Pamela Louisa Eleanor Onslow, Countess of Onslow (''née'' Hon. Pamela Louisa Eleanor Dillon; 26 August 1915 – 14 April 1992) was an English socialite.

Early life

Lady Onslow was born in

Dorchester, Dorset Dorchester ( ) is the county town of Dorset, England. It is situated between Poole and Bridport on the A35 trunk route. A historic market town, Dorchester is on the banks of the River Frome, Dorset, River Frome to the south of the Dorset Dow ...

, the daughter of

Brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

Eric Dillon, 19th Viscount Dillon CMG DSO and his wife Nora Juanita Muriel Beckett.

Marriage and children

She married

William Onslow, 6th Earl of Onslow William Arthur Bampfylde Onslow, 6th Earl of Onslow, (11 June 1913 – 3 June 1971), known as Viscount Cranley until 1945, was a British peer, politician and army officer. Onslow was the eldest son of Richard William Alan Onslow, 5th Earl ...

(then styled Viscount Cranley) on 4 August 1936, several weeks before her 21st birthday. The couple had two children before divorcing in 1962: * Michael William Coplestone Dillon Onslow, 7th Earl of Onslow (28 February 1938 – 14 May 2011) *

Lady ''Lady'' is a term for a woman who behaves in a polite way. Once used to describe only women of a high social class or status, the female counterpart of lord, now it may refer to any adult woman, as gentleman can be used for men. "Lady" is al ...

Teresa Lorraine Onslow (born 26 February 1940), married writer

Auberon Waugh Auberon Alexander Waugh ( ; 17 November 1939 – 16 January 2001) was a British journalist and novelist, and eldest son of the novelist Evelyn Waugh. He was widely known by his nickname "Bron". After a traditional classical education at Downsid ...

Other activities

Lady Onslow held the office of Justice of the Peace (JP) for Guildford in 1950.

Littlejohn Affair

Lady Onslow was involved in the ''Littlejohn Affair'', a spy scandal involving an alleged

MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

double agent,

Kenneth Littlejohn Kenneth Littlejohn ( Kenneth Austen; born c. 1941) is a convicted armed robber and gaol-breaker who claimed to be a Secret Intelligence Service/Official IRA double agent. The Littlejohn affair concerned allegations of British espionage and use ...

, whom she had met when visiting prison in the 1960s. She reportedly introduced Littlejohn to the British security forces who later used Littlejohn in anti-IRA operations.MP to question Mr Heath. ''The Times'', 6 August 1973; pg 1; col D In 1975, she received a letter bomb which failed to detonate properly, causing only minor injuries. She reportedly declined hospital treatment for the injuries.Channel 4 news site re spate of bombings around London in 1974/1975, including the letter bomb sent to Lady Onslow
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Death

Lady Onslow died in

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

, London in 1992, aged 76.

References

1915 births 1992 deaths British countesses Daughters of viscounts English justices of the peace Pamela Failed assassination attempts in Europe People from Dorchester, Dorset {{UK-noble-stub