Lady Helen Violet Bonham Carter (Lady Helen Violet Bonham Carter)

Lady Helen Violet Bonham Carter

British politician, baroness. She was the only daughter among five children of Liberal Prime Minister H. H. Asquith by his first wife, Helen. Unlike her brothers she had no formal school education but was educated by governesses, later spending time in both Dresden and Paris perfecting her languages. In 1915 Violet married her father’s principal private secretary Maurice Bonham Carter and they had four children. Even with her family commitments she continued to accompany and support her father. Lady Violet Bonham Carter, as she was now known, subsequently went on to fight two elections in her own right, losing on both occasions. Her upbringing made her ideally suited to hold the position of President of the Women’s Liberal Federation, an office she held twice, from 1923-5 and again 1939-45. In 1945 she was invited to become President of the Liberal Party Organization, the first woman to do so, holding office until 1947. During this period she was appointed a governor of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). She was in later life persuaded to use her writing talents to write a biography of her lifelong friend Winston Churchill, her only book. The first volume of Churchill as I Knew Him was published in 1965, the year of his death, but unfortunately the second volume was never completed. In 1964, she was created a life peer and took the title Baroness Asquith of Yarnbury. (bio by: julia&keld)  Family links:  Parents:  Herbert Henry Asquith (1852 – 1928)  Helen Kelsall Melland Asquith (1854 – 1891)  Spouse:  Maurice Bonham Carter (1880 – 1960)*  Siblings:  Raymond Asquith (1878 – 1916)*  Helen Violet Bonham Carter (1887 – 1969)  Elizabeth Charlotte Lucy Asquith Bibesco (1897 – 1945)**  Anthony Asquith (1902 – 1968)** *Calculated relationship**Half-sibling

Born

  • April, 15, 1887
  • England

Died

  • February, 02, 1969
  • England

Cemetery

  • St Andrew Churchyard
  • Somerset
  • England

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