Sunday, July 14, 2019

Did Wodehouse really know?

P. G. Wodehouse wrote about the British aristocracy like he was a fly on the wall in those baronial estates, like he had firsthand knowledge. But did he? Well, first of all, his great-grandfather was Sir Armine Wodehouse, 5th Baronet. Another great-grandfather was Sir Edmund Bacon, 6th Baronet. In another line, his great-great-grandfather was Sir Robert Kemp, 3rd Baronet. And so forth.

But then Baronets, though somebody, are not peers of the realm. They are only Sirs, not Lords. But Sir Armine's maternal grandfather was William Fermor, 1st Baron Leominster. And so on. Once you get in amongst the bluebloods, who knows where it all will end?

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