Elizabeth Pakenham, Countess of Longford, (''née'' Harman; 30 August 1906 – 23 October 2002), better known as Elizabeth Longford, was an English historian. She was a member 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 ...

and was on the board of trustees of the National Portrait Gallery in London. She is best known as a historian, especially for her biographies of 19th-century figures including

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

(1964),

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

(1976) and the

Duke of Wellington Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they ar ...

(1969).

Early life

Elizabeth Harman was born on 30 August 1906 at 108

Harley Street Harley Street is a street in Marylebone, Central London, named after Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer.Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also ) is an area in London, England, and is located in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. Oxford Street forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropo ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. The daughter of eye specialist Nathaniel Bishop Harman, she was educated at Francis Holland School and Headington School, and was an undergraduate at

Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford Lady Margaret Hall (LMH) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, located on a bank of the River Cherwell at Norham Gardens in north Oxford and adjacent to the University Parks. The ...

. "Able, articulate and beautiful", in the words of ''The New York Times'', she was "the Zuleika Dobson of her day, with undergraduates and even dons tumbling over one another to fall in love with her". A few years after her graduation, on 3 November 1931, she married Frank Pakenham, later 7th Earl of Longford, who died in August 2001. Her obituary by the BBC said the marriage was "famously harmonious". ''The New York Times'', in its review of ''The Pebbled Shore'', called Lady Longford "easily the best writer in what is predominantly a literary family". She and her husband were both devout Roman Catholic converts, Lady Longford having been raised a Unitarian, and avid social reformers. The Longfords had eight children: # Lady Antonia Margaret Caroline Pakenham (27 August 1932) # Thomas Francis Dermot Pakenham, 8th Earl of Longford (14 August 1933) # The Honourable Patrick Maurice Pakenham (17 April 1937 – 8 June 2005) # Lady Judith Elizabeth Pakenham (14 August 1940 – 18 September 2018) # Lady Rachel Mary Pakenham (11 May 1942) # The Honourable Michael Aidan Pakenham (3 November 1943) # Lady Catherine Rose Pakenham (28 February 1946 – 11 August 1969) # The Honourable John Toussaint Pakenham (1 November 1947) Daughters

Lady Antonia Fraser Lady Antonia Margaret Caroline Fraser, (; born 27 August 1932) is a British author of history, novels, biographies and detective fiction. She is the widow of the 2005 Nobel Laureate in Literature, Harold Pinter (1930–2008), and prior to his ...

, Lady Rachel Billington, Judith Kazantzis are all writers, and Thomas Pakenham succeeded his father as Earl of Longford. Her brother, John B. Harman, was a physician; his daughter is Labour politician

Harriet Harman Harriet Ruth Harman, Baroness Harman, (born 30 July 1950), is a British politician and solicitor who served as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Deputy Leader of the Labour Party and Chair of the Labour Party (UK), Chair of the Labour Pa ...

. Lady Longford was a great-niece of the politician

Joseph Chamberlain Joseph Chamberlain (8 July 1836 – 2 July 1914) was a British statesman who was first a radical Liberal Party (UK), Liberal, then a Liberal Unionist after opposing home rule for Ireland, and eventually was a leading New Imperialism, imperial ...

and a first cousin once removed of the British prime minister

Neville Chamberlain Arthur Neville Chamberlain (; 18 March 18699 November 1940) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from ...

Political career

She made several unsuccessful attempts to win election to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

as a Labour MP. In

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

she contested

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

, which was a safely

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

seat, and in

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...

she was defeated by Quintin Hogg at

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. Through the war she had sought selection at Birmingham King's Norton until she felt compelled to cease her candidacy upon her sixth pregnancy in 1944; the seat was a Labour gain in

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...

by 12,000 votes.

Death

Longford died on 23 October 2002, aged 96, at Bernhurst in Hurst Green, East Sussex.

Publications

* '' Victoria R.I.'' (1964) Awarded the

James Tait Black Memorial Prize The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are literary prizes awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize, are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Un ...

* '' Wellington: The Years of the Sword'' (1969) and '' Wellington: Pillar Of State'' (1972), a two-volume biography of the first Duke of Wellington, who numbered among her husband's relatives * '' The Royal House of Windsor'' (1974) * ''

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

'' (1974) * * ''Byron'' (1976) * ''A Pilgrimage of Passion: The Life of Wilfrid Scawen Blunt'' (1979) ( I.B. Tauris, re-issued 2007) * * '' Jameson's Raid'' (1982) * ''Elizabeth R: A Biography'' (1983) * * *

References

Citations

Bibliography

External links

"Lady Longford dies aged 96"
BBC News, 2002
Elizabeth Longford
, obituary by ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

''
"Elizabeth Longford (Elizabeth, Countess of Longford)"
Fellows Remembered, The Royal Society of Literature {{DEFAULTSORT:Longford, Elizabeth 1906 births 2002 deaths Alumni of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford British biographers English Roman Catholics Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Converts to Roman Catholicism British socialists People educated at Francis Holland School Elizabeth Historians of the Napoleonic Wars James Tait Black Memorial Prize recipients 20th-century British historians British women historians Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Wives of knights British women biographers Spouses of life peers Irish countesses