Diana Josceline Barbara Neave, Baroness Airey of Abingdon (born Diana Josceline Barbara Giffard; 7 July 1919 – 27 November 1992) was a Conservative member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

after receiving a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

age in August 1979.

Personal life

Diana Giffard was daughter of Thomas Arthur Walter Giffard,

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

, DL, for Staffordshire, of

Chillington Hall Chillington Hall is a Georgian country house near Brewood, Staffordshire, England, four miles northwest of Wolverhampton. It is the residence of the Giffard family. The Grade I listed house was designed by Francis Smith in 1724 and John Soan ...

, Wolverhampton, Staffordshire and his wife Angela Erskine Trollope, elder daughter and co-heiress of Sir William Henry Trollope, 10th Bt. She married

Airey Neave Airey Middleton Sheffield Neave, (;) (23 January 1916 – 30 March 1979) was a British soldier, lawyer and Member of Parliament (MP) from 1953 until his assassination in 1979. During World War II he was the first British prisoner-of-war ...

(23 January 1916 – 30 March 1979), elder son and first child of Sheffield Airey Neave, himself a grandson of Sir Thomas Neave, 2nd Baronet, of the Neave baronets, and his first wife Dorothy Middleton, on 29 December 1942. They had three children: # Hon. Marigold Elizabeth Cassandra Neave, now Hon. Mrs Webb (born 5 May 1944); married 8 June 1968 William Richard Broughton Webb, son of Lt.-Cdr. William Frank Broughton Webb, and has issue, one son and one daughter. # Hon. Richard Patrick Sheffield Neave (born 12 Nov 1947); married 1980 Elizabeth Mary Catherine Riddell, daughter of Cuthbert Edward Alphonso Riddell, and had issue, three sons, whose common second last name is Airey. # Hon. William Robert Sheffield Neave (born 13 Aug 1953); married 1986 Joanna Mary Stuart Paton, daughter of James Stuart Paton, and has issue, two sons, Richard Digby Stuart Neave (born 21 May 1987); Sebastian Airey Stuart Neave (born 11 May 1989).

Career

At the beginning of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

she worked as a nurse in an RAF hospital. Later she was enrolled by the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

to carry out work in secret intelligence with the

Political Warfare Executive During World War II, the Political Warfare Executive (PWE) was a British clandestine body created to produce and disseminate both white and black propaganda, with the aim of damaging enemy morale and sustaining the morale of countries occupied ...

, in particular liaising with the Polish Ministry of Information. Diana Neave was created Baroness Airey of Abingdon, of Abingdon in the County of

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, on 6 August 1979, a few months after her husband – a British Conservative Member of Parliament – was killed in an attack by the

Irish National Liberation Army The Irish National Liberation Army (INLA, ga, Arm Saoirse Náisiúnta na hÉireann) is an Irish republican socialist paramilitary group formed on 10 December 1974, during the 30-year period of conflict known as "the Troubles". The group seek ...

using a car-bomb in the

Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parli ...

on 30 March 1979. She was on the governing body of

Abingdon School Abingdon School is a day and boarding independent school for boys in Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England. The twentieth oldest independent British school, it celebrated its 750th anniversary in 2006. The school was described as "highly ...

from 1981 to 1987. She was a trustee of the Imperial War Museum, the

National Heritage Memorial Fund The National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) was set up in 1980 to save the most outstanding parts of the British national heritage, in memory of those who have given their lives for the UK. It replaced the National Land Fund which had fulfilled the ...

, the Dorneywood Trust and the Stansted Park Foundation. She was President of the Anglo-Polish Conservative Society.

Death

She died in 1992 and is buried in the churchyard with her husband at

Hinton Waldrist Hinton Waldrist is a village and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse, England. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. The village is between Oxford and Faringdon, southwest of Oxford. The pa ...

Arms

References

External links

*. Photograph of Diana Neave from the same site. {{DEFAULTSORT:Neave, Diana Baroness Airey of Abingdon Airey of Abingdon Airey of Abingdon Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Airey of Abingdon, Diana Neave, Baroness Airey of Abingdon 20th-century British women politicians Governors of Abingdon School