Dame Elizabeth Periam Gass, Lady Gass, ( ''née'' Acland-Hood; born 2 March 1940) was

Lord-Lieutenant of Somerset This is an incomplete list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Somerset. Since 1714, all Lord Lieutenants have also been Custos Rotulorum of Somerset. Lord Lieutenants of Somerset * John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford 1552–1555 * Will ...

from 1998 to 2015.

Early life and education

She is the eldest daughter and co-heiress of the Honorable John Acland-Hood, a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

and his wife, Phyllis (née Hallett), Elizabeth Acland-Hood. She studied at

Cheltenham Ladies' College Cheltenham Ladies' College is an independent boarding and day school for girls aged 11 to 18 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. Consistently ranked as one of the top all-girls' schools nationally, the school was established in 1853 to pr ...

and

Girton College, Cambridge Girton College is one of the 31 constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college in Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college status ...

. Her father was himself a younger son of

Alexander Fuller-Acland-Hood, 1st Baron St Audries Alexander Fuller-Acland-Hood, 1st Baron St Audries PC (26 September 1853 – 4 June 1917), known as Sir Alexander Fuller-Acland-Hood, Bt, until 1911, was a British Conservative Party politician. He served as Parliamentary Secretary to the T ...

.Profile
debretts.com; accessed '5 June 2014. Having graduated from the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, Acland-Hood worked as a schoolteacher, teaching

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

. In 1967 she inherited from an uncle her family's ancestral

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense. Types of seat The following are examples of different kinds of seat: * Armchair (furniture), ...

, Fairfield House, near

Stogursey Stogursey is the name of a small village and civil parish in the Quantock Hills in Somerset, England. It is situated from Nether Stowey, and west of Bridgwater. The village is situated near the Bristol Channel, which bounds the parish on the no ...

, Somerset, and gave up her teaching career to concentrate on managing the estate which came with it."Nuclear land deal leaves Lady Gass '£50m richer'"
, ''Bridgwater Times'', 17 November 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2012. In 1975, she married Sir Michael Gass

KCMG KCMG may refer to * KC Motorgroup, based in Hong Kong, China * Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, British honour * KCMG-LP, radio station in New Mexico, USA * KCMG, callsign 1997-2001 of Los Angeles radio station KKLQ (FM) ...

, who died in 1983.Profile
thepeerage.com. Retrieved 15 June 2014. He was a former

High Commissioner for the Western Pacific The High Commissioner for the Western Pacific was the chief executive officer of the British Western Pacific Territories, a British colonial entity, which existed from 1877 until 1976. Numerous colonial possessions were attached to the Territori ...

(1969–71) and

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

(1969–73), and they had no children. In 1985, two years after being widowed, Gass was elected to

Somerset County Council Somerset County Council is the county council of Somerset in the South West of England, an elected local government authority responsible for the most significant local government services in most of the county. On 1 April 2023 the county counc ...

, as a

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

Councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

for the Quantock district, and remained a member until 1997. From 1989 to 1993 she was Chairman of the

Exmoor National Park Exmoor is loosely defined as an area of hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon in South West England. It is named after the River Exe, the source of which is situated in the centre of the area, two miles north-west of Simonsbath ...

Committee and at the same time was Vice-Chairman of the county council's Social Services Committee. In 1994 she was

High Sheriff of Somerset The office of High Sheriff of Somerset is an ancient shrievalty which has been in existence since the 11th century. Originally known as the "Sheriff of Somerset", the role was retitled on 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Government A ...

, the next year was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for Somerset, and in 1996 was promoted to

Vice Lord-Lieutenant A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility ...

and appointed as a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for the county. In 1998, she became Lord Lieutenant of Somerset, a position she held until March 2015. In 2011, she attracted considerable negative attention after selling some 230 acres of land on the coast beneath the

Quantock Hills The Quantock Hills west of Bridgwater in Somerset, England, consist of heathland, oak woodlands, ancient parklands and agricultural land. They were England's first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, designated in 1956. Natural England have desi ...

for about £50 million. The land was the part of her Fairfield estate lying immediately to the west of the Hinkley Point power station and was wanted for the construction of two new nuclear reactors.

Other appointments

*Director, Avalon NHS Trust, 1993–96 *Commissioner,

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

, 1995–2001 *Member of Committee of National Trust (Wessex) 1994–2002 *National Executive Committee,

Country Landowners Association The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) is a membership organisation for owners of land, property and businesses in rural England and Wales. It was until quite recently called the Country Landowners' Association. Membership CLA members ...

, 1998–2003 *Wessex Committee, HHA, 1998–present *

Wells Cathedral Wells Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Wells, Somerset, England, dedicated to St Andrew the Apostle. It is the seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells, whose cathedra it holds as mother church of the Diocese of Bath and Wells. Built as a ...

Council, since 2004 *Member of Council of Cheltenham Ladies' College, 1992–2001 *Member of Council of Bath University, 1999–2002 *Trustee of West of England School for Children with Little or no Sight, 1996–2008 *President,

Royal Bath and West of England Society The Royal Bath and West of England Society is a charitable society founded in 1777 to promote and improve agriculture and related activities around the West Country of England. Based at the Royal Bath and West of England Society Showground near ...

, 2002–03 *President, Somerset County Scout Council *Patron, Somerset Sight *Patron,

British Red Cross The British Red Cross Society is the United Kingdom body of the worldwide neutral and impartial humanitarian network the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The society was formed in 1870, and is a registered charity with more ...

in Somerset, 2013–present *Vice-President Wessex Reserve Forces' and Cadets' Association 1998–2015 *Trustee
Calvert Trust Exmoor
*Patron, Somerset Churches Trust

Personal life

Lady Gass is a

Dame ''Dame'' is an honorific title and the feminine form of address for the honour of damehood in many Christian chivalric orders, as well as the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British honours system and those of several oth ...

of the Order of St John and was appointed

Dame Commander of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, or ...

(DCVO) in the 2014 New Year Honours List.

Notes

External links

Lady Gass, High Sheriff of Somerset
portrait by Hans Schwarz, 1996 {{DEFAULTSORT:Gass, Elizabeth 1940 births Living people Alumni of Girton College, Cambridge People educated at Cheltenham Ladies' College Lord-Lieutenants of Somerset Members of Somerset County Council Dames Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Dames of Justice of the Order of St John Councillors in Somerset High Sheriffs of Somerset Conservative Party (UK) councillors Women councillors in England