Irene Tordoff Fritchie, Baroness Fritchie, DBE (née Fennell; born 29 April 1942 in

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

), known as Rennie Fritchie, is a British

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

and former member of 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 ...

Life/career

Irene Tordoff Fennell, daughter of Mr and Mrs Charles Frederick Fennell, was educated at Ribston Hall Grammar School for Girls in

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

and has had a long career specialising in training and development. Now described as a "portfolio" worker, she has held various positions including

Commissioner for Public Appointments The Commissioner for Public Appointments is a British public servant, appointed by the King, whose primary role is to provide independent assurance that ministerial public appointments across the United Kingdom by HM Government Ministers (and devol ...

from 1999 to 2005, and President of the Pennell Initiative for Women's Health in Later Life. In the 1970s, she was one of the first full-time women's training advisers and pioneered the training of staff in the then new Equal Opportunities Commission. Using a German Marshall Fellowship awarded in 1985, she drew lessons from the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

for the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

for programmes to improve the status of women. She has published extensively on these topics and contributes regularly on them to programmes on television and radio. She became Chairman of Nominet in 2010.

Affiliations

She holds a number of positions outside government. She holds an honorary Professorship in Creative Leadership at York University and is Pro-Chancellor at

Southampton University The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities in the United K ...

, a Civil Service Commissioner and Vice-Chair of the Stroud and Swindon Building Society. Active in a number of charities, Fritchie has been awarded

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

s by a number of academic institutions. Fritchie is Chair of the 2gether NHS Foundation Trust in Gloucestershire, and in 2012 was appointed as the new chancellor of the

University of Gloucestershire The University of Gloucestershire is a public university based in Gloucestershire, England. It is located over five campuses, three in Cheltenham and two in Gloucester. The university is the successor of a large number of merged, name-changed ...

Family

In 1960, she married Don Jamie Fritchie with whom she had two children, the elder dying in 1991. She was widowed in 1992.

Honours

Fritchie became a

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in the 1996 New Year Honours. On 31 May 2005 Fritchie was made a

as Baroness Fritchie, of

in the County of Gloucestershire, and she sat as a

crossbencher A crossbencher is a minor party or independent member of some legislatures, such as the Parliament of Australia. In the British House of Lords the term refers to members of the parliamentary group of non-political peers. They take their name fr ...

in the

. Fritchie retired from the House of Lords on 1 July 2024.

Arms

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fritchie, Rennie 1942 births Living people Nobility from Fife Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Life peers created by Elizabeth II Peers recommended by the House of Lords Appointments Commission Academics of the University of Southampton People associated with the University of Gloucestershire Crossbench life peers Commissioners for Public Appointments Peers retired under the House of Lords Reform Act 2014