Caroline Beatrix Bridgeman, Viscountess Bridgeman, DBE, JP (née Parker; 30 June 1873 – 26 December 1961) was an English aristocrat, political activist, and churchwoman.
Life
She was born to Hon. Cecil Thomas Parker, son of the 6th Earl of Macclesfield, and Rosamond Esther Harriet Longley, daughter of Archbishop of Canterbury Charles Thomas Longley. She married the 1st Viscount Bridgeman (1864-1935) on 30 April 1895 in Eccleston, Chester, England.
She was involved in politics, working with the Tariff Reform League Women's Association and becoming the first chairwoman of the National Union of Conservative and Unionist Organisations.
She was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1924, after which she was also known as Dame Caroline Bridgeman. When her husband became the first Viscount Bridgeman on June 18, 1929, she was styled as Viscountess Bridgeman.
Bridgeman held the office Justice of Peace (JP) and was a governor of the BBC between 1935 and 1939. She was also Vice-Chairman of the House of Laity, Church Assembly.
She died on 26 December 1961 of undisclosed causes, aged 88.
Family
Her family include the following;
Children
- Sir Robert Clive Bridgeman, 2nd Viscount Bridgeman (1 April 1896 - 17 November 1982)
- Brigadier Hon. Geoffrey John Orlando Bridgeman (3 July 1898 - 15 October 1974)
- Anne Bridgeman (23 July 1900 - 24 July 1900)
- Hon. Sir Maurice Richard Bridgeman (26 January 1904 - 18 June 1980)
Grandchildren
- Robin Bridgeman, 3rd Viscount Bridgeman (Member of the House of Lords in 2024)
Great-grandchildren
- Flora Montgomery (actress)
Arms
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Citations
- G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, UK: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume XIII, page 460. Hereinafter cited as The Complete Peerage.
- Peter W. Hammond, editor, The Complete Peerage or a History of the House of Lords and All its Members From the Earliest Times, Volume XIV: Addenda & Corrigenda (Stroud, Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing, 1998), page 705. Hereinafter cited as The Complete Peerage, Volume XIV.
- Charles Mosley, editor, Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes (Wilmington, Delaware: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd., 2003), volume 1, page 498. Hereinafter cited as Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 107th edition.
- Cokayne, and others, The Complete Peerage, volume XIII, p. 461.
- Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 107th edition, volume 1, page 499.
Notes
- Profile, Oxford Index website, accessed 22 March 2016.
- Sutherland, Duncan. "Bridgeman, Dame Caroline Beatrix". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/39506. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- Literary Bibliography website, Caroline Bridgeman, Viscountess Bridgeman
- Google Books website, A Historical Dictionary of British Women, by Cathy Hartley, page 64
- London Remembers website, Caroline Beatrix Bridgeman
- London Gazette website, publication date, June 21, 1929, Issue 33508, page 4118
- Murphy, Kate (2016). "2.2 BBC Hierarchies". Behind the Wireless: A History of Early Women at the BBC. London: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 25. doi:10.1057/978-1-137-49173-2. ISBN 978-1-137-49172-5.
- UK National Archives website, Records of the Bridgeman Family
- Literary Bibliography website, Robert Bridgeman, 2nd Viscount Bridgeman
- UK Parliament website, Viscount Bridgeman, retrieved 2024-07-07