Veronica Linklater, Baroness Linklater of Butterstone (15 April 1943 – 15 December 2022) was a British Liberal Democrat politician and member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...

. Her career indicates her interests in children's welfare, education and special needs, and

prison reform Prison reform is the attempt to improve conditions inside prisons, improve the effectiveness of a penal system, or implement alternatives to incarceration. It also focuses on ensuring the reinstatement of those whose lives are impacted by crimes ...

. Linklater was the daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Archibald Michael Lyle and Hon. Elizabeth Sinclair, younger daughter of the former Leader of the Liberal Party

Archibald Sinclair, 1st Viscount Thurso Archibald Henry Macdonald Sinclair, 1st Viscount Thurso, (22 October 1890 – 15 June 1970), known as Sir Archibald Sinclair between 1912 and 1952, and often as Archie Sinclair, was a British politician and leader of the Liberal Party. Backgr ...

. Her first cousin, John Sinclair, 3rd Viscount Thurso, was an elected Liberal Democrat MP for the seat of Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross. She was educated at Cranborne Chase School, a former boarding

independent school An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British En ...

for girls situated at

New Wardour Castle New Wardour Castle is a Grade I listed English country house at Wardour, near Tisbury in Wiltshire, built for the Arundell family. The house is of Palladian style, designed by the architect James Paine, with additions by Giacomo Quarenghi ...

, near Tisbury, Wiltshire, followed by the Universities of

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the Englis ...

and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

. In 1967 she married the journalist

Magnus Linklater Magnus Duncan Linklater, CBE (born 21 February 1942) is a Scottish journalist, writer, and former newspaper editor. Early life and education Linklater was born in Orkney, and is the son of Scottish writer Eric Linklater and arts campaigner Marjo ...

; they had three children, two sons and one daughter. In 1967, she became a Child Care Officer for the

London Borough of Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London boroughs, London borough covering much of the traditional East End of London, East End. It was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London, metropol ...

, and between 1970 and 1985, she became governor to three

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ...

schools. From 1971 to 1977, she co-founded the Visitors' Centre at

Pentonville Prison HM Prison Pentonville (informally "The Ville") is an English Category B men's prison, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. Pentonville Prison is not in Pentonville, but is located further north, on the Caledonian Road in the Barnsbury ar ...

, and her continuing interest in this field led to her involvement with the Winchester Prison Project,

Prison Reform Trust The Prison Reform Trust (PRT) was founded in 1981 in London, England, by a small group of prison reform campaigners who were unhappy with the direction in which the Howard League for Penal Reform was heading, concentrating more on community punis ...

from 1981 to 1982. She was a trustee of the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation. She stood for the Liberal Democrats in the 1995 Perth and Kinross by-election, finishing fourth.She was created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

as Baroness Linklater of Butterstone, of Riemore in

Perth and Kinross Perth and Kinross ( sco, Pairth an Kinross; gd, Peairt agus Ceann Rois) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland and a Lieutenancy Area. It borders onto the Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, Clackmannanshire, Dundee, Fife, Highland ...

, in the 1997 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours. She retired in February 2016 following the House of Lords Reform Act 2014. Linklater died from complications of Alzheimer's disease in

Dunkeld Dunkeld (, sco, Dunkell, from gd, Dùn Chailleann, "fort of the Caledonians") is a town in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The location of a historic cathedral, it lies on the north bank of the River Tay, opposite Birnam. Dunkeld lies close to t ...

, on 15 December 2022, at the age of 79.

Arms

References

Sources

Profile
hansard.millbanksystems.com; accessed 20 March 2014.
Biography
parliament.uk; accessed 20 March 2014. 1943 births 2022 deaths Alumni of the University of Sussex Alumni of the University of London Liberal Democrats (UK) life peers Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II People educated at Cranborne Chase School Place of birth missing Liberal Democrats (UK) parliamentary candidates {{Life-peer-stub