Lady Pamela Smith

Pamela Margaret Elizabeth Berry, Lady Hartwell (née Smith; 16 May 1914[1] – 7 January 1982) was an English socialite, known for her political salon. She was part of the Bright Young Things crowd,[2] and Cecil Beaton wrote an entry about her in his The Book of Beauty. She became one of Britain's museum leaders.[3]

For the historian of science, see Pamela H. Smith.
Lady Pamela Smith
Pamela Margaret Elizabeth Berry (née Smith), Lady Hartwell, by Bassano Ltd, 1938
Born
Lady Pamela Margaret Elizabeth Smith

16 May 1914
London, England
Died7 January 1982(1982-01-07) (aged 67)
Other namesPamela Berry, Baroness Hartwell
Known forOne of the Bright Young Things
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1936)​
Children4, including Adrian Berry, 4th Viscount Camrose
Parent(s)F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead
Margaret Eleanor Furneaux

Born in London, the youngest child of F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead, and Margaret Eleanor Furneaux, daughter of academic Henry Furneaux, she was called Lady Pamela.[4][5] When she was still in her teens Cecil Beaton wrote of her and her sister Eleanor in The Book of Beauty, "Pamela is like the little Robinetta of Sir Joshua Reynolds with the thrush on her raised shoulder." [6]

In 1936 she married Michael Berry[5] who held positions at London newspapers, as editor-in-chief and chairman of The Sunday Telegraph and The Daily Telegraph.[3] He was briefly 3rd Viscount Camrose before disclaiming the title. The couple had four children: Adrian Berry, 4th Viscount Camrose (1937–2016), Hon. Nicholas William Berry (1942–2016), Hon. Harriet Mary Margaret Berry (b. 1944), Hon. Eleanor Agnes Berry (b. 1950).[7]

Lady Pamela's interest in American politics led her to observing presidential candidates, traveling along with them on planes and buses after the 1950s.[3] In the 1970s she sat on the Victoria and Albert Museum's advisory council (1973 to 1978) and was chairman of the British Museum Society for four years before becoming a trustee of the museum in 1979. She also presided over the Incorporated Society of London Fashion Designers and was active in the British section of the Franco-British Council, working to promote British fashions internationally.[3] She died on 7 January 1982.[3]

References
  1. 1939 England and Wales Register
  2. "Eminent Victorians". The Guardian: 19. 23 May 1928. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  3. "Lady Hartwell Dies in Britain at Age 67; Friend of Statesmen". The New York Times. 1982. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  4. Burke, Sir Bernard, ed. (1939). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knighthood (97th ed.). Burke's Peerage & Gentry. p. 300.
  5. Beaton, Cecil (1933). The Book Of Beauty. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  6. Mosley, Charles, ed. (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knighthood (107 ed.). Burke's Peerage & Gentry. p. 674. ISBN 0-9711966-2-1.
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