The Prince-Abbot writes,

Frederick Joseph Trowman-Rose, known to me as Freddie for many years, died on 4 October 2023 following a long period of poor health. He had pursued a multi-faceted career including positions in journalism, education, and business, as well as being much involved in the chivalric and nobiliary worlds.

The young Freddie with his father and grandfather

Freddie was born on 7 February 1953 in Belize, then British Honduras. He was named after his grandfather, to whom he was close. Freddie came to England at an early age and his home for many years was in Birmingham; he would subsequently be elected a Fellow of the Birmingham Society. As a child, he described himself as “very shy with a liking for books, art and music. I began playing the organ at four which is the only artform in which I had proficiency. I longed to be a painter in water colour but had no ability and a talent cannot be taught, only developed.” He attended Alma Street primary school in Aston and then went on to George Dixon’s Grammar School in Edgbaston, where he made lifelong friendships. He lived almost opposite the latter school in a fine Victorian house which he shared with his mother, who Freddie cared for in her old age. Raised in the Church of England, he attended St Peter, Spring Hill, in childhood, but later in life converted to Roman Catholicism.

According to Freddie’s account in his online biography, he proceeded to St John’s College at the University of Cambridge at the age of sixteen, where he read Natural Sciences and graduated with a First in two rather than the normal three years. He then obtained the degrees of Master of Arts, Doctor of Philosophy and Doctor of Science. He developed expertise in organic chemistry, specializing in solvents.

He was occasionally inclined to the excesses of youth. As a young man he was convicted of impersonating a doctor at St Chad’s Hospital, Birmingham. Apparently he put on a white coat and spent a very happy time removing warts. It seems he was actually very good at it and one of his “patients” appeared for the defence.

Subsequently, he served as Company Secretary and Director of his family hydraulic engineering firm ABC Maintenance Services Ltd. alongside his father Alfred. He also became involved in the technical side of journalism, becoming technical editor of publications including Professional Printer and British Editor and President of the Association of Teachers of Printing and Allied Subjects. This work also led to his eventual appointment as an Honorary Vice-President of the Chartered Institute of Journalists. He served as company secretary for a number of firms and developed an extensive network of business interests.

In 2001, his interest in chivalric and related matters led him to become involved in the manufacturing of chivalric and Masonic insignia as Company Secretary of Light and Boston Ltd. and Managing Director of Libomet Ltd., a stamper and finisher of non-ferrous and precious metals. After some years of trading, these businesses became unsustainable and the liquidation of Light and Boston, which had had its own factory in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, signalled Freddie’s retirement from the business world.

Freddie described the chess grandmaster Raymond Keene as his best friend, and he worked with him and other associates in the endeavours that would occupy his energy in his later years, which were primarily concerned with aspects of brain development. He was a member of the Brain Trust Charity, Chancellor of the Gifted Academy and Dean of the Institute of Brain Chemistry and Human Nutrition. He was involved with the work of Tony Buzan, who had introduced the concept of mind mapping and various other memory techniques to the wider public, and in 2015 became a Council Member of the World Memory Championships which had been founded in 1991 by Buzan and Raymond Keene. After Buzan’s death in 2019, he worked with Buzan’s former friends and associates to perpetuate his legacy. In December 2020, with others involved in this work, he was honoured by the Pakistan Psychiatric Society with a Scroll of Appreciation.

He also held the positions of Chairman of the Commonwealth Development Trust and Chairman of the Global Environmental Secretariat, which according to his account were engaged in educational initiatives and research worldwide.

He held various educational appointments over the years, including that of Provost of the London College of Management and Information Technology and Chancellor and Visiting Professor of Environmental Sciences at the Catholic University of New Spain in Florida, USA. His biography included roles as a consultant for a number of UK and Commonwealth educational authorities regarding adult education.

He was appointed by the government of Belize as the first Consul of Belize in the United Kingdom. A wide range of domestic and overseas travel followed.

In the City of London, Freddie was a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Loriners and of the Worshipful Company of Gold & Silver Wyre Drawers. He also took an active role in the governance of the City and was elected to the oldest office in the City, that of Ward Beadle where he represented the wards of Bassishaw and Farringdon Without, serving as President of the City of London Ward Beadles in 2014. He was a member of the Tanners’ Company of Bermondsey and served as Master Tanner in 2016. In the Guildable Manor of Southwark he held several offices including those of Foreman of the Court Leet (2007-08, 2016), Constable, and Honorary Tithingman. His offices in the City led to much involvement with its events and ceremonial and many meetings with British and overseas dignitaries. He took part in charity sheep drives over London Bridge (commemorating a historic privilege of Freemen of the City) and on one such occasion presented the Lord Mayor with a jar of mint sauce.

During the mid-1990s, Freddie worked with the late Nicholas Groves to found the Burgon Society for the study of academic dress, but this stalled due to the two of them falling out. Groves subsequently re-established the Burgon Society, without any reference to its past existence and Freddie’s involvement (although he admitted the details of its foundation to me when questioned). Even some two decades later, Freddie would say “The very mention of the name Groves gets steam coming out of my ears”.

Freddie was a member of many chivalric orders including the San Luigi Orders, to whose revival under my aegis he gave much support and encouragement. At one point we had discussed that he would occupy a senior role in the governance of the Orders, but in the event this did not come to pass.

For some years, Freddie served as Chancellor to the head of the Imperial House of Ethiopia, HIH Prince Zere Yacoube. In this capacity he was responsible for various matters of appointment and protocol, as well as having to undertake a serious investigation into malfeasance within the representation of the Imperial Orders in the United States. This, however, made him enemies, and their influence caused him to be forced out. Freddie continued to regard himself as the last legitimate Chancellor of the Imperial House.

In the 1980s, Freddie became involved with the representation of the pretender to the throne of Portugal Dona Maria Pia, who asserted that she was the legitimized natural daughter of the late King Carlos I. Dona Maria Pia gained some support among those who opposed the authoritarian government of Prime Minister Salazar (who was supported by her principal rival claimant), and presented herself as the constitutionalist, liberal claimant to the throne.

Although Dona Maria Pia signed documents appointing Dom Rosario Poidimani as her successor in 1987, Freddie said that she subsequently revoked this appointment in 1994, the year before her death. In that year, Dona Maria Pia appointed her husband Dom António João da Costa Amado-Noivo as Guardian and Protector of the Portuguese Royal House of Saxe-Coburgo-Bragança. Dona Maria Pia had entered into a marriage of convenience with Don António, who had been one of her chief supporters, as a means of regaining the Portuguese nationality which had been stripped from her by Salazar, notwithstanding the fact that Don António was homosexual. Dom António in turn, with the consent of Dona Maria Pia, appointed Freddie as his successor. Dona Maria Pia also conferred upon Freddie the title Marquis of Evora Monte.

By rights the due successor to Dona Maria Pia’s claim would be her daughter Dona Maria Cristina. However, neither Dona Maria Cristina nor her husband held, or were willing to obtain, Portuguese nationality, thereby disqualifying her claim under the terms of the 1838 Carta Constitutional. Potentially, the son of Dona Maria Cristina could validly succeed to the claim after her death.

Dom Antonio died in 1996 and Freddie succeeded him as Guardian and Protector of the Portuguese Royal House of Saxe-Coburgo-Bragança. In this capacity, Freddie was Grand Master of the Royal Order of Dom Carlos Primiero and also bestowed the Portuguese Royal Orders. I received appointment to Grand Cross rank in these Orders from Freddie.

After the fall of Communism in Hungary, the historic Hungarian Order of St George, a knightly fraternity dating from the medieval period, was revived and Freddie was appointed one of six Protectors of the Order and Deputy Grand Prior of the United Kingdom, as well as a Major-General in the Hungarian National Guard. Unfortunately, the Order almost immediately split into several competing branches, and Freddie fell out spectacularly with General Janos Karászy-Kulin who was in charge of the Order in Britain.

The Order of St George in Britain: General Janos Karászy-Kulin in uniform of the Hungarian National Guard at left, and Freddie in uniform at right.

The link with Hungary would continue, however, when Freddie was admitted to the Vitezi Rend. Of this he wrote, “I was proud to receive it in a ceremony, on Hungary’s National Day in Liverpool’s ancient parish church, at the hands of Consul for Hungary, in the presence of the Deputy Military Attaché. My pride is that I am not Hungarian but was allowed to be admitted to an Order which is one of the symbols of a free Hungary. Throughout occupation, the warmth and resilience of the Hungarian people shined through adversity, as it shines brightly today.”

Freddie was a representative of the Kavanagh House of Leinster in Ireland as one of five non-familial members of the Leinster Court.

Freddie became responsible for the Autonomous Grand Priory of Ukraine-Ruthenia in the Order of Saint Lazarus and under his leadership this became a successful chivalric endeavour. The Grand Priory had been formed in the 1980s by the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church in the USA. The membership expanded to the UK and included six British Knights Bachelor, Dame Barbara Cartland and the Bishop of Penrith. In 2000, discussions with the Paris Obedience of the Order, which accepted the Grand Priory as authentic and legitimate, resulted in the majority of members accepting invitations to transfer to the Paris Obedience in their existing ranks. Those who did not accept constituted the continuing Grand Priory under Freddie.

A principal theme in the discussions between Freddie and myself concerned ways in which we might unite our respective representations of the Lazarite tradition. In 2012, Freddie proposed appointing me as a Prelate in his Grand Priory and wished me to consecrate the new Commandery of Burton Lazars. Unfortunately we were ultimately unable to overcome the various obstacles to closer union and the matter remained unresolved.

Freddie had links with Georgia through Prince Teimuraz Rhem Toumanishvili,  and received the insignia of the Tadzrelebi – the historic defenders of Georgia – from him. He wrote of this, “Its ancient principles still remain and its members are prepared to give their lives for Georgia, her Crown, her Church and her people.” According to his biography, his other appointments in Georgia included “Chairman of Academic Board of the Georgia & Caucasus Strategic Studies Institute, where he has been appointed Professor of Strategy. In addition, he is a General of the Royal Georgian Legion, which provides education and training for the world leaders of tomorrow.”

Freddie served as Chancellor to Prince August von Hohenstaufen-Lanza, who was recognized by Vatican authorities as heir of the Hohenstaufen dynasty. This was not an easy role, as he wrote to me “Sadly, Prince August was constantly falling in and falling out with people. I used to sit on paperwork which withdrew titles until such time as he had calmed down and changed his mind.”

At one point in his latter years, Freddie was Chancellor to the exiled King Yuhi VI of Rwanda, who lives in England, and then became Chancellor to the Royal House of Laos.

The awards he received over the years were many and included chivalric, nobiliary and civic honours. He became a Datu of the Sultanate of Buyuan, in The Philippines. In the United States, he received both Presidential and State honours. He received the President’s Volunteer Service Award in 2010 and was honoured by the states of Kentucky and Georgia with commissions as Colonel, by Nebraska as a Nebraska Admiral, and by Arkansas as an Arkansas Traveler. In California, the City of San Francisco presented him with a Certificate of Honor in 2010 for his work with the Order of St Lazarus, and he received Certificates of Recognition from the California Legislative Assembly and the Senate.

Freddie had trenchant views on the chivalric world which he expressed frankly in correspondence, and was looked upon by his friends as a source of valuable information on the details and validity of various claims. Because he expressed his views in uncompromising terms and did not hesitate to become involved in the personal animosities that regrettably characterize chivalric discourse in some quarters, he made both friends and enemies. Writing to me of one such situation, he commented wryly, “I never thought that to know me is to love me.” Notwithstanding the fact that his own actions at times attracted both criticism and controversy, he remained a likeable and resolutely humane figure who did not take himself too seriously and was ready to acknowledge his past faults and failings when necessary. Each Ash Wednesday he asked anyone who he had wronged in the past to forgive him, and expressed his repentance.

In his correspondence, his intelligent perspectives were always absorbing and he also possessed a sharp wit and robust sense of humour. Like me, he loved wordplay and puns. His circle of friends and acquaintances was worldwide and he was regarded with great affection by many. He could be extremely kind and generous to his friends, but also had a tendency to fall out with people, particularly when he considered that their conduct had fallen short of proper standards.

As a monarchist, his viewpoint was traditionalist and conservative, but he also had friends across the political spectrum, including Labour peer Lord (Tom) Taylor of Blackburn, under whose aegis he was a guest on several occasions at the House of Lords. He was highly critical of modernist changes in the Church of England and of Pope Francis (who he had hoped would initiate an era of compassion), but retained his Christian Faith unperturbed to the last. He regularly commented on national life through his Facebook account, supporting Brexit and pandemic lockdown restrictions (holding that infringers should be subject to severe punishment), and was also a critic of increasing commercialization.

Freddie wrote to me in 2012 of his impending wedding which was to have taken place in St Barts the Great in London, but in the event this did not happen and he remained a confirmed bachelor. In later years he would walk each morning round Edgbaston Reservoir and took many photographs of the waterfowl there. He was also a lover of dogs, particularly collies.

During his last two years he withdrew from all social communication, prompting great concern and even at one stage the involvement of the police by those anxious about his welfare. His withdrawal proved subsequently to have been because of the severe deterioration in his health. His death was unannounced and it was only some months afterwards that his friends became aware that he had passed away. He will be remembered as one of the great characters of his time.