Jean Alys Barker, Baroness Trumpington, ( Campbell-Harris; 23 October 192226 November 2018) was a British Conservative politician and life peer. In the 1960s and 1970s she served in local government in Cambridgeshire. In 1980 she was created a life peer after which she served in the House of Lords. From an upper-class background, she was a socialite and a secretary before entering politics, as well as serving in naval intelligence in World War II.
Early life She was born as Jean Campbell-Harris, a daughter of Major Arthur Campbell-Harris, an officer in the 7th Hariana Lancers (part of the Bengal Lancers), who served as ADC to the Viceroy of India and was an acquaintance of David Lloyd George. Her mother was Doris Robson, a wealthy American heiress of a Chicago paint manufacturer.
Trumpington took dancing lessons at Madame Vacani's school in Knightsbridge. After two years she moved to the Ballet Rambert to learn under Pearl Argyle. Her mother had lost most of her inheritance in the Wall Street crash of 1929 and sold their home at 55 Great Cumberland Place. On the family's return from India they rented Rowling House, Goodnestone, near Sandwich, Kent, where Doris specialised in interior decorating. When war broke out, the landlord (the Lunacy Commissioners) repossessed the house for Army billets. Spring Grove was a Queen Anne-style ten-bedroom mansion at Wye, near Ashford in south Kent.Memoirs, pp.12, 14, 17, 21–2.
Educated at Princess Helena College, Trumpington, aged 15, left school never having taken an exam, although she was fluent in French, German and Italian. She then went to a finishing school in Paris to study art and literature. Her father took her on holiday to Biarritz. She spent a year at Montrichard receiving coaching from French tennis champion Jean Borotra. In Paris, she stayed with Madame de Benouville, whose husband Jean was a member of the royalist group Action Française. When war broke out, she returned to England.
She had two brothers educated at Eton; the elder, Alastair, was at Royal Naval College, Dartmouth.
Bletchley Park, World War II and its aftermath Initially during World War II, Lady Trumpington was attached to Lloyd George's Sussex arable farm, where she worked on the land with his daughter, lodging with his then secretary/mistress and later wife Frances Stevenson. She recalled that Lloyd George used to find reasons that were never explained to use a tape measure to take all her measurements. She then worked in naval intelligence at Bletchley Park from October 1940, making use of her knowledge of the German language to crack naval codes..
She was billeted at Great Brickhill with W. J. Locke's family, before moving to Passenham Manor, home of banker George Ansley. Her work was the centre of Z codes supervised by German-Jewish refugee, Walter Ettinghausen. Colleagues who became life-long friends included Sally, daughter of 6th Lord Grantley (later Sarah Baring); Jean, daughter of James Graham, 6th Duke of Montrose (later Lady Jean Fforde); and Osla Benning.
At war's end, she spent four years working for the European Central Inland Transport Organization, shipping and distributing supplies to the war-torn continent with the same job description, filing clerk. But she was soon working as the effective transport manager from a 5th floor office in the Champs Elysées above Mimi Pinson's nightclub. She went to parties at the Ritz and Crillon Club, frequented by politicians. Resident at 1 Place d'Alma, she worked briefly for the suave British ambassador Duff Cooper, whose wife, previously Lady Diana Manners, was a former actress she used to visit on Broadway. Lady Diana was courted by Ernest Bevin, the Labour cabinet minister. She maintained a passion for tennis and French fashion.Memoirs, p.71
Moving in political circles, she returned to London to work for an imperial Conservative, Victor Montagu, Viscount Hinchingbroke.see: Antony Colville Diaries
New York socialite In 1952, Trumpington moved to America, travelling on board RMS Mauretania and arriving at New York on 28 January.Memoirs, pp.98–9 She shared a flat above the Stork Club on East 52nd Street, off Park Avenue.Memoirs, p.100 She was able to secure a position with an advertising agency, Fletcher Richards at the Rockefeller Center, off 5th Avenue. Shopping on 6th Avenue, she made friends with Riv Winant, son of John Gilbert Winant, a former American ambassador to London; their friendship turned out to be long-term. They frequented haunts of wealthy high society New Yorkers such as the Round Hill Country Club, Greenwich, Connecticut, and the River Club of New York City, and the homes of East Hampton, Long Island, with membership of the exclusive Maidstone Club. Fascinated by wealth, she got on the guest list of billionaire philanthropist, Walter Annenberg. Ronnie Furse taught her to water-ski in the Chesapeake Bay.Memoirs, p.107, 116. For her, the physical prowess was unnecessary, but part of the tour. Working as a secretary, she moved into a flat on 137 East 73rd Street next to Furse.Memoirs, pp.110–11
Whilst in America, she met an Englishman, (William) Alan Barker, a master at Eton College and formerly a captain in the Royal Artillery,Trumpington, Jean (2014). Coming up Trumps: A Memoir, Pan Macmillan. wounded in the leg in Normandy on 16 June 1944. While working on the Harkness Commonwealth Fellowship in New York, he offered to bring her back to London.Memoirs, p.118. She returned to Britain during the London Season and Queen Elizabeth II's coronation, and they were engaged in October 1953.New York Herald, 22 October 1953; The New York Times, 22 October 1953; The Times, 2 November 1953 Lady Trumpington left New York for the last time by liner on 15 December. She was forced to apply for a licence to the Solicitor-General so that they could become the first couple in modern times to hold a wedding at the Chapel of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, which took place on 18 March 1954.
Return to England After working at Eton, her husband was headmaster of The Leys School in Cambridge between 1958 and 1975, before moving to University College School, London. She played host to the rich and famous, often travelling abroad to raise funds for The Leys from parents and old boys. They invited the local dignitaries Edward Heath MP and the Duchess of Kent with the Prime Minister of Singapore to an open day. In 1961, the Queen Mother came to tea, and then again to open an extension to buildings in 1973.
On the day that Harold Wilson resigned in 1970 she invited Heath to view the cricket pitches, which was reciprocated by a visit to No.10. Other royalty continued to attend from Bahrain and Tonga. She promoted the school with her own brand of conservatism, taking care of mental health and epilepsy in the school. With Eton's help they started a boat club, spent time at Cliveden and in 1962 included among their friends, the Astors.Trumpington, p. 162 The Macmillan era was rounded off with a world tour to drum up school business.
The couple had one son, Adam Campbell Barker, born on 31 August 1955. Adam was educated at King's School, Canterbury and Queens' College, Cambridge. He qualified as a solicitor and, later, as a barrister. He was married in 1985 to Elizabeth Mary, daughter of Eric Marsden OBE of Stourpaine Manor, Blandford.
Conservative politics Since 1945, Mother and Baby Homes (otherwise known as maternity homes) had been places for the poor to wean their offspring. She was appointed governor of the one in Cambridge, and moved to Cambridge where her voluntary work continued.Trumpington, pp.177–8 The United Cambridge Hospital Board, the Cambridge Social Services Committee, and the Cambridge Folk Museum all received her patronage. She was a member of the Rheumatism and Arthritis Association, which began serious research work on debilitation at Cambridge laboratories.
In 1963, she was elected as councillor for Trumpington on Cambridge City Council. In 1971–2, she served as Mayor of Cambridge which she described as a "folderol". That office was followed by appointment to the Cambridge bench as a justice of the peace from 1972. She granted the Freedom of Cambridge to RAF Oakington, revived the town's market, installed a travel centre, and built an entrance hall to the railway station. She opened the Elizabeth Way Bridge with former Conservative cabinet minister Rab Butler, High Steward of Cambridge University. She arranged to "twin" Cambridge with three other great university cities, Florence, Heidelberg and Split. She raised funds for Addenbrooke's Hospital and the Indo-Pakistan War Relief Fund, and undertook a swimathon.
Before the local government and administration of justice re-organisation, it was usual for the upper classes to sit on the bench as a matter of public duty. She re-entered politics in 1973, when she was elected to Cambridgeshire County Council for the Trumpington division but resigned in 1975 over the rapist scandal. She sought election to Parliament, and reached the short list for the Isle of Ely for the October 1974 election. (Dr Thomas Stuttaford was selected instead and lost to Clement Freud.) That year marked a watershed in her political career. Stepping up a gear, she moved into a visibly national profile: her son was by now fully grown and starting a career. Continuing a gradual move up the career ladder into public life, Barker matured into a serious-minded public figure; she was appointed to the Board of Visitors of the women's gaol attached to Pentonville Prison in London. She was one of the few who could get along well with the leader of her party, Margaret Thatcher.
In addition, the former councillor was appointed by the Labour government to the Mental Health Tribunal, before community care had been introduced. The following year, 1976, she was made a General Commissioner for Taxes, based on a competent showing with the city's finances. She served on various public bodies, including chair of the Air Transport Users Committee (1979–80). One of the first questions she asked in the Lords was about improving the airmail service, in which area she was regarded an expert.Lord Trenchard said "like Lady Trumpington's expert knowledge in relation to air mail". HL Deb 30 April 1980 vol 408 cc1284-333 Retrieved 22 July 2016. The binding Official Secrets clause was repealed, privatisation followed, and profitability indexation restored to Air Mail services.
Her interest in women's affairs became known for all the world to see when Thatcher became prime minister. Appointed as UK Representative to the UN Commission on the Status of Women it was her role to promote women's equality, marriage and divorce, healthcare, child-rearing, and human rights. She had an extensive address book in the United States; managing British interests on the Council in New York gave her a social profile that befitted her class status and ambition, but was nonetheless useful networking for the British Government.Burke's Peerage, 107th edition, vol.III. Belated recognition came from a Labour peeress:
Sent by Mrs Thatcher to Copenhagen, she headed a delegation to UK's first female ambassador, Anne Warburton. At the UN she crossed the floor to greet Suzanne Mubarak, who made a brave speech for advancing peace in the Middle East.
Lady Trumpington was a steward of Folkestone Racecourse (1980–92). In 1980, she was made an Honorary Fellow of Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge. She was a member of the Farmers' Club and Grillion's Club in London.Burke's 107th ed. (London 2003), vol.III, p.1949
Ministerial office from the Lords
In almost her first debate she found herself on two sides of the same debate: discussing Clause no.23 amendment sponsored by Duke of Norfolk to Education Bill No. 2 1980. In June 1983, she joined the Lords Works of Art Committee. She became a resident expert on the committee, where she sat until 2010.