In 1892, Viscount George Maidstone (or ‘Maidy’) Finch-Hatton became ill with flu while abroad with his family in Cannes. He was nursed for several weeks by his mother, Lady Winchilsea, but sadly her efforts were in vain. While ill, nine-year-old Maidy discussed with his father the idea of setting up a children’s society, whose members would assist and write to poorer children. The 12th Earl of Winchilsea was reputedly a devoted father to Maidy and his sister Muriel, and just over a year later, he established the Children’s Order of Chivalry. Its watchwords were ‘gentleness, honour and love’. Born out of a family’s grief, the Order is a fascinating attempt to bring together rich and poor and to instil social responsibility in the young.