Charles Gordon Mosley FRSA (14 September 1948 – 5 November 2013) was a British genealogist who was among the foremost experts on British nobility. He was an author, broadcaster, editor, and publisher, best known for having been Editor-in-Chief of ''

Burke's Peerage Burke's Peerage Limited is a British genealogical publisher founded in 1826, when the Irish genealogist John Burke began releasing books devoted to the ancestry and heraldry of the peerage, baronetage, knightage and landed gentry of Great ...

& Baronetage'' (106th edition)—its first update since 1970—and of the re-titled 107th edition, ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage'' (2003).

Biography

Mosley was born in West London, the son of (George) Gordon Mosley (1918-1993) and Christine Daisy Ord, daughter of Lt-Col Roy Dowland, MC, of the Indian Civil Service. Gordon Mosley was with the BBC from 1947 to 1965, working at various times as assistant to

Harman Grisewood Harman Joseph Gerard Grisewood, CBE (8 February 1906 – 8 January 1997) was an English radio actor, radio and television executive, novelist and non-fiction writer.

, as BBC representative at

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

, and as head of overseas talks and features. Mosley's only sibling, Frances, is a therapeutic counsellor and former teacher of mathematics and writer/ editor on the subject for the

Inner London Education Authority The Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) was an ad hoc local education authority for the City of London and the 12 Inner London boroughs from 1965 until its abolition in 1990. The authority was reconstituted as a directly elected body corp ...

. He grew up in

Wraysbury Wraysbury is a village and civil parish in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in England. It is under the western approach path of London Heathrow airport. It is located on the east bank of the River Thames, roughly midway between Winds ...

, Berkshire, and attended

Eton College Eton College () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England, Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. i ...

from 1962 to 1967, having been elected a King's Scholar. He attended

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...

from 1967 to 1970, and graduated with a degree in English Literature, Philosophy and History. He served in the

Foreign & Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' ministries of foreign affairs, it was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreig ...

, and lived in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

, and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. From 2008 to 2010 Mosley was a Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce.

Career

Mosley had a long career as an editor, becoming renowned as an international expert on

genealogy Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kin ...

and royal families. Mosley began his career as a supply teacher in East Sussex from 1970 to 1971. Mosley then worked on the editorial staff of the '' Encyclopædia Britannica'' from 1971 to 1973 as a sub-editor and a librarian. From 1974 to 1977, Mosley served in the Information Research Department of the British

. From 1977 to 1979 Mosley was based in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, teaching English as a second language and helping put into shape a data bank of statistics on European Community member countries. In 1980 Mosley began his association with Debrett's Limited, becoming the first editor of ''Debrett's Handbook'' (1981), the forerunner of ''Debrett's People of Today'' (1983-1987). In 1983 Mosley returned to the staff of the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', serving first as Deputy London Editor then as London Editor. In 1989 Mosley became Editor-in-Chief of

& Baronetage, a position he held until 2004, whereafter he renewed his association with Debrett's, serving as the Editor-in-Chief of Debrett's Limited until 2006 when he left the company to become a full-time author and broadcaster.

Writing

Mosley also wrote many books, including a special jubilee volume on the English Monarchy entitled ''Blood Royal - From the time of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

to Queen Elizabeth II'', published in 2002. His last books were ''The Art of Oratory'', published in 2007, and ''Charles Dickens: A celebration of his life and work'', published in 2011. Mosley also contributed to periodicals and newspapers such as ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'', ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'', '' The Independent'', and ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

''. Mosley appeared on Sky One's ''So You Think You're Royal?'', a genealogical tracking/tracing programme, opining on whether a given claim would entitle the claimant to an entry in Debrett's Peerage, also numerous episodes of

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

's genealogy show ''Who Do You Think You Are?'', with appearances on the U.S. version of the programme also. His last book ''The Daffodil Library'', a political thriller, was launched on 22 October 2013. On 1 November, his wife, the former publicist Lesley Lake, who had been in poor health for some time, died of an infection. On the same day, Mosley was admitted to Stoke Mandeville hospital for treatment for cancer. He died on 5 November 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mosley, Charles Gordon 1948 births 2013 deaths Alumni of King's College, Cambridge British genealogists Historians of the British Isles People educated at Eton College Writers from London Information Research Department

Biography

Career

Writing

See also

References