I always considered Hansom to be the (almost) perfect English gentleman, but my doubts were raised following one of the items in one of his columns (26 March, page 33). He referred to "the trooping of the colour" in Horse Guards Parade, London, when any true Englishman worth his salt knows that it should actually be "trooping the colour".

Postscript

David Merry, Baker Mallet, via email