Elizabeth Longford

Lore & Background

Elizabeth Harman was born on 30 August 1906 at 108 Harley Street in Marylebone, London, the daughter of eye specialist Nathaniel Bishop Harman. She was educated at Francis Holland School and Headington School, and was an undergraduate at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. Described by The New York Times as 'able, articulate and beautiful', she was called 'the Zuleika Dobson of her day, with undergraduates and even dons tumbling over one another to fall in love with her'. On 3 November 1931, she married Frank Pakenham, later 7th Earl of Longford, who died in August 2001. The BBC obituary described the marriage as 'famously harmonious'. She and her husband were both devout Roman Catholic converts—Lady Longford having been raised a Unitarian—and avid social reformers. They had eight children, including writers Lady Antonia Fraser, Lady Rachel Billington, and Judith Kazantzis, and Thomas Pakenham, who succeeded his father as Earl of Longford. Her brother John B. Harman was a physician; his daughter is Labour politician Harriet Harman. Lady Longford was a great-niece of politician Joseph Chamberlain and a first cousin once removed of British prime minister Neville Chamberlain.

Reader's Guide

Elizabeth Longford made several unsuccessful attempts to win election to the House of Commons as a Labour MP, contesting Cheltenham in 1935 and Oxford in 1950, and seeking selection at Birmingham King's Norton until her sixth pregnancy in 1944. Her historical work earned her the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for 'Victoria R.I.' (1964). She wrote two-volume biographies of the Duke of Wellington ('Wellington: The Years of the Sword', 1969; 'Wellington: Pillar of State', 1972) and a biography of Lord Byron (1976). Her other publications include 'The Royal House of Windsor', 'Winston Churchill', 'Eminent Victorian Women', and her memoirs 'The Pebbled Shore'. Her significance lies in her accessible yet scholarly biographies that brought 19th-century British figures to a wide readership, and her role as a prominent female historian in a literary family. Her legacy is that of a respected biographer and public intellectual.

Did You Know?

• She was a great-niece of politician Joseph Chamberlain and a first cousin once removed of British prime minister Neville Chamberlain.
• Her daughter Harriet Harman is a Labour politician.
• She made unsuccessful attempts to win election to the House of Commons as a Labour MP in 1935 and 1950.
• Her biography 'Victoria R.I.' (1964) won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize.