Evelyn Emmet, Baroness Emmet of Amberley

Evelyn Emmet was a British Conservative Party politician who had a distinguished career in local and national politics. She was born in Cairo, where her father was a diplomat, and educated at Oxford. She married Thomas Addis Emmet, a descendant of Irish revolutionaries, in 1923 and had four children. She was elected to the London County Council in 1925, representing Hackney North until 1934. She moved to Amberley Castle in West Sussex after her husband’s death in 1934 and served on the West Sussex County Council from 1946 to 1967. She was also a justice of the peace and a delegate to the United Nations. She became a member of Parliament for East Grinstead in 1955 and served until 1964, when she was elevated to the House of Lords as Baroness Emmet of Amberley. She was the first chairman of the Children’s Committee of West Sussex County Council and also chairman of the Child Guidance Committees. She was a member of the executive of the National Union of the Conservative Party and the Conservative Women’s National Advisory Committee. She was also a deputy chairman of committees in the House of Lords and a member of the select committee on the European Economic Community. She was known for her interest in social welfare, education, foreign affairs, and women’s rights. She died at her home in Amberley Castle in 1980.