EVANS, (Jean) Cherry (Drummond) 1928–2005

(Baroness Strange, Lady Strange)

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born December 17, 1928, in London, England; died March 11, 2005. Politician and author. Evans was the 16th Baroness Strange, a member of the House of Lords, and a writer. Born to a life of privilege, Evans attended St. Andrews University, earning a master's degree in English and history in 1951. Although she planned to enter service in the Foreign Office, she instead married and raised a family of six children. When her father died without male heirs, she argued successfully for the title of baroness and received a seat in the House of Lords. Here she gained a reputation as a woman of charm and grace who regularly presented her colleagues with flowers from her garden. She also championed a number of causes, including aid to war widows—she was a former president of the War Widows' Association of Great Britain—and actively traveled the world on behalf of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. She resigned from the Tory Party in 1999, after which she was elected hereditary crossbench peer. In addition to her government work, Evans penned the novels Love from Belinda (1962) and Lalage in Love (1962), the biography The Remarkable Life of Victoria Drummond, Marine Engineer (1994), the autobiography Creatures Great and Small (1968), and a book of poetry titled Love Is for Ever.

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Daily Telegraph (London, England), March 15, 2005; March 17, 2005, p. 26.

Times (London, England), March 21, 2005, p. 49.