Name Pamela Kirkham, | ||
Pamela Vivien Kirkham, 16th Baroness Berners (born 30 September 1929) is an English hereditary peeress and former member of the House of Lords, who served as an NHS nurse.
Career
Born in Gloucestershire, she was the elder daughter of Vera Ruby née Tyrwhitt (15th Baroness Berners) by her husband, Harold Williams JP. She was educated at Stonar School and the Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford where she qualified as a State Registered Nurse (SRN) in 1951, thereafter working in the National Health Service.
The Hon Pamela Williams married, in 1952, Captain Michael Kirkham, an officer in the Derbyshire Yeomanry.
Upon her mother's death in 1992, the ancient Berners barony by writ of summons fell into abeyance between her and her younger sister, Rosemary née Williams (now styled The Hon Mrs Pollock: her husband is Kelvin Pollock FCA). As is customary in such uncontested cases, the HoL Committee of Privileges terminated the barony's abeyance in favour of the elder daughter, thus Lady Berners succeeded her mother in the family title in 1995. She joined the Conservative benches in the House of Lords, speaking about health and nursing matters, where she sat until 1999.
The heir apparent to the title is her elder son, The Hon Rupert Kirkham (born 1953), who married on 12 February 1994, Lisa Lipsey, whose father was the decorated USAF pilot, Colonel Edward Lipsey (died 2002). The Hon Rupert and Mrs Kirkham live in Bath, Somerset with their son, Edward (born 1994).