Samantha Gwendoline Cameron (; born 18 April 1971) is an English businesswoman. Until 13 May 2010, she was the creative director of

Smythson Frank Smythson Limited, commonly known as Smythson (), is a British manufacturer and retailer of luxury stationery, leather goods, diaries, and fashion products based in London, England. The company's founder, Frank John Smythson, was born in 1 ...

Bond Street Bond Street in the West End of London links Piccadilly in the south to Oxford Street in the north. Since the 18th century the street has housed many prestigious and upmarket fashion retailers. The southern section is Old Bond Street and the ...

. Her husband,

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

, was the British prime minister from 2010 to 2016. She took on a part-time consultancy role at Smythson after he became prime minister.

Early life

Samantha Cameron is the elder daughter of Sir Reginald Sheffield, 8th Baronet and Annabel Lucy Veronica Jones. Sir Reginald and Annabel married on 11 November 1969. The couple divorced in 1974, and Annabel later remarried to William Waldorf Astor III, nephew of her own stepfather Michael Langhorne Astor, with whom she had three more children. Her father also had three more children by his second wife Victoria Penelope Walker. Samantha Sheffield's birth was registered in

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Padd ...

, London. She grew up on the estate of Normanby Hall, north of

Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an industrial town and unparished area in the unitary authority of North Lincolnshire in Lincolnshire, England of which it is the main administrative centre. Scunthorpe had an estimated total population of 82,334 in 2016. A ...

North Lincolnshire North Lincolnshire is a unitary authority area in Lincolnshire, England, with a population of 167,446 in the 2011 census. The borough includes the towns of Scunthorpe, Brigg, Haxey, Crowle, Epworth, Bottesford, Kirton in Lindsey and Bar ...

, though not in the Hall itself, the family having moved out in 1963, some eight years before her birth. Samantha Cameron is a great-granddaughter of

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 in ...

Member of Parliament Sir Berkeley Sheffield and, through him, is a distant cousin of model and actress

Cara Delevingne Cara Jocelyn Delevingne ( ; born 12 August 1992) is an English model and actress. She signed with Storm Management after leaving school in 2009. Delevingne won Model of the Year at the British Fashion Awards in 2012 and 2014. Delevingne sta ...

. The father of Samantha's maternal grandmother, Patricia Clifford, was

Sir Bede Clifford Captain Sir Bede Edmund Hugh Clifford (3 July 1890 – 6 October 1969) was a British diplomat and colonial administrator, born in New Zealand, where his parents had moved in an unsuccessful attempt at sheep-farming. His parents were William Hug ...

, a descendant of King Charles II. Her great-grandparents also include the writer Enid Bagnold and her husband Sir Roderick Jones, head of

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was est ...

. Through her great-great-great-grandfather Sir Robert Sheffield, 4th Baronet, she is a fourth cousin of Pamela Harriman, first wife of

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

's son Randolph Churchill. This Sheffield ancestor was an MP for the same constituency as

Thomas Corbett (Lincolnshire MP) Thomas George Corbett (1796 - 1868) was an English Member of Parliament, and High Sherriff of Lincolnshire in 1840. Background Thomas Corbett was the son of William Corbett (died 1832) of Darnhall and his wife Jane Eleanor, daughter of George A ...

, also an ancestor. Samantha Cameron's family also own a large Yorkshire estate called Sutton Park.

Education

Cameron initially went to St Helen and St Katharine, though she sat

A-level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational au ...

s at

Marlborough College ( 1 Corinthians 3:6: God gives the increase) , established = , type = Public SchoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = Church of England , president = Nicholas Holtam , head_label = Master , head = Louis ...

. She did an Art Foundation course at

Camberwell College of Arts Camberwell College of Arts is a public tertiary art school in Camberwell, in London, England. It is one of the six constituent colleges of the University of the Arts London. It offers further and higher education programmes, including postgrad ...

and went on to study Fine Art at the School of Creative Arts, part of the

University of the West of England The University of the West of England (also known as UWE Bristol) is a public research university, located in and around Bristol, England. The institution was know as the Bristol Polytechnic in 1970; it received university status in 1992 and ...

Family

She and

married on 1 June 1996 at the Church of St. Augustine of Canterbury,

East Hendred East Hendred is a village and civil parish about east of Wantage in the Vale of White Horse and a similar distance west of Didcot. The village is on East Hendred Brook, which flows from the Berkshire Downs to join the River Thames at Sutton C ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, five years before he was first elected as MP for

Witney Witney is a market town on the River Windrush in West Oxfordshire in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is west of Oxford. The place-name "Witney" is derived from the Old English for "Witta's island". The earliest known record of it is as ...

at the 2001 general election. The couple have had four children: Ivan Reginald Ian Cameron (8 April 2002, Hammersmith and Fulham, London – 25 February 2009, Paddington, London), Nancy Gwen Beatrice Cameron (born 19 January 2004,

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

, London), Arthur Elwen Cameron (born 14 February 2006, Westminster) and Florence Rose Endellion Cameron (born 24 August 2010,

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a Historic counties of England, historic county and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people ...

). Ivan was born with a rare combination of

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sens ...

and severe

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrica ...

and died at the age of six at

St Mary's Hospital, London St Mary's Hospital is an NHS hospital in Paddington, in the City of Westminster, London, founded in 1845. Since the UK's first academic health science centre was created in 2008, it has been operated by Imperial College Healthcare NHS Tru ...

. Florence Cameron's third given name, Endellion, is taken from the Cornish village of St Endellion; she was born early at the

Royal Cornwall Hospital The Royal Cornwall Hospital, formerly and still commonly known as the Treliske Hospital, is a medium-sized teaching hospital in Treliske, on the outskirts of Truro, Cornwall, England. The hospital provides training services for the University of ...

while the Camerons were on holiday in Cornwall.

Work and politics

Samantha Cameron served as Creative Director at British accessories brand

, from 1997 until May 2010, winning a British

Glamour Magazine ''Glamour'' is today an online women's magazine published by Condé Nast Publications. For many years a traditional hard-copy magazine, it was founded in 1939 and first published in April 1939 in the United States. It was originally called '' ...

Award for Best Accessory Designer in 2009. She took on a part-time creative consultancy role at Smythson after her husband became Prime Minister. From 2011 to 2015 Cameron was on the judging panel for the Vogue Fashion Fund alongside Victoria Beckham, Alexandra Shulman, and

Lisa Armstrong Lisa Armstrong may refer to: * Lisa Armstrong (writer), British author * Lisa Armstrong (make-up artist) (born 1976), British make-up artist {{hndis, Armstrong, Lisa ...

. She served as an ambassador for the British Fashion Council playing a prominent role in London Fashion Week. In 2013, Cameron was named in ''

Tatler ''Tatler'' is a British magazine published by Condé Nast Publications focusing on fashion and lifestyle, as well as coverage of high society and politics. It is targeted towards the British upper-middle class and upper class, and those interes ...

's'' Top 10 Best Dressed List. In 2015, Cameron was named In ''

Vanity Fair Vanity Fair may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Literature * Vanity Fair, a location in '' The Pilgrim's Progress'' (1678), by John Bunyan * ''Vanity Fair'' (novel), 1848, by William Makepeace Thackeray * ''Vanity Fair'' (magazines), the ...

''s International Best-Dressed List. In 2017 Cameron founded Cefinn, a contemporary womenswear brand based in London that launched its first collection in February of that year. The name Cefinn (pronounced 'Seffin') is an acronym of her four children's names, Ivan, Nancy, Elwen, and Florence, between the first and last letters of Cameron.

Charitable causes

Cameron is active for several charitable causes, and in June 2013 she became a patron for Revitalise. Cameron has volunteered for Dress for Success, a nonprofit organisation that gives free clothes and advice about job interviews to unemployed women.Emma Barnett
Dress for Success: the charity quietly getting British women back into work
, ''The Daily Telegraph'', 18 October 2012 In October 2012, she held a benefit for them at Number 10. On 11 December 2015, it was announced Cameron, one of sixteen celebrities, to participate in the ''Great Sport Relief Bake Off'', which aired in 2016 as part of that year's Sport Relief fundraiser. Cameron is an ambassador for the charity

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization established in the United Kingdom in 1919 to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic ...

. In March 2013, after visiting Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Cameron said: "As a mother, it is horrifying to hear the harrowing stories from the children I met today, no child should ever experience what they have. With every day that passes, more children and parents are being killed, more innocent childhoods are being smashed to pieces."

Other issues

Cameron is credited with coining the phrase "There is such a thing as society; it's just not the same thing as the state" (seen as a rejoinder to

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

's famous comment there is "no such thing" as society), which has been said several times by David Cameron, including in his victory speech following his victory in the Conservative Party leadership election in 2005. The Camerons are members of the

Chipping Norton set The Chipping Norton set is a group of media, political and show-business acquaintances who have homes near the market town of Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire, England. Chipping Norton is located approximately 75 miles from London. The group gai ...

References

External links

www.burkespeerage.com

Profile: Samantha Cameron
BBC News {{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, Samantha English philanthropists Spouses of prime ministers of the United Kingdom 1971 births Living people English businesspeople in fashion 21st-century English businesswomen English Anglicans Samantha Cameron People from Paddington People educated at the School of St Helen and St Katharine People from Burton upon Stather Daughters of baronets