The Manorial Society

Some of the Dodgier Titles That We Have Come Across

In the course of creating Fake Titles, we have come across some absolutely ludicrous claims from purchasers of ‘titles’, as well as from the sellers; unfortunately some behave in ways that bring little credit to themselves and therefore we felt that it might help you if we highlighted some of those.

‘Lord and Lady’ Bjorn and Maria Teksnes (Shropshire)

This couple own Old Colehurst Manor in Shropshire, a wonderful medieval manor house near Market Drayton that they have lovingly restored, and now hold weddings, residential stays and dinners there. Alas, they also decided to ‘advance’ themselves and bought a name change through ‘Lord’ Robert Farmer; apart from ensuring that they are held up to ridicule by everybody that knows about their sudden elevation, sadly they seem to have acquired a new overbearing manner.

They put Old Colehurst up for sale, but have since removed it from the market, and at the time they insisted that all the staff at Savills, the selling agents, called them Milord and Milady, and the same at Wrekin College where their daughter was at school.

Sir Robert Cowley, 2nd Baron Ardwhallan

Though he has apparently dropped his Barony, it might be interesting to find out the source of his Knighthood as Buckingham Palace and The British Government do not seem to have any record of it. However, he does seem to move around quite a lot in Australia, never staying in one place for long enough to create any permanent friendships, though strangely rather a lot of people seem to be quite glad to say farewell to him.

His associates, such as Warren Clarke Anderson, seem to also boast a similar lack of credibility; Warren claims a “distinguish (sic) [BBA] Hons in International Business Studies, [MBA] Banking & Finance (UK) The Regents University of San Moritz”. The same sort of qualification could be yours for around $500! While Sir or sometimes Dr Andrew Haberfield should be treated with similar caution, especially if any of them offer to raise money for you, but want to be paid an ‘up front’ fee.

I am sure the regulatory authorities would be very interested to hear from anybody with information about ‘Sir’ Robert Cowley, particularly if you have paid him a fee but never succeeded in getting your loan.

Anyone who has dealt with his company Investment Suisse, which he claims is a major Swiss financial institution, might be interested to learn that “Investment Suisse is not authorized by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA (nor the former SFBC, FINMA’s predecessor). Investment Suisse is not a legitimate Swiss company, nor is it a bank and has no physical presence in Switzerland”, according to the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority.

It apparently operates out of a well-known accommodation address on London’s Piccadilly, which seems unusual for such a large financial institution, however, usefully, it does house an escort service among a plethora of other companies.

You might also like to study his involvement with the strange Lichtenburg Foundation and the amazing Princess Maya, Baroness de Haynau, apparently ‘Baron’ Cowley is a Minister of State for the Principality of Lichtenburg, though the place only seems to exist in someone’s imagination, I am sure though that their aims are purely charitable as stated. You might further like to find out more about another gentleman connected to the Foundation, Lord Hankins of Ravensburn, his title seems to have as much credibility as ‘Sir’ Robert’s; they tried to hold a charity dinner in Queensland, Australia at A$1000 a plate to raise funds, but unfortunately for them there were so few takers that it got called off.

Latest News: ‘Sir’ Robert has now threatened me with a Notice of Intention to Commence Criminal Prosecution, however, he seems to have joined forces with a gentleman called Bernie O’Brien, using the notepaper of the Affordable Legal Company. Bernie’s credibility unfortunately seems to be about as great as ‘Sir’ Robert’s, you might be interested to see his recent performance on YouTube, in which he was questioned about where money that investors had given to him for producing business loans had disappeared to.

Lord or sometimes Sir Charles Buchanan Turnor

If you come across a Knightship for sale in an auction, then do not attempt to buy it. Unfortunately on any number of occasions the unwary have purchased ‘Lord’ Turnor’s Field Knightships of the Plantagenet Toxophilites, quite often paying several thousand pounds, including Ian Whyman of South Yorkshire, MD of a demolition company, who coughed up a hefty £7,000 for two at an auction in Malmesbury held by Hilditch Auctioneers, who really didn’t bother to do much checking.

Lord Charles lives in the grandly named East Barkwith Manor in Lincolnshire, actually a small cottage, but seemed unwilling to talk when approached by a reporter from The People. Do avoid him like the plague, and please report any Knightships that you spot being offered for sale either to me or directly to the police.

The Right Hon the Lord Mitford

The most worrying fact about His Lordship’s Website - apparently not live at present, pending a redesign - is that "Lord Mitford maintains a small collection of books related to genealogy and the peerage and in his spare time conducts genealogy and peerage research". Help! Talk about the blind leading the blind.

Though he may well own the two Manorial Lordships of the Mitford family - he is not able to call himself The Right Hon the Lord Mitford, just Mr Mark Mitford, Lord of the Honour of Mitford, and Lord of the Manor of Molesden; and certainly not The Right Hon, the use of that is reserved for peers of the rank of Baron, Viscount or Earl, and Members of Her Majesty’s Privy Council.

MANORIAL SOCIETY OF GREAT BRITAIN
104 Kennington Road, London SE11 6RE
Tel: (+44) 0207 735 6633 | Fax: (+44) 0207 582 7022
manorial@msgb.co.uk

The Manorial Society was founded in 1906, and its original aims were to look after the interests of the ‘Lords of the Manor’. However, its main purpose nowadays, since being taken over by Mr Robert Smith about twenty five years ago, is actually to sell Lordships of the Manor through their sister Company, Manorial Auctioneers.

However, if you are considering the purchase of a manorial lordship through them I would urge a measure of caution on you, as the whole area of Manorial Lordships is a complete minefield, with too many grey areas rather than straightforward black and white. At least Mr Smith does recommend that you use your own solicitor for any purchase, which is rather different to the case with many other purveyors of so-called Lordships of the Manor that claim it is not necessary, always be wary about that.

In particular I feel Mr Smith of The Manorial Society sometimes relies too heavily on the use of a Statutory Declaration to 'prove' the ownership of a Manorial Lordship in the absence of existing documentary evidence, and indeed, court cases, in which he has been involved, have proved that the use of statutory declarations to prove ownership in this way is not 100% reliable.

A reader of Fake Titles, amused by the paradox that the use of a Statutory Declaration is more likely to be proof that the seller does not own a manor rather than that he does, has written a useful description of the dangers for a buyer relying on the seller’s provision of one as proof of ownership. You can view the Article here - courtesy of Baronage, as the Editor has checked it for accuracy and laid it out properly - as a Adobe PDF file, this will require Acrobat Reader 6.0 or later to open it.

It is also worth pointing out that The Manorial Society is not an official authoritative body in any way, but rather a privately owned and run commercial organisation - and should be treated accordingly.

Mr Smith also persists in promoting the continued sale of English Feudal Baronies, despite the fact that the feudal system was abolished in England in 1660 by Act of Parliament (The Abolition of Feudal Tenure Act), after that year no English Feudal Baronies of any degree existed; a similar Act was passed in Ireland two years later.

It is important to realise, as explained on the Home Page, that buying a Lordship of the Manor does not entitle you to call yourself Lord or Lady, though, if genuine and the vendor has proved ownership, they are slices of British history. On rare occasions they have quite lucrative rights that are included with them; such as holding a market, owning verges of roads or even - in the most unusual case - the privilege of holding the right hand of the Monarch at the Coronation.

The Manorial Society has a membership of approximately 1,700 Lords of the Manor and Feudal Barons, Peers and Historians. For those who are particularly interested in finding out more about a Lordship of the Manor, they do have a useful History of Lordships on their site.

To find out about other companies in the ‘title’ selling business go to Warning.