Evelyn Macleod, Baroness Macleod Of Borve on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Evelyn Hester Macleod, Baroness Macleod of Borve DL (19 February 1915 – 17 November 1999) was a British
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edition, May 2007, accessed 23 October 2007 * , essay on Iain Macleod written by David Goldsworthy. {{DEFAULTSORT:Macleod of Borve, Evelyn Macleod, Baroness 1915 births 1999 deaths British socialites Conservative Party (UK) life peers Deputy lieutenants of Greater London Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Life peers created by Elizabeth II 20th-century British women politicians Polio survivors
Evelyn Hester Macleod, Baroness Macleod of Borve DL (19 February 1915 – 17 November 1999) was a British public servant
The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...
.
Born Evelyn Hester Blois, she was the eldest daughter of Revd. Gervase Vanneck Blois (1881–1961), rector of Hanbury, Worcestershire
Hanbury is a rural village in Worcestershire, England near Droitwich Spa and the M5 motorway.
The population of Hanbury has remained around 1,000 since the early 19th century, and apart from farming and the popular Jinney Ring Craft Centre th ...
(and son of Sir John Blois, 8th Baronet) and his wife Hester, daughter of Herbert Pakington, 3rd Baron Hampton. She was educated at Lawnside boarding-school in Great Malvern
Great Malvern is an area of the civil parish of Malvern, Worcestershire, Malvern, in the Malvern Hills District, Malvern Hills district, in the county of Worcestershire, England. It lies at the foot of the Malvern Hills, a designated Area of O ...
, was presented as a debutante
A debutante, also spelled débutante ( ; from , ), or deb is a young woman of aristocratic or upper-class family background who has reached maturity and is presented to society at a formal "debut" ( , ; ) or possibly debutante ball. Origin ...
at court and played tennis
Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
for Worcestershire.
On 3 July 1937, she married Mervyn Charles Mason (1907–1940) near Malmesbury
Malmesbury () is a town and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England, which lies approximately west of Swindon, northeast of Bristol, and north of Chippenham. The older part of the town is on a hilltop which is almost surrounded by the upp ...
, Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...
. During 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 worked for the London ambulance
An ambulance is a medically-equipped vehicle used to transport patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to ...
service and her husband was a Lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...
in the Pioneer Corps. In 1940, he was killed after his ship was torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...
ed off the coast of Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
and she later married the future politician, Iain Norman Macleod.
In June 1952, Macleod was struck by meningitis
Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, intense headache, vomiting and neck stiffness and occasion ...
and polio
Poliomyelitis ( ), commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe ...
and was subsequently paralysed
Paralysis (: paralyses; also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, r ...
in one leg, but managed to walk with the aid of sticks. When her husband was Secretary of State for the Colonies
The secretary of state for the colonies or colonial secretary was the Cabinet of the United Kingdom's government minister, minister in charge of managing certain parts of the British Empire.
The colonial secretary never had responsibility for t ...
, she entertained various conference delegates, and served as a magistrate
The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...
, founder chairwoman (later president) of the National Association of Leagues of Hospital Friends (renamed Attend since 2006) and co-founder of Crisis at Christmas in 1967.
After her husband died in 1970, she accepted (on the recommendation of Edward Heath
Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 1916 – 17 July 2005) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 ...
) a life peerage as Baroness Macleod of Borve, of Borve in the Isle of Lewis
The Isle of Lewis () or simply Lewis () is the northern part of Lewis and Harris, the largest island of the Western Isles or Outer Hebrides archipelago in Scotland. The two parts are frequently referred to as if they were separate islands. The t ...
. In the House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...
, she spoke on penal policy, the defence of widow's pension
A pension (; ) is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a " defined benefit plan", wh ...
s and in 1976, launched the National Association of Widows. From 1972-5 she was a member of the Independent Broadcasting Authority
The Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) was the regulatory body in the United Kingdom for commercial television ( ITV and Channel 4 and limited satellite television regulation – cable television was the responsibility of the Cable Author ...
and the first chairwoman of the National Gas Consumers' Council from 1972–7.
Baroness Macleod was the Chairman of the charity Attend (then National Association of Leagues of Hospital Friends) from 1974–1985. She was elected to the position of President and held that title from 1985 to 1989. When she stepped down from the post of President, she was honoured as a Vice President until her death in 1999.
She died in 1999 and was survived by her two children, Torquil and Diana.Matthew 2004, pp810-16
References
External links
*David Goldsworthy, ''Macleod, Iain Norman (1913–1970)''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edition, May 2007, accessed 23 October 2007 * , essay on Iain Macleod written by David Goldsworthy. {{DEFAULTSORT:Macleod of Borve, Evelyn Macleod, Baroness 1915 births 1999 deaths British socialites Conservative Party (UK) life peers Deputy lieutenants of Greater London Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Life peers created by Elizabeth II 20th-century British women politicians Polio survivors