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Elizabeth Longford
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<h2 id="early-life">Early life</h2> <p>Elizabeth Harman was born on 30 August 1906 at 108 <a href="/facts/Harley_Street/7uDFfU1F">Harley Street</a> in <a href="/facts/Marylebone/k3NPJacW">Marylebone</a>, <a href="/facts/London/KozCCsy9">London</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a> The daughter of eye specialist Nathaniel Bishop Harman, she was educated at <a href="/facts/Francis_Holland_School/S7gpaEo3">Francis Holland School</a> and <a href="/facts/Headington_School/fupNxUNt">Headington School</a>, and was an undergraduate at <a href="/facts/Lady_Margaret_Hall,_Oxford/PHJxtMsI">Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford</a>. "Able, articulate and beautiful", in the words of <i>The New York Times</i>, she was "the <a href="/facts/Zuleika_Dobson/kXczjahQ">Zuleika Dobson</a> of her day, with undergraduates and even dons tumbling over one another to fall in love with her".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> A few years after her graduation, on 3 November 1931, she married <a href="/facts/Frank_Pakenham,_7th_Earl_of_Longford/fR8rImSe">Frank Pakenham</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> later 7th <a href="/facts/Earl_of_Longford/oU8Cy9k3">Earl of Longford</a>, who died in August 2001. Her obituary by the BBC said the marriage was "famously harmonious". <i>The New York Times</i>, in its review of <i>The Pebbled Shore</i>, called Lady Longford "easily the best writer in what is predominantly a literary family".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> </p><p>She and her husband were both devout Roman Catholic converts, Lady Longford having been raised a <a href="/facts/Unitarianism/34Ix8PPh">Unitarian</a>, and avid social reformers. The Longfords had eight children: </p> <ol><li><a href="/facts/Antonia_Fraser/4CsLC5Fm">Lady Antonia Margaret Caroline Pakenham</a> (27 August 1932)</li> <li><a href="/facts/Thomas_Pakenham,_8th_Earl_of_Longford/s9rWAXTY">Thomas Francis Dermot Pakenham, 8th Earl of Longford</a> (14 August 1933)</li> <li>The Honourable Patrick Maurice Pakenham (17 April 1937 – 8 June 2005)</li> <li><a href="/facts/Judith_Kazantzis/rgteBaUy">Lady Judith Elizabeth Pakenham</a> (14 August 1940 – 18 September 2018)</li> <li><a href="/facts/Lady_Rachel_Billington/kIrn41BC">Lady Rachel Mary Pakenham</a> (11 May 1942)</li> <li>The Honourable Michael Aidan Pakenham (3 November 1943)</li> <li>Lady Catherine Rose Pakenham (28 February 1946 – 11 August 1969)</li> <li>The Honourable John Toussaint Pakenham (1 November 1947)</li></ol> <p> Daughters <a href="/facts/Lady_Antonia_Fraser/4CsLC5Fm">Lady Antonia Fraser</a>, <a href="/facts/Lady_Rachel_Billington/kIrn41BC">Lady Rachel Billington</a>, <a href="/facts/Judith_Kazantzis/rgteBaUy">Judith Kazantzis</a> are all writers, and <a href="/facts/Thomas_Pakenham_(historian)/s9rWAXTY">Thomas Pakenham</a> succeeded his father as Earl of Longford. Her brother, <a href="/facts/John_B._Harman/fqr4K7It">John B. Harman</a>, was a physician; his daughter is Labour politician <a href="/facts/Harriet_Harman/kThDBzSq">Harriet Harman</a>. Lady Longford was a great-niece of the politician <a href="/facts/Joseph_Chamberlain/k0R871ar">Joseph Chamberlain</a> and a first cousin once removed of the British prime minister <a href="/facts/Neville_Chamberlain/dEbKlcBJ">Neville Chamberlain</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="political-career">Political career</h2> <p>She made several unsuccessful attempts to win election to the <a href="/facts/House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom/IyyztqLo">House of Commons</a> as a <a href="/facts/Labour_Party_(UK)/jr0wYRdF">Labour</a> MP. In <a href="/facts/1935_United_Kingdom_general_election/bKcTmneV">1935</a> she contested <a href="/facts/Cheltenham_(UK_Parliament_constituency)/NpPweApY">Cheltenham</a>, which was a safely <a href="/facts/Conservative_Party_(UK)/0LPlRq1a">Conservative</a> seat, and in <a href="/facts/1950_United_Kingdom_general_election/4FrnGYLu">1950</a> she was defeated by <a href="/facts/Quintin_Hogg,_Baron_Hailsham_of_St_Marylebone/ePyH8JeG">Quintin Hogg</a> at <a href="/facts/Oxford_(UK_Parliament_constituency)/351Wqgbq">Oxford</a>. Through the war she had sought selection at <a href="/facts/Birmingham_King%27s_Norton_(UK_Parliament_constituency)/W57kDMJK">Birmingham King's Norton</a> until she felt compelled to cease her candidacy upon her sixth pregnancy in 1944; the seat was a Labour gain in <a href="/facts/1945_United_Kingdom_general_election/S4Entsvw">1945</a> by 12,000 votes.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="death">Death</h2> <p>Longford died on 23 October 2002, aged 96, at Bernhurst in <a href="/facts/Hurst_Green,_East_Sussex/Auz2bAen">Hurst Green, East Sussex</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="publications">Publications</h2> <ul><li><i>Victoria R.I.</i> (1964) Awarded the <a href="/facts/James_Tait_Black_Memorial_Prize/V8Ga2FGB">James Tait Black Memorial Prize</a></li> <li><i>Wellington: The Years of the Sword</i> (1969) and <i>Wellington: Pillar Of State</i> (1972), a two-volume biography of the <a href="/facts/Arthur_Wellesley,_1st_Duke_of_Wellington/kAYsMSkg">first Duke of Wellington</a>, who numbered among her husband's relatives</li> <li><i>The Royal House of Windsor</i> (1974)</li> <li><i>Winston Churchill</i> (1974)</li> <li><a href="https://archive.org/details/byronsgreece00long"><i>Byron's Greece</i></a>. New York: <a href="/facts/Harper_and_Row/edFrBsa9">Harper and Row</a>. 1975. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-0-06-012673-5. <a href="/facts/OCLC_(identifier)/Yqad8waq">OCLC</a> <a href="https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/1028866749">1028866749</a>.</li> <li><i>Byron</i> (1976)</li> <li><i>A Pilgrimage of Passion: The Life of <a href="/facts/Wilfrid_Scawen_Blunt/edotVzQP">Wilfrid Scawen Blunt</a></i> (1979) (<a href="/facts/I.B._Tauris/ByRmsQ1N">I.B. Tauris</a>, re-issued 2007)</li> <li><a href="https://archive.org/details/eminentvictorian00long"><i>Eminent Victorian Women</i></a>. London: <a href="/facts/Weidenfeld_%26_Nicolson/tAr9xFnx">Weidenfeld & Nicolson</a>. 1981. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-0-297-77985-8. <a href="/facts/OCLC_(identifier)/Yqad8waq">OCLC</a> <a href="https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/1033562084">1033562084</a>.</li> <li><i>Jameson's Raid</i> (1982)</li> <li><i>Elizabeth R: A Biography</i> (1983)</li> <li><a href="https://archive.org/details/pebbledshorem00long"><i>The Pebbled Shore: The Memoirs of Elizabeth Longford</i></a>. London: <a href="/facts/Weidenfeld_%26_Nicolson/tAr9xFnx">Weidenfeld & Nicolson</a>. 1986. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-0-297-78863-8. <a href="/facts/OCLC_(identifier)/Yqad8waq">OCLC</a> <a href="https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/1036768821">1036768821</a>.</li> <li><a href="https://archive.org/details/royalthronefutur00long"><i>Royal Throne: The Future of the Monarchy</i></a>. London: <a href="/facts/Hodder_%26_Stoughton/XzutdWuL">Hodder & Stoughton</a>. 1993. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-0-340-58587-0. <a href="/facts/OCLC_(identifier)/Yqad8waq">OCLC</a> <a href="https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/1036847832">1036847832</a>.</li> <li><a href="https://archive.org/details/queenvictoria0000long"><i>Queen Victoria</i></a>. Stroud, Gloucestershire: <a href="/facts/Sutton_Publishing/8H4E83I8">Sutton Publishing</a>. 1999. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-0-7509-2143-5. <a href="/facts/OCLC_(identifier)/Yqad8waq">OCLC</a> <a href="https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/1245768856">1245768856</a>.</li></ul> <h3>Citations</h3> <h3>Bibliography</h3> <ul><li>Makower, Frances (1997). <a href="https://archive.org/details/elizabethlongfor0000mako"><i>Elizabeth Longford: The Authorised Biography</i></a>. London, England: <a href="/facts/Hodder_%26_Stoughton/XzutdWuL">Hodder & Stoughton</a>. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-0-340-64311-2. <a href="/facts/OCLC_(identifier)/Yqad8waq">OCLC</a> <a href="https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/1148939207">1148939207</a>.</li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/611906.stm">"Lady Longford dies aged 96"</a>, BBC News, 2002</li> <li><a href="https://www.thetimes.com/comment/register/article/elizabeth-longford-0bpwpl752zl">Elizabeth Longford</a> (subscription required), obituary by <i><a href="/facts/The_Times/5BwkodnX">The Times</a></i></li> <li><a href="https://rsliterature.org/fellow/elizabeth-longford-elizabeth-countess-of-longford-cbe/">"Elizabeth Longford (Elizabeth, Countess of Longford)"</a>, Fellows Remembered, <a href="/facts/The_Royal_Society_of_Literature/kPaMqF3R">The Royal Society of Literature</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Johnson, Paul. "Pakenham [née Harman], Elizabeth, countess of Longford". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/77341. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.) <a href="/wiki/Dictionary_of_National_Biography#Oxford_Dictionary_of_National_Biography" target="_blank">/wiki/Dictionary_of_National_Biography#Oxford_Dictionary_of_National_Biography</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Howard, Anthony (26 October 1986). "A Life Of Her Own". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 3 August 2021. Retrieved 1 May 2010. <a href="https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE7D71230F935A15753C1A960948260" target="_blank">https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE7D71230F935A15753C1A960948260</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Makower 1997, p. 47–48. - Makower, Frances (1997). Elizabeth Longford: The Authorised Biography. London, England: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 978-0-340-64311-2. OCLC 1148939207. <a href="https://archive.org/details/elizabethlongfor0000mako" target="_blank">https://archive.org/details/elizabethlongfor0000mako</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Howard, Anthony (26 October 1986). "A Life Of Her Own". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 3 August 2021. Retrieved 1 May 2010. <a href="https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE7D71230F935A15753C1A960948260" target="_blank">https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE7D71230F935A15753C1A960948260</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Howard, Anthony (26 October 1986). "A Life Of Her Own". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 3 August 2021. Retrieved 1 May 2010. <a href="https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE7D71230F935A15753C1A960948260" target="_blank">https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE7D71230F935A15753C1A960948260</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Grove, Valerie (24 October 2002). "Lady Elizabeth Longford". The Guardian. ISSN 1756-3224. OCLC 60623878. Archived from the original on 10 May 2017. Retrieved 3 August 2021. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/oct/24/guardianobituaries.booksobituaries" target="_blank">https://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/oct/24/guardianobituaries.booksobituaries</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Grove, Valerie (24 October 2002). "Lady Elizabeth Longford". The Guardian. ISSN 1756-3224. OCLC 60623878. Archived from the original on 10 May 2017. Retrieved 3 August 2021. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/oct/24/guardianobituaries.booksobituaries" target="_blank">https://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/oct/24/guardianobituaries.booksobituaries</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>