21 NOVEMBER 1987, Page 35

Heredity

Sir: Lady Stansgate's response (Letters, 14 November) to your gentle chiding ('Times Share', 7 November) is revealing. First, it shows that she tends to take seriously what was intended to be taken lightly; and, secondly, it tells us that her late husband made a voluminous record of contempor- ary events.

Is it not amusing to note that her son, Mr Tony Benn, displays both these character- istics, notwithstanding his well known re- jection of the hereditary principle? Christopher Forsyth

Abbey Farm Cottage, South End, Bassingbourn, Royston, Hertfordshire