Pamela Vivien Kirkham, 16th Baroness Berners ( Williams; 30 September 1929 – 23 January 2023) was a British

hereditary peer The hereditary peers form part of the peerage in the United Kingdom. As of September 2022, there are 807 hereditary peers: 29 dukes (including five royal dukes), 34 marquesses, 190 earls, 111 viscounts, and 443 barons (disregarding subsid ...

who worked as a nurse in the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

. She was a 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 ...

from 1995 to 1999.

Family and career

Born in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, she was the elder daughter of Vera Ruby Tyrwhitt, 15th Baroness Berners, and Harold Williams JP. She was educated at

Stonar School Stonar School, founded in 1895, is a non-denominational UK independent day and boarding school, at Cottles Park, near Atworth, Wiltshire, south-west England. The school occupies 80 acres of parkland and gardens in a location about 8 miles from ...

and

Radcliffe Infirmary The Radcliffe Infirmary was a hospital in central north Oxford, England, located at the southern end of Woodstock Road on the western side, backing onto Walton Street. History The initial proposals to build a hospital in Oxford were put forw ...

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 ...

, where she qualified as a

State Registered Nurse Nursing in the United Kingdom has a long history. The current form of nursing is often considered as beginning with Florence Nightingale who pioneered modern nursing. Nightingale initiated formal schools of nursing in the United Kingdom in the l ...

in 1951, thereafter working in the

. In 1952 she married

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Michael Kirkham, an

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

in the

Derbyshire Yeomanry The Derbyshire Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1794, which served as a cavalry regiment and dismounted infantry regiment in the First World War and provided two reconnaissance regiments in the Second World W ...

. They had three children.

Peerage and succession

Upon her mother's death in 1992, the ancient Berners barony by writ of summons fell into abeyance between Pamela and her younger sister, Rosemary, the wife of Kelvin Pollock

FCA FCA may refer to: Arts * Federation of Canadian Artists * Foundation for Contemporary Art, in Ghana * Foundation for Contemporary Arts, in the United States Business and economics * False Claims Act, a United States federal law * Federal Cus ...

). As is customary in such uncontested cases, the HoL Committee of Privileges terminated the

abeyance Abeyance (from the Old French ''abeance'' meaning "gaping") is a state of expectancy in respect of property, titles or office, when the right to them is not vested in any one person, but awaits the appearance or determination of the true owner. ...

in favour of the elder daughter. Pamela succeeded her mother as Lady Berners in 1995. She joined the

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 ...

benches in the

, where she sat until 1999, speaking about

health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...

and nursing matters. Berners died from a stroke on 23 January 2023, at the age of 93. Her

title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...

passed to her elder son, Rupert William Tyrwhitt Kirkham, who on 12 February 1994 had married Lisa Lipsey, daughter of the decorated

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

Edward Lipsey.

Arms

References

External links

www.burkespeerage.comwww.debretts.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berners, Pamela 1929 births 2023 deaths People from Gloucestershire People educated at Stonar School Conservative Party (UK) hereditary peers Hereditary women peers English nurses

Pamela Pamela may refer to: *''Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded'', a novel written by Samuel Richardson in 1740 *Pamela (name), a given name and, rarely, a surname *Pamela Spence, a Turkish pop-rock singer. Known as her stage name "Pamela" * MSC ''Pamela'', ...

Berners Berners is an English family name deriving from Hugh de Berners (Hugo de Bernières, from Bernières-d'Ailly, Normandy), who came with the Norman invasion in 1066. The name may refer to: * Juliana Berners (born c.1388), English nun and writer on ...

Family and career

Peerage and succession

See also

Arms

References

External links