The Baroness Elles | |
---|---|
Member of the European Parliament for the Thames Valley | |
In office 10 June 1979 – 15 June 1989 | |
Preceded by | District created |
Succeeded by | John Stevens |
Personal details | |
Born | 19 July 1921 |
Died | 17 October 2009 (aged 88) |
Nationality | British |
Political party | Conservative |
Spouse(s) | Neil Patrick Moncrieff Elles |
Children | Elizabeth Rosamund (born 1947), James Edmund Moncrieff (born 1949) |
Occupation | Barrister |
Diana Louie Elles, Baroness Elles (19 July 1921 – 17 October 2009)[1] was a barrister and United Nations representative from the United Kingdom. She was a delegate to the European Parliament for over a decade. Her son is James Elles.
Early years[]
Born Diana Newcombe in Bedford, she was the daughter of Colonel Stewart Francis Newcombe and his wife Elisabeth Chaki, who he had met in his war captivity.[2] Her father was a close friend of T.E.Lawrence,[2] who was the godfather of her brother Stuart Lawrence Newcombe (born 1920).[3] After education at private schools in London, Paris and Florence, she went to the University of London, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in French and Italian in 1941.[2] During the Second World War Elles served in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force, becoming a Flight Officer in 1944.[2] Versed in mathematics she was attached to Bletchley Park and was part of a team of code-breakers.[4]
Career in England[]
Elles was called to the bar by Lincoln's Inn in 1956 and worked in the voluntary care committee in Kennington.[2] She was director of the National Institute of Houseworkers, opening a training college in 1963.[2] In July 1970, Elles became chairman of the British section of the European Union of Women and three years later of the organisation as a whole.[2] In 1972, Edward Heath, at that time Prime Minister of the United Kingdom arranged for her a life peerage[4] and on 2 May she was created Baroness Elles, of the City of Westminster.[5] When Labour took office in 1974, she sat on the Opposition benches in the House of Lords and acted as Spokesperson for foreign and European affairs.[6]
In 1977 Elles became a council member of the Royal Institute of International Affairs until 1986 and subsequently was governor of the University of Reading until 1996.[6] She was trustee of the Industry and Parliament Trust from 1985 and in 1990 a trustee of the Caldecott Community that was founded as a London nursery in 1911 - latterly a residential (therapeutic) community for children in care.[6] Elles was appointed an honorable bencher of Lincoln's Inn in 1993.[7] After her retirement from politician, she spent her time supporting the British Institute of Florence.[4]
Foreign career[]
In 1972, Elles joined the British delegation to the United Nations General Assembly and after a year was added to the UN Sub-Commission for Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities.[8] She was nominated UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in 1975.[8] Four years later, she resigned her offices with the UN.[8]
Edward Heath sent her to the European Parliament in 1973, where she headed the international office until 1978, when Elles had to make room for a Labour delegate.[2] In the Parliament's first election in 1979, she won the Conservative seat for Thames Valley.[9] Together with her son James, she was returned in 1984 for another five years.[2] From 1982, she served as the Parliament's vice-president and two years later, stood unsuccessfully for the presidency.[9] When in 1987, her term ended, she ran for the leadership of the European Democratic Group, however was defeated by Christopher Prout.[2] Elles left the Parliament in 1989 and became a member of the Belgian law firm Van Bael and Bellis.[2]
Personal life[]
In 1945, she married Neil Patrick Moncrieff Elles; they had two children, Elizabeth Rosamund (born 1947) and James Edmund Moncrieff (born 1949).[10] Her husband having predeceased her, Elles died on 17 October 2009, aged 88.[4]
Works[]
- The Housewife and The Common Market (1971)
- Procedural Aspects of Competition Law (1975)
- UN Human Rights of Non-Citizens (1984)
- Legal Issues of the Maastricht Treaty (1995)
- European and World Trade Law (1996)
References[]
- ↑ "Leigh Rayment - Peerage". http://www.leighrayment.com/peers/peersE1.htm. Retrieved 19 December 2009.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 "Obituary - Baroness Elles". 29 October 2009. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/politics-obituaries/6462457/Baroness-Elles.html. Retrieved 29 October 2009.
- ↑ 1988, Malcolm Brown ed: T.E.Lawrence - The Selected Letters ISBN 1-55778-518-X pg 174
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Obituary - Baroness Elles: human rights campaigner and Conservative MEP". 26 October 2009. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article6889531.ece. Retrieved 19 December 2009.
- ↑ "No. 45663". 4 May 1972. p. 5315. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/45663/page/5315
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Parliament of the United Kingdom, Official website - Profile of Baroness Elles". http://biographies.parliament.uk/parliament/default.asp?id=26853. Retrieved 19 December 2009.
- ↑ "Appointments". 7 August 1993. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/appointments-1459641.html. Retrieved 20 October 2009.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Charles Roger Dod; Robert Phipps Dod (2001). Dod's Parliamentary Companion 2001. Vacher Dod Publishing Ltd.. pp. 489. ISBN 0-905702-30-1.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 "European Parliament, Official website - Profile of Baroness Elles". http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/archive/term1/view.do?language=EN&id=1662. Retrieved 19 December 2009.
- ↑ "p. 19122 § 191219 - Diana Louie Newcombe, Baroness Elles". http://www.thepeerage.com/p19122.htm#i191219. Retrieved 25 October 2009.[unreliable source?]
External links[]
- Portraits of Diana Elles, Baroness Elles at the National Portrait Gallery, London
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Diana Elles, Baroness Elles
The original article can be found at Diana Elles, Baroness Elles and the edit history here.