Edna May Healey, Baroness Healey (''née'' Edmunds; 14 June 1918 – 21 July 2010) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

writer, lecturer and filmmaker.

Life and career

Edna May Edmunds was born in the

Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the Counties of England, county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangle, triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and no ...

and educated at Bells Grammar School,

Coleford, Gloucestershire Coleford is a market town in the west of the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England, east of the Welsh border and close to the Wye Valley. It is the administrative centre of the Forest of Dean district. The combined population of the town's ...

, where she was the first pupil to gain a place at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

. Her father, Edward Edmunds, a crane driver, threatened to send her to work in a pin factory if she did not apply herself to reading. While studying English at

St Hugh's College St Hugh's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It is located on a site on St Margaret's Road, to the north of the city centre. It was founded in 1886 by Elizabeth Wordsworth as a ...

she met

Denis Healey Denis Winston Healey, Baron Healey (30 August 1917 – 3 October 2015) was a British Labour Party politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1974 to 1979 and as Secretary of State for Defence from 1964 to 1970; he remains the lo ...

, who was studying at

Balliol College Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and ar ...

. She then trained as a teacher and married Healey in 1945, following his military service in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. She became Baroness Healey in 1992 when her husband received a life peerage. Although she began her writing career relatively late in life, her books were critically acclaimed and sometimes best-sellers, including biographies of successful women in powerful positions. Lady Healey also produced two award-winning television documentaries. In 1993, she was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 800 Fellows, elect ...

Quotations

Edna Healey has one entry in the 8th Edition of The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations where she says of

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

, "She has no hinterland; in particular she has no sense of history."

Death

She died on 21 July 2010, aged 92. She was survived by Lord Healey, her husband of 65 years, three children and four grandchildren.''The Courier and Advertiser'' obituary, 24 July 2010

Books

* ''Lady Unknown: The Life of Angela Burdett-Coutts'' (1978) * ''Wives of Fame'' (1986) (subjects were Mary Livingstone, Jenny Marx and

Emma Darwin Emma Darwin (; 2 May 1808 – 2 October 1896) was an English woman who was the wife and first cousin of Charles Darwin. They were married on 29 January 1839 and were the parents of ten children, seven of whom survived to adulthood. Early lif ...

) * ''

Coutts Coutts & Co. () is a British private bank and wealth manager headquartered in London, England. Founded in 1692, it is the eighth oldest bank in the world. Today, Coutts forms part of NatWest Group's wealth management division. In the Channe ...

and Co., 1692-1992: Portrait of a Private Bank'' (1992) * ''The Queen's House: A History of

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

'' (1997) * ''

: The Inspirational Wife of a Genius'' (2001) * ''Part of the Pattern: Memoirs of a Wife at Westminster'' (2006)

Documentaries

* ''Mrs Livingstone, I Presume'' (1982) * ''One More River, the Life of Mary Slessor in Nigeria'' (1984)

References

External links

Edna Healey obituary in ''The Guardian''

Edna May (née Edmunds), Lady Healey (1918-2010), Author, radio and television writer and broadcaster; wife of Baron Healey: Sitter associated with 3 portraits
(National Portrait Gallery) {{DEFAULTSORT:Healey, Edna 1918 births 2010 deaths British non-fiction writers British women writers British baronesses People educated at Bells Grammar School People from Forest of Dean District Alumni of St Hugh's College, Oxford Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Spouses of life peers