Sir Nicholas Hickman Ponsonby Bacon, 14th and 15th Baronet, OBE DL (born 17 May 1953), is a British landowner, businessman and philanthropist. Sir Nicholas is also the Premier Baronet of England.
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Sir Nicholas is the son of Sir Edmund Bacon, 13th and 14th Baronet and Priscilla Dora Ponsonby, daughter of Colonel Sir Charles Ponsonby, 1st Baronet. He was educated at Eton College. Sir Nicholas served as Page of Honour to Queen Elizabeth II from 1966 to 1969, and then studied at Dundee University where he obtained a MA degree. At Gray's Inn he was called to the Bar as a barrister.[1]
In 1981, Sir Nicholas married Susan Henrietta Dinnis, and they have four sons:
Sir Nicholas inherited significant landholdings in Norfolk.
He lives at the 18th century Raveningham Hall. He and his wife, Lady Bacon, share an interest in continuing the restoration of the extensive gardens, which were renovated by his late mother, Priscilla.[2]
Sir Nicholas and his wife have continued his mother’s work by developing a new herb garden, refurbishing the walled garden’s Victorian conservatory, planting an arboretum and introducing contemporary sculpture.[3]
Sir Nicholas is a council member of the National Trust and the RHS and in 1998 was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Norfolk.
In 2005 he was appointed to the Prince's Council of the Duchy of Cornwall and served as High Sheriff of Norfolk. In 2006 he succeeded William Peel, 3rd Earl Peel as Lord Warden of the Stannaries and Chairman of the Prince's Council [4]
He is also President of the Norfolk Beekeepers Association, which is his greatest passion.
Sir Nicholas was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 New Year Honours for services to the community in Norfolk.[5]
Sir Nicholas inherited the Bacon Baronetcy after the death of his father in 1982.
As the Bacon Baronetcy, of Redgrave in the County of Suffolk, is the oldest extant English baronetcy (created in the Baronetage of England on 22 May 1611), Sir Nicholas is considered the Premier Baronet of England.
Sir Nicholas is both the 14th and 15th Baronet of Bacon since the 8th Bacon Baronet of Mildenhall in the County of Suffolk (created in the Baronetage of England on 29 July 1627), had been additionally appointed the 7th Bacon Baronet of Redgrave in 1755 when his third cousin, the 6th Bacon Baronet of Redgrave, died without heirs.
| Court offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Edward Hay |
Page of Honour 1969–1973 |
Succeeded by Hon. George Herbert |
| Preceded by The Earl Peel |
Lord Warden of the Stannaries 2005–present |
Incumbent |
| Baronetage of England | ||
| Preceded by Edmund Bacon |
Baronet (of Redgrave and Mildenhall) 1982–present |
Incumbent |