Evelyn Emmet, Baroness Emmet of Amberley

Evelyn Violet Elizabeth Emmet, Baroness Emmet of Amberley DL (née Rodd; 18 March 1899 – 10 October 1980) was a British Conservative Party politician. She was the Member of Parliament for East Grinstead from 1955 to 1965, when she was elevated to the House of Lords.

The Right Honourable The Baroness Emmet of Amberley DL
Formal portrait, 1958
Member of Parliament for East Grinstead
In office 26 May 1955 – 3 February 1965
Preceded by	Ralph Clarke
Succeeded by	Geoffrey Johnson-Smith
Personal details
Born	Evelyn Violet Elizabeth Rodd (1899-03-18)18 March 1899 Cairo, Egypt
Died	10 October 1980(1980-10-10) (aged 81) Amberley, England
Political party	Conservative
Spouse	Thomas Addis Emmet ​ ​ (m. 1923; died 1934)​
Relations	Crispin Money-Coutts, 9th Baron Latymer (grandson)
Children	4
Parent(s)	Lilias Georgina Guthrie Rennell Rodd, 1st Baron Rennell
Education	St Margaret's School, Bushey
Alma mater	Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford

Early life

Emmet was the daughter of Lilias Georgina (Guthrie) and the diplomat Rennell Rodd, 1st Baron Rennell. She was born in Cairo, where her father was working at the time.^[1] Among her siblings were Francis Rodd, 2nd Baron Rennell (who married the Hon. Mary Constance Vivian Smith), Hon. Gloria Rodd (wife of painter Simon Elwes), Hon. Peter Rodd (who married Nancy Mitford, one of the famous Mitford sisters), and Hon. Gustaf Rodd (who married Yvonne Mary Marling, daughter of diplomat Sir Charles Murray Marling).^[2]

She was educated at St Margaret's School, Bushey and at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.^[3]

Marriage

On 9 June 1923, she was married to Thomas Addis Emmet, a son of Maj. Robert Emmet (and descendant of Thomas Addis Emmet) and the former Louise Garland (daughter of James Albert Garland). Emmet was a cousin of New York philanthropist Charles Garland. They were married until his death in 1934, and had four children:^[3][4]

• Hon. Gloria Lavinia Eileen Emmet (1924–2012), who married Maj. Mark Winton Slane Fleming in 1950.^[4]
• Hon. Christopher Anthony Robert Emmet (1925–1996), who married Lady Miranda Mary Fitzalan-Howard, daughter of Bernard Fitzalan-Howard, 3rd Baron Howard of Glossop in 1947.^[4]
• Hon. David Alastair Rennell Emmet (b. 1928), who married Sylvia Delia Knowles, daughter of Willis Knowles, in 1967.^[4]
• Hon. Penelope Ann Clare Emmet (b. 1932), who married Hugo Money-Coutts, 8th Baron Latymer, son of Thomas Burdett Money-Coutts, 7th Baron Latymer.^[4]

The Emmet family owned Amberley Castle in West Sussex.^[5]

Career

Local politics

She elected to the London County Council in 1925, representing Hackney North until her defeat in 1934.^[5] Afterward, she relocated to Amberley Castle.^[5] She served on the West Sussex County Council from 1946 to 1967.^[3] Emmet was the first Chairman of the Children's Committee of West Sussex County Council and also Chairman of the Child Guidance Committees.^[6]

Emmet was a member of the Conservative Women's National Advisory Committee 1951 to 1954.^[7]

Parliament

At the 1955 general election, she was elected as Member of Parliament for East Grinstead. She held the seat until 1965, when she was elevated to a life peerage as Baroness Emmet of Amberley, of Amberley in the County of Sussex,^[8] triggering a by-election in East Grinstead.^[9] She was particularly noted for advocating women's equality across numerous contexts, including equal pay, taxation, pensions, and increasing the number of women in Parliament.^[5] She also supported the legalisation of homosexuality and the United Kingdom's membership in the European Economic Community.^[5]

In the House of Lords, she served as deputy speaker from 1968 to 1977.^[10]

Lady Emmet died at Amberley Castle on 10 October 1980, at the age of 81.^[4][5]

Arms

Coat of arms of Evelyn Emmet, Baroness Emmet of Amberley

Escutcheon Azure a fess Ermine in chief a port between two towers Argent and in base a bull's head caboshed between two trefoils slipped. Supporters Dexter a representation of St Wilfrid in processional vestments, sinister a representation of St Richard of Chichester in mass vestments at his feet a chalice, all Proper. Motto Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To The Greater Glory Of God) ^[11]

See also

• Baron Rennell

References

1. "Baroness Emmet". The Daily Telegraph. 11 October 1980. p. 12. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
2. "Rennell, Baron (UK, 1933)". www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Heraldic Media Limited. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
3. "Baroness Emmet of Amberley; Life of service to the Conservative Party". The Times. 13 October 1980. p. 14.
4. Dale, Iain; Smith, Jacqui (2018). The Honourable Ladies: Volume I: Profiles of Women MPs 1918–1996. Biteback Publishing. p. 239. ISBN 978-1-78590-449-3. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
5. Maguire, G. E. (2004). "Emmet [née Rodd], Evelyn Violet Elizabeth, Baroness Emmet of Amberley (1899–1980), politician". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/50059. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
6. Hansard, House of Lords, Vol. 302, Col. 1173, 19 June 1969
7. Evelyn Emmet 13 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine at the Centre for the Advancement of Women in Politics.
8. "No. 43511". The London Gazette. 8 December 1964. p. 10447.
9. "No. 43571". The London Gazette. 9 February 1965. p. 1373.
10. "Emmet, Evelyn Violet Elizabeth, Baroness Emmet of Amberley (1899–1980)". A historical dictionary of British women (2nd ed.). Routledge. 2003. p. 157. ISBN 978-1-85743-228-2.
11. Debrett's Peerage. 1973.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Evelyn Emmet
• ^{[self-published source] [better source needed]}

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Ralph Clarke	Member of Parliament for East Grinstead 1955 – 1965	Succeeded by Geoffrey Johnson-Smith