19th Century Nouveau riche
Well, when my dads family were fleeing the Potato Famine in Ireland, my mums family owned quite a few mills in Yorkshire.

They sold the mills at the turn of the Century and invested in a carpet factory in Lancashire.

In the 20's they divested most of their ownership and, with amazingly poor judgement, invested in German industrial manufacturers.

At this time my great great aunt was a senior member of the Royal Academy of Music, and had taught various members of the European Royalty and Elite to play the piano. [She had also attended the wedding of one of Tom Spencers sons. Yes. That Spencer. Of Marks and ...]
[She was a fabulous old matriarch by the time I was a wee lad. She eventually had a leg replaced with a protheses after a stroke, but still insisted on playing the piano!]

In the 1930's, during the ascendancy of Mr. Hitler, my Great Aunt, who would later work for Professor. Alan Turing at Bletchly Park, did the grand tour which was a traditional tour of European capitals by wealthy youngsters when they came out.[Different meaning back then]

By coincidence she actually met Chancellor Hitler, he had just been elected, at a British Embassy function in Berlin. She later referred to him as a nasty little man.

After the war, my mothers family losing most of it's investments because of it, became more middle class owning bakeries and the like.

Their fortunes dwindled during the 70s and 80s.
Having six children per generation made sure of it.

As a young lad I attended my great great aunts 90th birthday. In attendance were lots of posh people whose names I can't remember and a certain Roger Penrose, who was a friend on my great aunts.
[He was quite well known, and I remember getting introduced as the bright progeny who could do maths. However I was far more interested in the sausage rolls than dusty academics and so ran off.]

My great aunt, still in the 80s, received an OBE for her lifetime in education, she was a university lecturer, and received it not from the Queen, who was in some foreign country, but from Prince Charles.

So, I think the poshest people I have met are my spinster great and great great aunts.
( coder.keitaro I like pies!, Sat 17 Sep 2005, 13:15, Reply)