Valerie Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers ( Scott; born 23 January 1939) served as

Lord Lieutenant of Dorset The Office of the Lord Lieutenant was created during the reign of Henry VIII (1509-1547), taking over the military duties of the Sheriff of Dorset and control of the military forces of the Crown. From 1569, there was provision for the appointment o ...

from 2006 until 2014. Upon her appointment as

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 ...

in 2006, Pitt-Rivers became the first female Lord Lieutenant of Dorset and served as the representative of

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

in the County of

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

until her compulsory retirement at the age of 75 in 2014.

Early life

Valerie Pitt-Rivers was born Valerie Scott in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, on 23 January 1939. She moved to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to pursue a career with an

advertising agency An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generally ...

. She had a successful career working on

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

campaigns for companies such as Camay Soap. In 1964, in Westminster, she married Anthony Pitt-Rivers ( George Anthony Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers), born in 1932 in

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and latterly a ...

, the only child of

George Pitt-Rivers George Henry Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers (22 May 1890 – 17 June 1966) was a British anthropologist and eugenicist who was one of the wealthiest men in England in the interwar period. He embraced anti-Bolshevism and anti-Semitism and became a suppo ...

(1890–1966) and his second wife, Rosalind (1907–1990). In 1966, after his father's death, Anthony and Valerie moved to his ancestral country home in

Hinton St. Mary Hinton St Mary is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Dorset, southern England. It is sited on a low Corallian Limestone, Corallian limestone ridge beside the River Stour, Dorset, River Stour, north of the market town Sturm ...

, near

Sturminster Newton Sturminster Newton is a town and civil parish in the Blackmore Vale area of Dorset, England. It is situated on a low limestone ridge in a meander of the River Stour. The town is at the centre of a large dairy agriculture region, around which ...

. Valerie and Anthony had no children. The Pitt-Rivers family estate at one time encompassed a large swath of Dorset, but a great deal was sold off after Anthony's father's death to the tenants as per the instructions of his will.

Lord Lieutenant of Dorset

Pitt-Rivers was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Dorset in 2006 and during her tenure organised countless royal visits to Dorset, particularly during the

Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II The year 2012 marked the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II being the 60th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952. The only diamond jubilee celebration for any of Elizabeth's predecessors was in 1897, for the 60th an ...

in 2012. She was also a keen supporter of a multitude of local and national charities, and organised the Lord Lieutenant's charity cricket match each year to raise money for charity. During her tenure, as Custos Rotolorum, she was chairperson of the Advisory Committees on Justices of the Peace and General Commissioners of Income Tax. She was supportive of local Cadet Forces and Reservist Units, and was attended on by Lord Lieutenant's Cadets at most of her military and civil appointments. Upon her retirement from the post of Lord Lieutenant of Dorset in 2014, she was appointed as a 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, o ...

(CVO) for her personal services to The Queen and members of the

royal family A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/ sultanas, or raja/ rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term ...

. She is president of the Dorset Archives Trust and was appointed a Pro-Chancellor of

Bournemouth University Bournemouth University is a public university in Bournemouth, England, with its main campus situated in neighbouring Poole. The university was founded in 1992; however, the origins of its predecessor date back to the early 1900s. The univer ...

. She was succeeded in the office of Lord Lieutenant of Dorset by Ian Angus Campbell, former leader of Dorset County Council.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pitt-Rivers, Valerie Lane-Fox 1939 births Living people Lord-Lieutenants of Dorset