Katharine Elliot, Baroness Elliot of Harwood (1903-1994)

Katherine Elliot was the first woman to speak in the Lords as a member of the House. The widow of Walter Elliot MP, her peerage acknowledged her long-standing work for prison reform, child care, consumer and international affairs.

She served on the Home Office Advisory Committee on the Treatment of Offenders, the Advisory Committee on Child Care in Scotland, and was the first chair of the Consumer Council. From 1956-67 she chaired the National Association of Conservative and Unionist Associations (NACUA).

She was still prepared to vote against the party line on particular issues, and became known as the "despair of whips" in the Lords. She was awarded the CBE in 1946 and the DBE 1958.