Rosalind Patricia-Anne Howells, Baroness Howells of St Davids COG (born 10 January 1931) is a British Labour politician, who formerly served as member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

. Having been awarded an OBE in the 1994 New Year's Honours, she was made 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. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

as Baroness Howells of St Davids, of Charlton in the London Borough of Greenwich on 21 July 1999. The name

St Davids St Davids or St David's (, , "David's house”) is a cathedral city in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It lies on the River Alun and is part of the community of St Davids and the Cathedral Close. It is the resting place of Saint David, Wales's ...

refers to the parish in

Grenada Grenada is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The southernmost of the Windward Islands, Grenada is directly south of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and about north of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and the So ...

where she was brought up, to the south-east of the island. She retired from the House of Lords on 10 January 2019.

Life and career

Howells was educated at St Joseph's College, Reading, South West London College and the University of the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C. In 1955, she married John Charles Howells and they have two daughters. Howells served as the Director of the

Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

Racial Equality Council as well as a Community and Equal Opportunities Worker. Baroness Howells is a trustee of the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust, and served as the unofficial advisor to the Lawrence family. Howells was the first black woman to sit on the GLC's Training Board; the first female member of the Court of Governors of the University of Greenwich and was the Vice Chair at the London Voluntary Service Council. She has worked with the Carnival Liaison Committee, the Greater London Action in Race Equality, and has been an active campaigner for justice in the field of race relations. She is a Trustee of the Jason Roberts Foundation, which aims to provide a range of sporting opportunities for children and young people in the United Kingdom and

. In March 2009 she was inaugurated as the Chancellor of the

University of Bedfordshire The University of Bedfordshire is a Public university, public research university with campuses in Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, England. The university has roots in further and higher education from 1882: it gained university status in 19 ...

Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...

."Baroness Howells announced as new University Chancellor", University of Bedfordshire, 19 March 2009.
Baroness Howells is a trustee of St George's University's UK Trust and serves on the board of the

Windward Islands The Windward Islands are the southern, generally larger islands of the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean islands or the West Indies. Located approximately between latitudes 10° and 16° N and longitudes 60° and 62° W, they extend from D ...

Research and Education Foundation (WINDREF), the research institute affiliated with St. George's University.St George’s University.
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References

External links

House of Lords minutes of proceedings, 25 October 1999.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howells, Rosalind Baroness Howells of St Davids 1931 births Living people Howells of St Davids, Rosalind Howells, Baron Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Life peers created by Elizabeth II Officers of the Order of the British Empire Grenadian emigrants to England Black British women politicians People associated with the University of Bedfordshire Peers retired under the House of Lords Reform Act 2014