.
The Maxwell, later Stirling-Maxwell, later Maxwell Macdonald Baronetcy, of Pollok in the County of Renfrew, is a title in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia. It was created on 12 April 1682 for John Maxwell, with remainder to the heirs of the body. In 1707 he was given a new patent extending the remainder to heirs of entail in his lands and estates. Maxwell was Lord Justice Clerk of Scotland from 1699 to 1702, and Rector of the University of Glasgow from 1691 to 1718.
There have been four baronetcies created for persons with the surname Hay, all in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia. Two creations are extinct, one dormant and one extant. A fifth baronetcy in the Jacobite Peerage, although theoretically extant, is not recognised by the Lyon Office.
The Dalrymple, later Dalrymple-Hamilton, later Hamilton-Dalrymple Baronetcy, of North Berwick in the County of Haddington, is a title in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia. It was created on 29 April 1697 for the Hon. Hew Dalrymple, Lord President of the Court of Session under the judicial title of Lord North Berwick from 1698 to 1737. He was the third son of James Dalrymple, 1st Viscount of Stair, and the brother of John Dalrymple, 1st Earl of Stair, Sir James Dalrymple, 1st Baronet, of Cranstoun, and Sir David Dalrymple, 1st Baronet, of Hailes. The second Baronet sat as Member of Parliament for Haddington and Haddingtonshire. The third Baronet represented Haddingtonshire in the House of Commons. The fourth Baronet was Member of Parliament for Haddingtonshire, Ayrshire and Haddington. He assumed the additional surname of Hamilton after that of Dalrymple. The fifth Baronet sat as Member of Parliament for Haddington. The eighth Baronet assumed the surname of Hamilton before that of Dalrymple. The tenth Baronet was Lord-Lieutenant of East Lothian from 1987 to 2001.
There have been four baronetcies created for persons with the surname Seton, all in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia. As of 2008 one creation is extant, one dormant and two extinct.
There have been two baronetcies created, both in the Baronetage of England, for members of the Twysden family of Kent.
Clan Pringle is a Lowland clan from the Scottish Borders.
Three Steuart baronetcies were given to three brothers, the first, fourth, and seventh of the seven sons of Sir James Steuart, knight, Lord Provost of Edinburgh, who died in 1681.