Rosalind Howells, Baroness Howells of St Davids

Rosalind Patricia-Anne Howells, Baroness Howells of St Davids, OBE (born 10 January 1931), is a Labour member of the House of Lords.

Having been awarded an OBE in the 1994 New Year's Honours,^[1] she was made a Life peer as Baroness Howells of St Davids, of Charlton in the London Borough of Greenwich on 21 July 1999.^[2] The name St Davids refers to the parish in Grenada where she was brought up, to the south-east of the Island.

Life and career

Howells was educated at St Joseph's Convent, South West London College and City College in Washington, DC. In 1955, she married John Charles Howells and they have two daughters.

Her career background includes being the Director of the Greenwich Racial Equality Council as well as a Community and Equal Opportunities Worker. Baroness Howells is a trustee of the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust, and served as the unofficial advisor to the Lawrence family.

Howells was the first black woman to sit on the GLC's Training Board; the first female member of the Court of Governors of the University of Greenwich and was the Vice Chair at the London Voluntary Services Council. She has worked with the Carnival Liaison Committee, and the Greater London Action in Race Equality and has been an active campaigner for justice in the field of race relations. She is a Trustee of the Jason Roberts Foundation, which aims to provide a range of sporting opportunities for children and young people in the UK and Grenada.^[3]

In March 2009 she was inaugurated as the Chancellor of the University of Bedfordshire in Luton.^[4] Baroness Howells is a trustee of St George’s University’s UK Trust and serves on the board of the Windward Islands Research and Education Foundation (WINDREF), the research institute situated on St George’s University’s True Blue campus.^[5]

References

1. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 53527. p. 12. 31 December 1993.
2. The London Gazette: no. 55564. p. 8076. 27 July 1999.
3. Jason Roberts Foundation website.
4. "Baroness Howells announced as new University Chancellor", University of Bedfordshire, 19 March 2009.
5. St George’s University.

External links

• Announcement of her introduction at the House of Lords House of Lords minutes of proceedings, 25 October 1999.
• 100 Great Black Britons.