Joan Mary Quennell (23 December 1923 – 2 July 2006) was a British

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

politician who served as the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Petersfield Petersfield is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is north of Portsmouth. The town has its own railway station on the Portsmouth Direct line, the mainline rail link connecting Portsmouth a ...

from 1960 to 1974.

Early life

The daughter of Walter Quennell, a builder and developer, Quennell was educated at

Bedales School Bedales School is a co-educational, boarding and day independent school in the village of Steep, near the market town of Petersfield in Hampshire, England. It was founded in 1893 by John Haden Badley in reaction to the limitations of conven ...

, and served with the

Women's Land Army The Women's Land Army (WLA) was a British civilian organisation created in 1917 by the Board of Agriculture during the First World War to bring women into work in agriculture, replacing men called up to the military. Women who worked for the W ...

during

World War II 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 ...

Career

Quennell was the manager of a mixed dairy and arable farm and served as a

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...

County Council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...

lor 1951–61. She was a governor of Crawley College of Further Education, and served as a J.P.''Dod's Parliamentary Companion'', ed. C. R. Dod and R. P. Dod, Dod's Parliamentary Companion Ltd., 1967, pg 461 First elected to Parliament at the 1960 Petersfield by-election, Quennell had been chairman of the

Horsham Horsham is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

Divisional Conservative Association. She stood down from parliament in the October 1974 general election, and continued to live at the family home near

Rogate Rogate is a village and civil parish in the Chichester district of West Sussex, England, in the Western Rother valley. The village is on the A272 road west of Midhurst and east of Petersfield, Hampshire. The civil parish includes the villages o ...

until her death.

Death

Quennell died in hospital in

Chichester Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ci ...

on 2 July 2006, having had recurring bouts of poor health since suffering a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

a few years earlier. Her remains were cremated. Quennell

bequeathed A bequest is property given by will. Historically, the term ''bequest'' was used for personal property given by will and ''deviser'' for real property. Today, the two words are used interchangeably. The word ''bequeath'' is a verb form for the ...

her Dangstein estate, near

, to the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

. In 2008, the Trust sold the estate to new owners who dismissed the staff and

evicted Eviction is the removal of a tenant from rental property by the landlord. In some jurisdictions it may also involve the removal of persons from premises that were foreclosed by a mortgagee (often, the prior owners who defaulted on a mortgag ...

tenants at the end of their agreements resulting in allegations that the Trust had not complied with Quennell's wishes.

Family

Her uncle was the architect and writer

C. H. B. Quennell Charles Henry Bourne Quennell (1872–1935), was an English architect, designer, illustrator and historian. According to the heritage architect Cath Layton, "his great influence s an architect and urban plannercan be felt in the houses and str ...

, whose son, her cousin, was the writer Sir

Peter Quennell Sir Peter Courtney Quennell (9 March 1905 – 27 October 1993) was an English biographer, literary historian, editor, essayist, poet, and critic. He wrote extensively on social history. Life Born in Bickley, Kent, the son of architect C. ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Quennell, Joan 1923 births 2006 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies People from Petersfield Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 People educated at Bedales School Councillors in West Sussex Women's Land Army members (World War II) 20th-century British women politicians People from Chichester District 20th-century English women 20th-century English people Women councillors in England