Yonder peasant, who is he?
Anthony Powell
PEOPLE OF TODAY edited by Patricia Ellis, Juliet Hine and David Williamson Debrett, f90, pp.2125 This volume is introduced with a mis- cellany of promotional material, slightly facetious, slightly tendentious in tone, indi- cating that a break has been made with the traditional roots of Debrett, editing out `some of the superfluous gentry'. In doing this a little uncertainty seems to have been felt as to whether a book of reference was being produced or a glossy magazine.
There are, for example, a few absolutely pointless photographs of scenes from con- temporary social life, and random individu- als. Barbara Cartland writes a page on love being best, and the importance of staying married. David Williamson (one of the edi- tors) gives an excellent account of the his- tory of the now revivified Baronetage. Two pages of `Debrett's Dicta' express hopes, often congenial, but not particularly appro- priate here. More is to be found in the same haphazard manner at the beginning of the volume.
A real musunderstanding seems to exist on the part of the begetters of People of Today as to its relation to the traditional Debrett. That work included, say, a Viscount's great-niece, not because she was Important', but because the conglomera- tion of family relationships gave, in bulk, a very useful body of reference. This was not lessened by the establishment of Life Peers. The family connections of the latter are equally of practical value, when collect- ed together.
It is too often forgotten that Peers, Hereditary or Life, are part of the British Constitution. They are not merely a noblesse, as on the continent, while the noblesse, a specific category, roughly cov- ers 'the gently'. In this country a gentleman has always been simply someone who 'lived like a gentleman', though it must be admit- ted that the word has accumulated addi- tional implications. 'Gentlemen' have never been included, as such, in Debrett, though they have, in a sense, in Burke's Landed Gentry, an even fuller panorama of rela- tionships, when it existed.
For many years now at least two-thirds of the House of Lords has been anything but aristocratic in the old-fashioned use of the word. Accordingly, the collection of names and relations given in the traditional Debrett was not at all exclusive — 'snob- bish' if you like — in one sense.
I would agree that not everyone is inter- ested in who has and who has not a coat of arms, but it is hard to deny that some inter- est attaches to those who take out a grant of arms, which the old Debrett revealed for Life Peers. Incidentally, in this volume where 'style' is usefully given at the end of each entry as to how to address individuals, a lot of foreign titles are allowed. Have the users obtained the necessary Royal Licence? If so, that might well have been mentioned.
If a book of reference is not attached to a specific collection of people, it becomes like Who's Who, with which People of Today clearly now enters into competition. In point of fact, a great many offspring of Peers are included in the new Debrett vol- ume, but, unlike the old one, they are sepa- rated from their immediate relations, so that, for instance, the Duke of Devonshire, the Marquess of Hartington and the Earl of Burlington, father, son and grandson, are all listed quite separately. In passing these criticisms I do not wish to suggest that People of Today does not contain a great deal of acceptable informa- tion about some 40,000 persons. The City, a rough and ready guide to the personnel of which has long been needed (adviser here, Kenneth Fleet) is undoubtedly better served than ever before. The Press is also more fully represented than in Who's Who, where journalists, perhaps rightly, tend not to figure much.
To compile this sort of book of reference is exceedingly difficult, so that it is only possible to make a critical foray here and there where weaknesses strike one. There is no laying down of the law.
For example, neither A.L. Rowse nor George Rylands figure here. Dr Rowse is surely a 'Person of Today' because one cannot pick up a paper without seeing a letter from him, while Mr Rylands (curi- ously enough, another George Rylands is included) has been equally concerned with Shakespeare, and theatrical matters con- cerning the Bard. There cannot be a preju- dice against age where Dame Barbara Cartland is a contributor. Other indications suggest that literature has perhaps not been a prime concern here. George Painter, the Proustian biographer, is miss- ing too, with others that could be named.
Turning to rather a different world, in fact that of Snooker, Steve Davis does not appear here, while Dennis Taylor does. On the other hand, in Who's Who Steve Davis finds a place, not Dennis Taylor.
In the ecclesiastical field the Bishop of Sodor and Man is recorded, but not the Bishop of Swansea and Brecon. Both occur in Who's Who. The stage and ballet give the impression of being well covered on the whole, though one might have expected Michael Palin's name to occur. Perhaps the film world is a shade sparse.
A curious omission in Who's Who has always been the name of Lieut-Colonel John Dymoke, The Hon the Queen's Champion and Bearer of the Standard of England. That is put right here, showing there is really no prejudice against tradi- tion, which seemed a danger in some aspects of People of Today.
Different people want books of reference for different reasons, and the only way to prove the value of a given book of refer- ence is probably to use it for about a year. The implied trendiness of saying in the handout that People of Today is 'essential for those who want to be in the know' probably does it a disservice. It might well turn out to be more agreeable than just that. One hopes so.
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