Hon. Angela Pearson became Angela Murray and Angela Campbell-Preston (27 February 1910 – 1981) was a British businessperson, landowner, and conservationist. She managed her families estates and houses, hospitals and newspapers. She was a supporter of the

National Trust for Scotland The National Trust for Scotland () is a Scottish Building preservation and conservation trusts in the UK, conservation organisation. It is the largest membership organisation in Scotland and describes itself as "the charity that cares for, sha ...

Life

Pearson was born in Whitehall in

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

in 1910. Her mother was Agnes Beryl Spencer-Churchill (1881–1948) and her father was

Harold Pearson, 2nd Viscount Cowdray Weetman Harold Miller Pearson, 2nd Viscount Cowdray, (18 April 1882 – 5 October 1933), styled The Honourable Harold Pearson between 1910 and 1927, was a British peer and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party politician. Background Cowdray was th ...

(1882–1933). Her twin brother was

John Pearson, 3rd Viscount Cowdray Lt Col (Weetman) John Churchill Pearson, 3rd Viscount Cowdray (27 February 1910 - 19 January 1995) was a British peer, businessman and polo player. Early life Weetman John Churchill Pearson and his twin sister, Angela was born on 27 Februa ...

who at one point was said to be the sixth richest person in the world.George Nugent
Obituaries: Viscount Cowdray
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 21 January 1995 Pearson and her twin brother had three sisters and they were all raised at the family seat of Cowdray Park in West Sussex. In 1930 she married Lieutenant-Colonel George Anthony (Tony) Murray and in 1933 she became the 23 year old chair of the

South London Hospital for Women and Children South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sun ...

. Within four years the hospital was opening a new south wing. She led the hospital during the war when an act of parliament was required to allow the hospital to treat men. The hospital was modified as underused spaces were converted into wards for casualties and new operating theatres. Her husband Tony was killed in Italy in 1945. Their only child to survive childhood became, in 1957,

Iain Murray, 10th Duke of Atholl George Iain Murray, 10th Duke of Atholl, DL (19 June 1931 – 27 February 1996), known as ''Wee Iain'', was a Scottish peer and landowner. He was also Marquess and Earl of Atholl, Marquess and Earl of Tullibardine, and Earl of Strathtay and S ...

. After the war she was a widow and she led the Lambeth group of hospitals for the newly formed National Health Service. In 1950 she married Lieutenant-Colonel Robert (Bobby) Modan Thorne Campbell-Preston and moved to his home,

Ardchattan Priory Ardchattan Priory was a Valliscaulian monastic community in Ardchattan, Argyll, Scotland. History The Priory was founded in 1230 by Donnchadh of Argyll, Duncan MacDougall, Lord of Argyll. The most widely believed origin of Clan Chattan is th ...

, by Loch Etive in Argyllshire. Their daughter, Sarah, was born in 1951. She moved her focus from hospitals to the huge family business which included publishing. She joined the board of the Pearson company in 1953 and she was appointed chair of their Westminster Press which owned a number of British regional newspaper titles. She supported each of them in delivering local news to various cities like Oxford and Brighton and the readers of the

Northern Echo ''The Northern Echo'' is a regional daily morning newspaper based in the town of Darlington in North East England, serving mainly southern County Durham and northern Yorkshire. The paper covers national as well as regional news. In 2007, its the ...

. Pearson had helped to manage Blair Castle in Perthshire since the 1930s when her grandmother had invested in the estate. She had lived there from 1945 when she became a widow. She had then supervised the appointment of a new management throughout the estate to bring it back into profitability. She had donated houses on the estate to the

after the war and she enjoying refurbishing small houses. In 1960 she gave he expertise as a member of the board of the National Trust for Scotland and in 1967 she led a working party for the King's Fund which looked at the optimum design of a standard hospital bedstead.

Death and legacy

Pearson died in

Ardchattan and Muckairn Ardchattan and Muckairn is a civil parish within Argyll and Bute in Scotland. It lies north of Oban, bordering Loch Etive and includes Glen Ure, Glen Creran, Barcaldine, Benderloch, Connel, Bonawe and Glen Etive. At the 2001 census, Ardcha ...

in 1981 survived by her husband. She had sat the year before for a painting by

Bryan Organ Bryan Organ (born 31 August 1935 in Leicester) is a British artist considered one of the leading and most innovative English portrait painters of the 20th century. His paintings have included portraits of prominent public figures and of members ...

. This painting is in the collection of Blair Castle where in 2023 her daughter, Sarah Troughton, was the chief trustee.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearson, Angela 1910 births 1981 deaths People from Westminster People from Argyll and Bute Hospital administrators Pearson plc people National Trust for Scotland people