List of Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Encyclopedia
Below is a List of Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire (Substantive) from the Order's
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

 creation in 1917 until the present day. Honorary Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire can be found at :Category:Honorary Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

1910s

  • 1917: The Baroness Byron
    Lucy, Lady Houston
    Lucy, Lady Houston, DBE , born Fanny Lucy Radmall, was an English benefactor, philanthropist, adventuress and patriot.-Early life:...

    , The Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava
    Hariot Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava
    Hariot Georgina Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava VA CI DBE was a British peeress, known for her success in the role of "diplomatic wife", and for leading an initiative to improve medical care for women in British India.-Biography:Born Hariot Georgina Rowan-Hamilton, she...

    , Sarah Lees
    Sarah Lees
    Dame Sarah Lees, DBE was an English politician and civic activist. She became the first female Mayor of Oldham on 9 November 1910, only the second woman in England to hold such a position...

    , Edith Lyttelton
    Edith Lyttelton
    Dame Edith Lyttelton, GBE was a British novelist, World War I-era activist and spiritualist.-Family:...

    , The Marchioness of Londonderry
    Edith Vane-Tempest-Stewart, Marchioness of Londonderry
    Edith Vane-Tempest-Stewart, Marchioness of Londonderry DBE was a noted socialite and philanthropist in the United Kingdom between World War I and World War II.-Family:...

    , The Baroness Pentland
    Marjorie Sinclair, Baroness Pentland
    Marjorie Adeline Gordon Sinclair, Baroness Pentland was the daughter of Sir John Campbell Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair and Ishbel Hamilton-Gordon, Marchioness of Aberdeen and Temair....

    , The Marchioness of Willingdon
    Marie Freeman-Thomas, Marchioness of Willingdon
    Marie Freeman-Thomas, Marchioness of Willingdon, GBE CI was born as Marie Adelaide Brassey, a daughter of Thomas Brassey, 1st Earl Brassey....

  • 1918: Eva Anstruther
    Eva Anstruther
    Dame Eva Anstruther DBE was an English writer and poet.She was born as Eva Isabella Henrietta Hanbury-Tracy, the eldest child of the 4th Lord Sudeley. She grew up in Gloucestershire at Toddington Manor, near Tewkesbury. Her two immediate siblings were boys and she grew up a somewhat lonely child,...

    , Caroline Arnott
    Caroline Arnott
    Dame Caroline Sydney Williams Arnott, DBE, OStJ, JP was the daughter of Sir Frederick Martin Williams, 2nd Bt., of Tregullow.She married Major Sir John Alexander Arnott, 2nd Bt., son of Sir John Arnott, 1st Bt. and Mary McKinlay, on 27 September 1881...

    , The Duchess of Atholl
    Katharine Marjory Stewart-Murray, Duchess of Atholl
    Katharine Marjory Stewart-Murray, Duchess of Atholl, DBE , born Katharine Marjory Ramsay and known as the Marchioness of Tullibardine from 1899 to 1917, was a British noblewoman and Unionist politician....

    , Lady Bell of Rounton Grange
    Florence Bell
    Competitor for CanadaFlorence Jane Bell was a Canadian track and field athlete who competed mainly in the 100 metres.-Career:...

    , Maud Bevan
    Maud Bevan
    Dame Maud Elizabeth Bevan , DBE, JP was the daughter of Henry Bouverie William Brand, 1st Viscount Hampden of Glynde and 23rd Baron Dacre, and his wife, Eliza Ellice.-Marriage:...

    , Maud Burnett
    Maud Burnett
    Dame Maud Burnett DBE JP was a local English politician who served as the first female mayor of Tynemouth.-Life:...

    , The Marchioness of Bute, Margaret Davidson
    Margaret Davidson
    Dame Margaret Davidson DBE was the British wife of the Colonial Governor of New South Wales, Sir Walter Edward Davidson...

    , Anna Maria Donner, Alice Godman, Agnes Jekyll, Adelaide Livingstone
    Adelaide Livingstone
    Dame Adelaide Stickney Lord Livingstone, DBE was responsible for organising the Peace Ballot in 1934-35 to gauge the British public's sentiment in the winds of upcoming war with a rearming and aggressive Germany led by Adolf Hitler....

    , Ethel Locke-King
    Ethel Locke-King
    Dame Ethel Locke-King , DBE, was a motor-racing promoter and hospital patron.Her wealthy husband, Sir Hugh F. Locke-King, created and solely financed Brooklands House, Weybridge, Surrey, the first permanent race-track in the world...

    , Nellie Melba
    Nellie Melba
    Dame Nellie Melba GBE , born Helen "Nellie" Porter Mitchell, was an Australian operatic soprano. She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian Era and the early 20th century...

    , Margaret Pryse-Rice, Clarissa Reid, The Viscountess Ridley, The Countess Roberts
    Aileen Roberts, 2nd Countess Roberts
    Aileen Mary Roberts, 2nd Countess Roberts, DBE was one of the six children of Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts, V.C. and Nora Henrietta Bews.-Titles:...

    , Edith Sclater
    Edith Sclater
    Dame Edith Harriet Barttelot Sclater, DBE was the daughter of Sir Walter Barttelot, 1st Bt. and Harriet Musgrave.She married General Sir Henry Crichton Sclater, son of James Henry Sclater, on 12 June 1884...

    , Flora Shaw
    Flora Shaw
    Dame Flora Louisa Shaw, Lady Lugard, DBE , the daughter of an English father, Captain George Shaw and a French mother, Marie Desfontaines, was a British journalist and writer...

    , Olive Smith-Dorrien, Janet Stancomb-Wills
    Janet Stancomb-Wills
    Dame Janet Stancomb Graham Stancomb-Wills, DBE was the eldest daughter of George Perkins Stancomb and Catherine Janet Lobb, at Aldersgate, London, and niece of the first Baron Winterstoke...

    , The Countess Waldegrave
    Mary Waldegrave, Countess Waldegrave
    Mary Waldegrave, Countess Waldegrave, DBE was a British peeress.-Background:Born as Mary Dorothea Palmer, she was the daughter of Roundell Palmer and his wife, Laura, a daughter of the 8th Earl Waldegrave.-Marriage/children:On 5 August 1874, she married her first cousin, William Waldegrave, 9th...

    , May Whitty
    May Whitty
    Dame May Whitty, DBE , born Mary Louise Whitty, was an English stage actress who appeared in numerous films in later life, achieving recognition in several character roles.-Background:...

  • 1919: Rachel Crowdy
    Rachel Crowdy
    Dame Rachel Eleanor Crowdy, DBE was an English nurse and social reformer. She was Principal Commandant of Voluntary Aid Detachments in France and Belgium from 1914 to 1919 and Chief of the Department of Opium Traffic and Social Issues Section of the League of Nations from 1919 to 1931...

    , The Countess of Darnley
    Florence Bligh, Countess of Darnley
    Florence Rose Bligh , Countess of Darnley, DBE was the wife of Ivo Bligh, 8th Earl of Darnley, son of John Stuart Bligh, 6th Earl of Darnley and Lady Harriet Mary Pelham, on 9 February 1884....

    , Lady Blanche Gordon-Lennox, Helen Gwynne-Vaughan
    Helen Gwynne-Vaughan
    Dame Helen Charlotte Isabella Gwynne-Vaughan, GBE , née Fraser, was a prominent British botanist and mycologist....

    , Henrietta Henderson, The Countess of Harrowby, Mary Monro, The Baroness Mount Stephen
    George Stephen, 1st Baron Mount Stephen
    George Stephen, 1st Baron of Mount Stephen , known as Sir Stephen, between 1778 and 1891.-Canadian Pacific Railway syndicate:...

    , The Baroness Northcote, Sarah Oram
    Sarah Oram
    Dame Sarah Elizabeth Oram, DBE, RRC was Principal Matron, Mediterranean Expeditionary Force and Senior member of Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service , serving as Matron-in-Chief from 1915-1919 ....

    , Florence Simpson, Una O'Dwyer

1920s

  • 1920: Georgiana Buller
    Georgiana Buller
    Dame Audrey Charlotte Georgiana Buller, DBE, RRC , best known as Georgiana Buller, was a British hospital administrator and the founder of the first school dedicated to occupational therapy in the United Kingdom....

    , Clara Butt
    Clara Butt
    Dame Clara Ellen Butt DBE , sometimes called Clara Butt-Rumford after her marriage, was an English contralto with a remarkably imposing voice and a surprisingly agile singing technique. Her main career was as a recitalist and concert singer.-Early life and career:Clara Butt was born in Southwick,...

    , Alice Chisholm, The Countess of Eglinton
    Janet Montgomerie, Countess of Eglinton
    Janet Lucretia Montgomerie, Countess of Eglinton and Winton, DBE , née Janet Lucretia Cuninghame, was the wife of George Arnulph Montgomerie, 15th Earl of Eglinton....

    , The Countess of Gosford
    Louisa Acheson, Countess of Gosford
    Louisa Augusta Beatrice Acheson, Countess of Gosford DBE , née Lady Louisa Augusta Beatrice Montagu, was the wife of the 4th Earl of Gosford.Lady Gosford was the daughter of the Duke of Manchester...

    , Catherine Hunt
    Catherine Hunt
    Dame Catherine Hunt DBE , née Catherine Reeve, was a prominent figure in Colchester, Essex, England.Catherine Reeve married E. A. Hunt in 1896...

    , The Countess of Leicester
    Alice Coke, Countess of Leicester
    Alice Emily Coke, Countess of Leicester DBE , née White, was the wife of the 3rd Earl of Leicester.She was the daughter of Sir Luke White, who succeeded as 2nd Baron Annaly in 1873 . She married Viscount Coke on 26 August 1879...

    , The Baroness Melchett
    Violet Mond, Baroness Melchett
    Violet Florence Mabel Mond, Baroness Melchett, DBE , née Goetze, was a British humanitarian and activist....

    , Beryl Oliver
    Beryl Oliver
    Dame Beryl Carnegy Oliver GBE RRC , née Beryl Carnegy Joseph, was a British charity administrator as well as the British Red Cross Society's Director of Education.-Personal life:...

    , Ethel Maud Pearson, Una Pope-Hennessy
    Una Pope-Hennessy
    Dame Una Constance Pope-Hennessy DBE , née Una Constance Birch, was a British writer, mainly on history and biography....

    , Louise Samuel
    Louise Samuel
    Dame Louise Victoria Samuel DBE , sometimes called Louise Gilbert Samuel, née Louise Victoria Steibel, was an English suffragist and charity worker....

    , The Viscountess Rhondda
    Sybil Thomas, Viscountess Rhondda
    Sybil Margaret Thomas, Viscountess Rhondda DBE , née Sybil Margaret Haig, was a Welsh suffragette, feminist and philanthropist....

    , Ethel Shakespear
    Ethel Shakespear
    Dame Ethel Mary Reader Shakespear DBE , née Ethel Mary Reader Wood, was an English geologist, public servant and philanthropist.She was born in Biddenham, Bedfordshire, the daughter of a clergyman...

    , The Baroness Talbot of Malahide, Meriel Talbot, Catherine Wingate
    Catherine Wingate
    Dame Catherine Leslie Wingate DBE , née Catherine Leslie Rundle, was a British humanitarian.She was the daughter of Royal Navy Captain Joseph Rundle and his wife, Renira Catherine , and the sister of General Sir Leslie Rundle. On 18 June 1888 she married Reginald Wingate, a Royal Artillery officer...

    , Sophia Wintz
    Sophia Wintz
    Dame Sophia Gertrude Wintz DBE was a Swiss-born British philanthropist who co-founded the Royal Sailors' Rests.Sophia Wintz was born in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. Her father died when she was a child and her mother brought her to England. Her younger brother, Lewis Wintz, joined the Royal Navy and...

  • 1921: Adelaide Anderson
    Adelaide Anderson
    Dame Adelaide Mary Anderson, DBE was a British civil servant and labour activist, particularly interested in child labour and conditions in China. She served as HM Principal Lady Inspector of Factories from 1897 to 1921....

    , Edith Dixon
    Edith Dixon
    Dame Edith Stewart Dixon, Lady Dixon, DBE , née Edith Stewart Clark, was a Northern Irish philanthropist....

  • 1922: The

Viscountess Greenwood, Margaret Greville
Margaret Greville
Dame Margaret Helen Grenville, Hon Mrs Greville, DBE , was a British society hostess and philanthropist.-Family:Born as Margaret Helen Anderson, she was the illegitimate daughter of William McEwan , a brewery multimillionaire, who later was elected as an M.P....

, Ethel Smyth
Ethel Smyth
Dame Ethel Mary Smyth, DBE was an English composer and a leader of the women's suffrage movement.- Early career :...

  • 1923: Belle Cox, Barbara Strickland
  • 1924: Louisa Aldrich-Blake
    Louisa Aldrich-Blake
    Dame Louisa Brandreth Aldrich-Blake, DBE was one of the first British women to enter the world of medicine.Born in Chingford, Essex, the daughter of a rector, she moved with her family to Welsh Bicknor. She graduated from the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine for Women in 1893...

    , Henrietta Barnett, Caroline Bridgeman, Janet Campbell
    Janet Mary Campbell
    Dame Dr. Janet Mary Campbell, DBE, MD, MS was a British physician and medical officer.Active in refugee relief, Dr. Campbell reached out to assist orphaned Basque children following the fascist bombings of the Basque region of Spain, particularly Guernica, during the Spanish Civil War.She served...

    , Beatrix Lyall
    Beatrix Lyall
    Dame Beatrix Margaret Lyall, DBE, JP was a British social reformer and London politician.-Early life:She was born in 1873 as Beatrix Margaret Rostron, the daughter of Simpson Rostron, a barrister of Beddington, Surrey, and his wife Christina Jane Riley...

  • 1925: Emma Albani
    Emma Albani
    Dame Emma Albani DBE was a leading soprano of the 19th century and early 20th century, and the first Canadian singer to become an international star. Her repertoire focused on the operas of Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini and Wagner...

    , Mary Cook, Louisa Lumsden
    Louisa Lumsden
    Dame Louisa Innes Lumsden, born into a wealthy family in Aberdeen, Scotland DBE was a lecturer in classics at Girton College and the first Headmistress of St Leonards, Fife. She is credited with introducing lacrosse to St...

    , The Baroness St Helier
    Francis Jeune, 1st Baron St Helier
    Francis Henry Jeune, 1st Baron St Helier GCB, PC, QC , known as Sir Francis Jeune , was a British judge...

    , Anne Smith, Mary Wills
    Mary Wills (DBE)
    Dame Mary Monica Cunliffe, Mrs. Wills, DBE, D.GSt.J was a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire and Dame of Grace, Order of St John of Jerusalem. She received these honours for her philanthropy.-Early years:...

  • 1926: Agnes Hunt
    Agnes Hunt
    Dame Agnes Gwendoline Hunt DBE RRC is generally recognised as the first orthopaedic nurse.She was born at Boreatton Park, Baschurch, a village in west Shropshire, England, and was disabled from osteomyelitis of the hip that she suffered from as a child following septicaemia...

    , Madge Kendal
    Madge Kendal
    Dame Madge Kendal GBE , born as Margaret Shafto Robertson, was an English actress of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, best known for her roles in Shakespeare and English comedies. Together with her husband, W. H...

    , Maude Lawrence, Jessie Phipps, Mary Scharlieb
    Mary Scharlieb
    Dame Mary Scharlieb, DBE was a pioneer British female physician in the late 19th/early 20th centuries.- Biography :Born as Mary Anne Dacomb Bird, she was raised with her grandparents, following her mother's death, in a strict Evangelical Christian household. She attended a boarding school in...

  • 1927: The Countess of Cavan, The Countess of Stradbroke, The Viscountess Templewood, The Countess of Jersey, Emily Penrose
    Emily Penrose
    Dame Emily Penrose, DBE was Principal of Somerville College, Oxford University from 1907 until 1926. She was the second of five children and eldest of the four daughters of Francis Cranmer Penrose, architect and archaeologist.-Career:Penrose, who never married, was emblematic of the history of...

  • 1928: The Duchess of Bedford
    Mary Russell, Duchess of Bedford
    Dame Mary Russell, Duchess of Bedford, DBE, RRC, FLS was an English aviatrix and ornithologist.-Early and personal life:...

    , Elizabeth Wordsworth
    Elizabeth Wordsworth
    Dame Elizabeth Wordsworth was the great-niece of the poet William Wordsworth. She was the daughter of Christopher Wordsworth, Bishop of Lincoln, and the sister of John Wordsworth, Bishop of Salisbury and Christopher Wordsworth, a liturgical scholar.Educated at home, she learned several modern...

    , Frances Dove
    Frances Dove
    Dame Jane Frances Dove, DBE, JP was an English women's campaigner who founded Wycombe Abbey and other girls' schools....

  • 1929: Alida Brittain, Harriet Findlay
    Harriet Findlay
    Dame Harriet Jane Backhouse Findlay, DBE was the daughter of Sir Jonathan Edmund Backhouse, 1st Bt. and Florence Trelawny...

    , Gertrude Humphrys, Laura Knight
    Laura Knight
    Dame Laura Knight, DBE was an English Impressionist painter known for painting the world of London's theatre, ballet and circus.-Early life and education:...

    , Anne McIlroy, Bertha Phillpotts
    Bertha Phillpotts
    Dame Bertha Surtees Phillpotts was an English scholar in Scandinavian languages, literature, history, archaeology and anthropology.-Biography:...


1930s

  • 1930: Mary Bailey
    Mary Bailey (DBE)
    The Hon. Dame Mary Bailey, née Westenra DBE was a British aviatrix.The daughter of Derrick Warner William Westenra, 5th Baron Rossmore, of Rossmore Castle, County Monaghan and his wife, Mittie , Mary Westenra Bailey was known as one of the finest aviatrices of her time, who "personally guided a...

  • 1931: Joanna Cruickshank
    Joanna Cruickshank
    Dame Joanna Margaret Cruickshank founded the in November 1918 and served as its first Matron-in-Chief. In November 1930 she retired as Matron-in Chief.-Biography:...

    , Sarah Mair
    Sarah Mair
    Dame Sarah Elizabeth Siddons Mair, DBE was a Scottish campaigner for women's education and women's suffrage, active in the Edinburgh Association for the University Education of Women and the Ladies' Edinburgh Debating Society, which she founded before she was 20.-Life:Born into a well-to-do family...

    , Sybil Thorndike
    Sybil Thorndike
    Dame Agnes Sybil Thorndike CH DBE was a British actress.-Early life:She was born in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire to Arthur Thorndike and Agnes Macdonald. Her father was a Canon of Rochester Cathedral...

  • 1932: Margaret Tuke
    Margaret Tuke
    Dame Margaret Janson "Meta" Tuke, MA, DBE was a British academic and educator, was the youngest child of James Hack Tuke.-Education:...

    , Edith Brown
  • 1933: The Baroness Denman, The Viscountess Simon
  • 1934: Elizabeth Cadbury
    Elizabeth Cadbury
    Dame Elizabeth Mary Cadbury, DBE , was an English philanthropist and wife of George Cadbury, the chocolate manufacturer.-Early life:...

    , Alicia Lloyd Still
  • 1935: The Duchess of Portland, May Ogilvie-Gordon, Rosalind Paget
    Rosalind Paget
    Dame Mary Rosalind Paget, DBE, ARRC , was a noted British nursing sister, midwife and reformer. She was the first Superintendent, later Inspector General, of the Queen's Jubilee Institute for District Nursing at the London Hospital,, which was re-named as the Queen's Institute of District Nursing...

  • 1936: Regina Evans, The Baroness Gilmour, The Duchess of Abercorn
    Rosalind Hamilton, Duchess of Abercorn
    Lady Rosalind Cecilia Caroline Hamilton, DBE , the Duchess of Abercorn, was a British aristocrat. She was a great-grandmother of Diana, Princess of Wales.-Biography:...

    , Christabel Pankhurst
    Christabel Pankhurst
    Dame Christabel Harriette Pankhurst, DBE , was a suffragette born in Manchester, England. A co-founder of the Women's Social and Political Union , she directed its militant actions from exile in France from 1912 to 1913. In 1914 she became a fervent supporter of the war against Germany...

  • 1937: Edith Anderson, Geraldine Southall Cadbury, Mary Gilmore
    Mary Gilmore
    Dame Mary Gilmore DBE was a prominent Australian socialist poet and journalist.-Early life:Mary Jean Cameron was born on 16 August 1865 at Cotta Walla near Goulburn, New South Wales...

    , Ellen Pinsent
    Ellen Pinsent
    Dame Ellen Frances Pinsent DBE , née Parker, was a British mental health worker.She was the daughter of the Rev. Richard Parker and his second wife, Elizabeth Coffin...

    , Juliet Rhys-Williams
    Juliet Rhys-Williams
    Juliet Evangeline, Lady Rhys-Williams, DBE, DStJ née Glyn , was a British writer, and a Liberal Party politician who later joined the Conservative Party....

    , The Baroness Strickland, Marie Tempest
    Marie Tempest
    Dame Marie Tempest DBE was an English singer and actress known as the "queen of her profession".Tempest became the most famous soprano in late Victorian light opera and Edwardian musical comedies. Later, she became a leading comic actress and toured widely in North America and elsewhere...

    , Violet Wills
  • 1938: The Countess of Elgin
    Edward Bruce, 10th Earl of Elgin
    Edward James Bruce, 10th Earl of Elgin, 14th Earl of Kincardine, KT, CMG, TD, JP was the son of Victor Alexander Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin who became Assistant Private Secretary to the Secretary State for the Colonies and a director of the Royal Bank of ScotlandOn 5 January 1921, he married...

    , Florence Lambert, Gwendoline Trubshaw
  • 1939: The Baroness Hillingdon, Ellen Musson
    Ellen Musson
    Dame Ellen Mary Musson, DBE, Hon. LL.D was Chair of the General Nursing Council for England and Wales.Her nursing career lasted from 1898 to 1957, most prominently at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, West Smithfield, London. She was also an Honorary Treasurer of the Royal College of Nursing.She...


1940s

  • 1941: The Viscountess Craigavon
    James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon
    James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon, PC, PC , was a prominent Irish unionist politician, leader of the Ulster Unionist Party and the first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland...

    , Myra Hess
    Myra Hess
    Dame Myra Hess DBE was a British pianist.She was born in London as Julia Myra Hess, but was best known by her middle name. At the age of five she began to study the piano and two years later entered the Guildhall School of Music, where she graduated as winner of the Gold Medal...

    , The Marchioness of Reading
    Stella Isaacs, Marchioness of Reading
    Stella Isaacs, Marchioness of Reading, GBE , née Stella Charnaud, was a British political and military figure....

    , Reniera Stanley, Irene Vanbrugh
    Irene Vanbrugh
    Dame Irene Vanbrugh DBE , née Barnes, was an English actress. The daughter of a clergyman, Vanbrugh followed her elder sister Violet into the theatrical profession, and sustained a career for more than 50 years....

  • 1942: Katharine Jones
    Katharine Jones
    Dame Katharine Henrietta Jones, DBE, RRC and Bar was Matron in Chief of the QAIMNS for most of the Second World War, serving from 23 July 1940-44....

  • 1943: Emily Blair, Lilian Braithwaite
    Lilian Braithwaite
    Dame Lilian Braithwaite DBE , born Florence Lilian Braithwaite, was an English actress.She was the daughter of a clergyman, and born in Ramsgate, Kent. She was educated at Croydon High School, and married actor-manager Gerald Lawrence, first acting with amateur companies...

    , Anne Loughlin
    Anne Loughlin
    Dame Anne Loughlin, DBE was a British labour activist and organiser.Loughlin was born in Leeds, England. Her father, Thomas, was a boot and shoe operative of Irish descent. When Anne was 12 her mother died, and she had to care for her four sisters...

    , Ethel Walker
    Ethel Walker
    Dame Ethel Walker, DBE was a British painter of portraits, flower-pieces, sea-pieces and decorative compositions. Her work shows the influence of Impressionism, Puvis de Chavannes, Gauguin and Asian art.- Early life :...

  • 1944: Doris Beale
    Doris Beale
    Dame Doris Winifred Beale, DBE, RRC and Bar was a British nurse, and Matron-in-Chief of Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service for three years during the Second World War...

    , Jane Trefusis Forbes, Lilian Barker
  • 1945: Joan Marsham
    Joan Marsham
    Dame Joan Marsham was a British philanthropist and chairman of the executive committee of the Girl Guides Association from 1938 to 1948...

    , Vera Laughton Mathews, Katherine Watt
  • 1946: Edith Evans
    Edith Evans
    Dame Edith Mary Evans, DBE was a British actress. She was known for her work on the British stage. She also appeared in a number of films, for which she received three Academy Award nominations, plus a BAFTA and a Golden Globe award.Evans was particularly effective at portraying haughty...

    , The Countess of Limerick, The Duchess of Richmond
    Hilda Gordon-Lennox, Duchess of Richmond
    Hilda Madeline Brassey Gordon-Lennox, Duchess of Richmond, DBE, JP was the daughter of Henry Arthur Brassey and Anna Harriet Stevenson ....

    , Ruth Welsh, Leslie Whateley
    Leslie Whateley
    Dame Leslie Balfour Whateley, DBE, TD was a Director of the Auxiliary Territorial Service during the Second World War....

  • 1947: Madeline Brock
    Madeline Brock
    Dame Madeline Dorothy Brock, DBE, Litt.D. was Headmistress of the Mary Datchelor Girls' School, Camberwell, London.She was named a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the New Years Honours List, 1947.-References:...

    , Gertrude Cosgrove
    Gertrude Cosgrove
    Dame Gertrude Ann Geappen Cosgrove, DBE was the wife of Sir Robert Cosgrove , twice elected as Premier of Tasmania. They married on 10 January 1911 at St...

    , Evelyn Fox
    Evelyn Fox
    Dame Evelyn Emily Marian Fox, DBE was a noted British health worker, specializing in mental health and epilepsy .The driving force for the creation of the British Epilepsy Association came from the work of three people:...

    , Matilda Goodrich, Caroline Haslett
    Caroline Haslett
    Dame Caroline Harriet Haslett, DBE, JP was a British electrical engineer and electricity industry administrator....

    , Emmeline Tanner, Eileen Walwyn
    Humphrey T. Walwyn
    Vice-Admiral Sir Humphrey Thomas Walwyn, KCSI, KCMG, CB, DSO served most of his life in the Royal Navy, rising to the rank of Vice-Admiral and the command of the Royal Indian Navy from 1928, retiring in 1934....

  • 1948: The Baroness Sharp
    Evelyn Sharp, Baroness Sharp
    Evelyn Adelaide Sharp, Baroness Sharp of Hornsey was a British civil servant and the first women to hold the position of Permanent Secretary, the most senior civil servant in a Ministry.-Early life:...

    , Louisa Wilkinson
    Louisa Wilkinson
    Dame Louisa Jane Wilkinson, DBE, RRC was Matron-in-Chief of the QAIMNS/QARANC. She joined the QAIMNS Reserves in August 1914. She was briefly married in 1917 but her husband was killed on active duty during World War I....

  • 1949: Harriette Chick
    Harriette Chick
    Dame Harriette Chick, DBE was a notable British protein scientist and nutritionist. Educated at Notting Hill & Ealing High School, She served as secretary of the League of Nations health section committee on the physiological bases of nutrition from 1934 to 1937...

    , Myra Curtis, Anne Curwen
    Anne Curwen
    Dame Anne May Curwen, DBE was National General Secretary, YWCA of Great Britain.Educated at Birkenhead High School and Harrogate College, attending Newnham College, Cambridge, where she gained a First in History...

    , Alix Kilroy
    Alix Kilroy
    Dame Alix Kilroy, Lady Meynell, DBE was one of the first two women to have entered the administrative grade of the Civil Service by examination . She got a desk at the Board of Trade, where she ascended to Under-Secretary, where she served for 30 years aside from a brief spell at the newly formed...

    , Dehra Parker
    Dehra Parker
    Dame Dehra S. Parker, GBE, PC was the longest serving woman MP in the Northern Ireland House of Commons.-Family life:...

    , Felicity Peake
    Felicity Peake
    Air Commodore Dame Felicity Peake DBE was the founding director of the UK's Women's Royal Air Force ....

    , Mary Smieton, Gladys Taylor
    Gladys Taylor
    Dame Gladys Taylor DBE, RRC was Matron-in-Chief, Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service .Trained at University College Hospital, London, Miss Taylor's name appeared in the King's Honours List as Dame Commander of the British Empire in 1948 upon her retirement from the Air Force Nursing...

    , Mary Tyrwhitt
    Mary Tyrwhitt
    Brigadier Dame Mary Joan Caroline Tyrwhitt, DBE, TD was a British Army officer. She was the last director of the Auxiliary Territorial Service and the first director of the Women's Royal Army Corps when it was established on 1 February 1949.-External links:**...


1950s

  • 1950: Helen Cargill, Marjorie Cox, Frances Farrer
    Frances Farrer
    The Hon. Dame Frances Margaret Farrer DBE was Secretary of the NUSEC and later was named as General Secretary of the Women's Institute in 1929. The daughter of a senior civil servant, she ran the office on civil service lines; Meriel Withall, one of her successors said "it was a model of [good]...

    , Adeline Genée
    Adeline Genée
    Dame Adeline Genée DBE was a Danish/British ballet dancer.-Early years:Anina Kirstina Margarete Petra Jensen was born in Århus, Denmark. Her uncle, Alexandre Genée, gave her dancing lessons from the age of three. When she was eight, Alexandre and his wife, the former Antonia Zimmerman, adopted her...

    , Grace Kimmins
    Grace Kimmins
    Dame Grace Kimmins, DBE was described in Punch as ... in her quiet practical way is probably as good a friend as London ever had, a description for the driving force behind the Guild of Play and the Guild of the Poor Brave Things.Born Grace Mary Thyrza Hannam, she became a Wesleyan deaconess and...

    , Olive Wheeler
    Olive Wheeler
    Professor Dame Olive Annie Wheeler, DBE , was a British educationist, psychologist and university lecturer, who later became Professor of Education at Cardiff University.-Early life:...

    , Jocelyn Woollcombe
    Jocelyn Woollcombe
    Dame Jocelyn May Woollcombe, DBE was Director of the Women's Royal Naval Service from 1946 to 1950.She joined the WRNS, enrolling as Chief Officer in August 1939 and was named Superintendent on 14 May 1940.-Honours:...

  • 1951: Ellen Acton, Florence Cardell-Oliver, Mary Daly, Elizabeth Gilmer
    Elizabeth Gilmer
    Dame Elizabeth Gilmer, DBE, FRHortS was a New Zealand social worker, educationist and horticulturist....

    , Florence Hancock, Hilda Lloyd
    Hilda Lloyd
    Dame Hilda Nora Lloyd, DBE , née Shufflebotham, was a British physician and surgeon. She was the first woman to be elected as president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists....

    , Lillian Penson
    Lillian Penson
    Dame Lillian Penson, DBE was a professor of modern history at the University of London, and the first woman to serve as Vice-Chancellor of the university....

    , Anne Thomson
    Anne Thomson
    Brigadier Dame Anne Thomson, DBE, RRC was a British nursing sister, matron and administrator.She served as:Anne Thomson was the first QAIMNS Nursing Officer ever to reach the rank of Brigadier in the British Army, which she did in 1950. Four years later, she was named a Colonel Commandant of the...

    , Ninette de Valois
    Ninette de Valois
    Dame Ninette de Valois, OM, CH, DBE, FRAD, FISTD was an Irish-born British dancer, teacher, choreographer and director of classical ballet...

  • 1952: Florence Bevin, Kathleen Courtney, The Viscountess Davidson, Mary Lloyd, Marjorie Maxse
    Marjorie Maxse
    Dame Sarah Algeria Marjorie Maxse, DBE, better known as Marjorie Maxse was a political organiser and the first female chief organization officer of the Conservative Party....

    , Flora Robson
    Flora Robson
    Dame Flora McKenzie Robson DBE was an English actress, renowned as a character actress, who played roles ranging from queens to villainesses.-Early life:...

  • 1953: The Baroness Asquith of Yarnbury, Cynthia Colville
    Cynthia Colville
    Lady Helen Cynthia Colville, née Crewe-Milnes, DCVO, DBE was both a courtier and social worker, serving as a Woman of the Bedchamber to Queen Mary, while at the same time devoting her energies to alleviating the suffering of Shoreditch, one of the poorest areas of the East End of...

    , Mary Coulshed
    Mary Coulshed
    Brigadier Dame Mary Frances Coulshed, DBE was a British Army officer who served as Director of the Women's Royal Army Corps ....

    , Catherine Fulford, Elisabeth Kelly, Flora MacLeod of MacLeod
    Flora MacLeod of MacLeod
    Dame Flora MacLeod of MacLeod, DBE was the 28th chief of Clan MacLeod. Dunvegan Castle in Skye is the 800 year old MacLeod family seat.-Early years:...

    , Enid Russell-Smith
    Enid Russell-Smith
    Dame Enid Mary Russell Russell-Smith, DBE was a British civil servant.-Career:Born in Esher, Surrey to Arthur Russell-Smith and Constance Mary , she attended Saint Felix School, Southwold, and Newnham College, Cambridge, graduating in 1925.She was one of the first women to enter the British civil...

  • 1954: Lilian Bromley-Davenport, Helen Gillespie
    Helen Gillespie
    Brigadier Dame Helen Shiels Gillespie, DBE, RRC, QHNS was a British nursing matron during World War II.From 1952 until her retirement on 31 July 1956 on completion of her term, Gillespie served as Matron-in-Chief of Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps...

    , Edith Sitwell
    Edith Sitwell
    Dame Edith Louisa Sitwell DBE was a British poet and critic.-Background:Edith Sitwell was born in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, the oldest child and only daughter of Sir George Sitwell, 4th Baronet, of Renishaw Hall; he was an expert on genealogy and landscaping...

  • 1955: Mabel Brookes
    Mabel Brookes
    Dame Mabel Brookes, DBE was an Australian community worker, activist, socialite, writer, memoirist and humanitarian....

    , Elizabeth Cockayne
    Elizabeth Cockayne
    Dame Elizabeth Cockayne, DBE was Chief Nursing Officer from the inception of the National Health Service in 1948 until her retirement a decade later in 1958. She was succeeded by Kathleen Raven.-Career:...

    , The Countess of Rosebery
    Eva Primrose, Countess of Rosebery
    Dame Eva Isabel Marion Primrose, Countess of Rosebery was the daughter of Henry Bruce, 2nd Baron Aberdare and his wife, Constance.-First marriage:...

    , Nancy Salmon
    Nancy Salmon
    Air Commodore Dame Nancy Marion Salmon, DBE , also known by her married name, Dame Nancy Snagge, was a British women's air force leader during World War II...

    , Irene Ward
    Irene Ward
    Irene Mary Bewick Ward, Baroness Ward of North Tyneside, CH, DBE was a British Conservative politician. She was a long-serving Member of Parliament .Ward was educated privately and at Newcastle Church High School...

    , Roberta Whyte
  • 1956: The Countess of Albemarle
    Diana Keppel, Countess of Albemarle
    Diana Keppel, Dowager Countess of Albemarle, DBE married Walter Egerton George Lucian Keppel, son of Lt.-Col. Arnold Allen Cecil Keppel, 8th Earl of Albemarle and Lady Gertrude Lucia Egerton, on 24 February 1931 at St Columba's Church, London...

    , Peggy Ashcroft
    Peggy Ashcroft
    Dame Peggy Ashcroft, DBE was an English actress.-Early years:Born as Edith Margaret Emily Ashcroft in Croydon, Ashcroft attended the Woodford School, Croydon and the Central School of Speech and Drama...

    , Margot Fonteyn
    Margot Fonteyn
    Dame Margot Fonteyn de Arias, DBE , was an English ballerina of the 20th century. She is widely regarded as one of the greatest classical ballet dancers of all time...

    , Kathleen Lonsdale
    Kathleen Lonsdale
    Dame Kathleen Lonsdale, DBE FRS was a crystallographer, who established the structure of benzene by X-ray diffraction methods in 1929, and hexachlorobenzene by Fourier spectral methods in 1931...

    , Mary Railton, Hilda Ross
    Hilda Ross
    Dame Hilda Ross, DBE was a New Zealand politician and activist.-Early years:...

    , Lucile Sayers
    Lucile Sayers
    Dame Lucile Newell Sayers, DBE, JP was the UK Delegate to the United Nations' Status of Women Commission. -Honours:She was named CBE in 1952 and advanced to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1956 "for political and public services".-External links:***...

  • 1957: Anne Bryans, The Viscountess Kilmuir
    Sylvia Sackville, Countess De La Warr
    Sylvia Sackville, Countess De La Warr DBE was a distinguished public servant and a former Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party ....

    , Annabelle Rankin
    Annabelle Rankin
    Dame Annabelle Jane Mary Rankin DBE was the second woman member of the Australian Senate, the first woman from Queensland to sit in the Parliament of Australia, the first woman to have a federal portfolio and the first woman to be appointed head of a foreign mission.-Biography:Rankin was born in...

    , Nancy Robertson, Janet Vaughan
    Janet Vaughan
    Dame Janet Maria Vaughan DBE, FRS was a British physiologist.Born in Clifton, Bristol, she was the daughter of William Wyamar Vaughan, a cousin of Virginia Woolf and later headmaster of Rugby....

  • 1958: Mary Barnett, Katharine Elliot, Monica Golding
    Monica Golding
    Brigadier Dame Cecilie Monica Johnson Golding, DBE was a British Army nurse, who rose to Colonel Commandant, Matron-in-Chief and Director of the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps ....

    , Mary Jones, Rose Macaulay
    Rose Macaulay
    Dame Emilie Rose Macaulay, DBE was an English writer. She published thirty-five books, mostly novels but also biographies and travel writing....

    , The Duchess of Portland
    Ivy Cavendish-Bentinck, Duchess of Portland
    Ivy Cavendish-Bentinck, Duchess of Portland DBE , born Ivy Gordon-Lennox, was Duchess of Portland from 1943 to 1977 and afterwards Dowager Duchess. She founded the Harley Foundation, "to encourage creativity"....

    , Maggie Teyte
    Maggie Teyte
    Dame Maggie Teyte DBE was an English operatic soprano and interpreter of French art song.-Early years:Margaret Tate was born in Wolverhampton, England, one of ten children of Jacob James Tate, a successful wine and spirit merchant and proprietor of public houses and later lodgings. Her parents...

    , Alice Williamson
  • 1959: The Viscountess Brookeborough
    Cynthia Brooke, Viscountess Brookeborough
    Dame Cynthia Mary Sergison Brooke, Viscountess Brookeborough, was the daughter of Captain and Mrs. Charles Warden Sergison.-Personal life:She married Viscount Brookeborough , son of Sir Arthur Douglas Brooke, 4th Bt. and Gertrude Isabella Batson, on 3 June 1919...

    , Ruth Buckley, Mary Colvin
    Mary Colvin
    Brigadier Dame Mary Colvin, DBE, TD was a director of the British Army Women's Royal Army Corps and president of the British Horse Society.-Family:...

    , Rebecca West
    Rebecca West
    Cicely Isabel Fairfield , known by her pen name Rebecca West, or Dame Rebecca West, DBE was an English author, journalist, literary critic and travel writer. A prolific, protean author who wrote in many genres, West was committed to feminist and liberal principles and was one of the foremost public...


1960s

  • 1960: Judith Anderson
    Judith Anderson
    Dame Judith Anderson, AC, DBE was an Australian-born American-based actress of stage, film and television. She won two Emmy Awards and a Tony Award and was also nominated for a Grammy Award and an Academy Award.-Early life:...

    , Alice Berry
    Alice Berry
    Dame Alice Miriam Berry DBE was an Australian activist dedicated to finding ways to improve the lives of women and children in rural areas....

    , The Baroness Brooke of Ystradfellte
    Barbara Brooke, Baroness Brooke of Ystradfellte
    Barbara Brooke, Baroness Brooke of Ystradfellte and Baroness Brooke of Cumnor DBE was a British Conservative politician.-Personal life:...

    , Alice Lowrey, Evelyn Hoyer-Miller, Elizabeth Millar, Merlyn Myer
    Merlyn Myer
    Dame Margery Merlyn Baillieu Myer DBE , best known as Merlyn Myer, was an Australian philanthropist, who was knighted in recognition of her charitable work....

  • 1961: Kitty Anderson
    Kitty Anderson
    Kitty Anderson DBE BA PhD was Headmistress of North London Collegiate School from 1945-1965.-Early life and education:...

    , Elizabeth Couchman
    Elizabeth Couchman
    Dame Elizabeth Couchman DBE , was an Australian who worked in the interests of women, and was a co-founder of the Liberal Party of Australia....

    , Patricia Hornsby-Smith
    Patricia Hornsby-Smith
    Margaret Patricia Hornsby-Smith, Baroness Hornsby-Smith, was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom.-Early life and education:...

    , Ethel Stabb, Anne Stephens
  • 1962: Anne Godwin
    Anne Godwin
    Dame Anne Godwin was a British trade unionist.Born in 1897 in Farncombe, Surrey as Beatrice Anne Godwin, the daughter of a draper, she attended the British School, Bridge Road, Godalming, until age 16, when she left school to start working as a counting house clerk in the West End of London.In...

    , Edith Pitt
    Edith Pitt
    Dame Edith Maud Pitt, DBE was a British Conservative politician.She was elected Member of Parliament for Birmingham Edgbaston at a by-election in 1953, and served until her death shortly before the 1966 general election, in which Jill Knight was elected as her successor.Pitt had been...

    , Jean Roberts, Barbara Salt
    Barbara Salt
    Dame Barbara Salt, DBE was a British diplomat.-Biography:Barbara Salt was born in Oroville, California to Reginald Salt, an English banker and his wife Maud, who returned to England not long after her birth. She was the granddaughter of banker and politician Sir Thomas Salt...

    , Eva Turner
    Eva Turner
    Dame Eva Turner DBE was an English dramatic soprano with an international reputation. Her strong, steady and well-trained voice was renowned for its clarion power in Italian and German operatic roles.-Career:...

  • 1963: Barbara Cozens
    Barbara Cozens
    Brigadier Dame Florence Barbara Cozens, DBE, RRC, DOStJ was a Darjeeling-born British nurse and nursing administrator....

    , Jean Davies, Honor Fell
    Honor Fell
    Dame Dr Honor Bridget Fell, DBE, Ph.D, D.Sc, FRS was a British scientist and zoologist. Her contributions to science included the development of the organ culture method, similar to stem cell research.-Career:...

    , Alicia Markova
    Alicia Markova
    Dame Alicia Markova, DBE, DMus, was an English ballerina and a choreographer, director and teacher of classical ballet. Most noted for her career with Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes and touring internationally, she was widely considered to be one of the greatest classical ballet dancers of the...

    , Elisabeth Murdoch
    Elisabeth Murdoch (senior)
    Dame Elisabeth Joy Murdoch AC, DBE is an Australian philanthropist. She is the widow of Australian newspaper publisher Sir Keith Murdoch, and the mother of international media proprietor Rupert Murdoch. When Keith Murdoch was knighted, in 1933, she was styled Lady Murdoch...

    , Jean Conan Doyle
    Jean Conan Doyle
    Air Commandant Dame Lena Annette Jean Conan Doyle, Lady Bromet , DBE, AE, WRAF, ADC was best known as Jean Conan Doyle....

  • 1964: Veronica Ashworth, Jean Rivett-Drake, Margaret Shepherd, Joan Vickers
    Joan Vickers
    Joan Helen Vickers, Baroness Vickers, DBE was a British National Liberal and Conservative Party politician.Vickers was educated at St Monica's, Burgh Heath, Surrey, and in Paris. She served with the Red Cross in South East Asia and was area welfare officer of the Social Welfare Department in...

    , The Baroness Wakehurst, Eileen Younghusband
    Eileen Younghusband
    Dame Eileen Louise Younghusband, DBE, CBE, MBE was internationally known for her research and teaching in the field of social work....

  • 1965: The Baroness Adrian, Florence Cayford
    Florence Cayford
    Dame Florence Evelyne Cayford, DBE, JP was a Labour politician in London.From 1937 until 1965 Cayford served as a member of Hampstead Borough Council, leading the Labour group 1945-58. She represented Hampstead as Alderman on the London County Council, of which she was Chairman in 1960...

    , Mabel Crout, Joanna Henderson, Barbara Hepworth
    Barbara Hepworth
    Dame Barbara Hepworth DBE was an English sculptor. Her work exemplifies Modernism, and with such contemporaries as Ivon Hitchens, Henry Moore, Ben Nicholson, Naum Gabo she helped to develop modern art in Britain.-Life and work:Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth was born on 10 January 1903 in Wakefield,...

    , Elizabeth Lane
    Elizabeth Lane
    Dame Elizabeth Lane, DBE was one of the first women to practise as a barrister in the United Kingdom.Born Elizabeth Kathleen Coulborn, she was called to the bar at the Inner Temple in 1940...

    , Catherine Scott, Margot Turner
  • 1966: Elsie Abbott, Edith Drummond, Felicity Hill, Elizabeth Manning, Ngaio Marsh
    Ngaio Marsh
    Dame Ngaio Marsh DBE , born Edith Ngaio Marsh, was a New Zealand crime writer and theatre director. There is some uncertainty over her birth date as her father neglected to register her birth until 1900...

    , Anne McEwen
    Anne McEwen (DBE)
    Dame Anne Mills McEwen DBE , known as Annie McEwen, was an Australian social activist, and the wife of John McEwen . She was active in the Country Party and devoted her life to working for the public good...

    , Ruth Railton
    Ruth Railton
    Dame Ruth Railton was a British music director and conductor. She founded the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain in 1948. She was an adjudicator of the Federation of Music Festivals from 1946-1974.She was one of four daughters and one son, David, born to the Rev...

    , Grace Tebbutt, Mabel Tylecote
    Mabel Tylecote
    Dame Dr Mabel Tylecote, née Phythian, DBE was a British Labour Party politician, activist and adult educationist from Manchester, England....

  • 1967: The Countess of Brecknock
    Marjorie Pratt, Marchioness Camden
    Marjorie Minna Jenkins Pratt, Countess of Brecknock DBE, JP , was a British peeress. She was the daughter of Colonel Atherton Edward Jenkins and his wife, Anna Isabella .-Family:...

    , Ivy Compton-Burnett
    Ivy Compton-Burnett
    Dame Ivy Compton-Burnett, DBE was an English novelist, published as I. Compton-Burnett. She was awarded the 1955 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for her novel Mother and Son.-Life:...

    , Gladys Cooper
    Gladys Cooper
    Dame Gladys Constance Cooper, DBE was an English actress whose career spanned seven decades on stage, in films and on television....

    , Margery Corbett Ashby
    Margery Corbett Ashby
    Dame Margery Irene Corbett Ashby, DBE was a British Liberal politician, feminist and internationalist.She was born at Danehill, East Sussex, the daughter of Charles Henry Corbett a barrister who was sometime Liberal MP for East Grinstead and Marie Corbett herself a Liberal feminist and local...

    , Helen Gardner, Pauline Giles, Mabel Miller
    Mabel Miller
    Dame Mabel Flora Miller, DBE was an Australian lawyer and politician. She was the first woman elected to the Hobart City Council and one of the first two women to be elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly....

    , Beryl Paston Brown
    Beryl Paston Brown
    Dame Beryl Paston Brown, DBE was a British academic and educator.-Early years:Beryl Paston Brown was educated at Streatham Hill High School and Newnham College, Cambridge...

    , Margaret Rutherford
    Margaret Rutherford
    Dame Margaret Taylor Rutherford DBE was an English character actress, who first came to prominence following World War II in the film adaptations of Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, and Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest...

    , Ivy Wedgwood
    Ivy Wedgwood
    Dame Ivy Evelyn Wedgwood, DBE was an Australian Senator for Victoria.Wedgwood was the first female Senator to represent Victoria. During her 21 year term, which ran from 1950 to 1971, she became the first woman to chair a Senate Committee in 1968....

    , Albertine Winner
  • 1968: Zara Bate
    Zara Bate
    Dame Zara Kate Bate DBE was an Australian fashion designer and wife of the Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt....

    , Annis Gillie
    Annis Gillie
    Dame Katherine Annis Calder Gillie, DBE, ERCP , FRCGP was a British physician and medical researcher. She was President of the Royal College of General Practitioners....

    , Isabel Graham-Bryce, Mary Green, Muriel Powell, Kathleen Raven
    Kathleen Raven
    Dame Kathleen Annie Raven, DBE, FRCN was a British nurse, matron, government health official, health care engineer and university endowee.-Career:...

    , Hilda Stevenson
    Hilda Stevenson
    Dame Hilda Stevenson, DBE was an Australian philanthropist and community worker.-Personal life/early years:Born as Hilda Mabel McKay in Ballarat, Victoria, her father was Hugh Victor McKay, the inventor of the combined harvester. She attended Clarendon College and Presbyterian Ladies College. Her...

    , Muriel Stewart, Dorothy Tangney
    Dorothy Tangney
    Dame Dorothy Margaret Tangney DBE was an Australian politician and the first woman member of the Australian Senate.Dorothy Tangney started her career as a school teacher in Western Australia...

    , Veronica Wedgwood
    Veronica Wedgwood
    Dame Veronica Wedgwood OM DBE was an English historian who generally published under the name C. V. Wedgwood...

    , Ethel Wormald
    Ethel Wormald
    Dame Ethel Wormald, DBE, OBE, DL, JP, the second woman Lord Mayor of Liverpool was a British politician, educationist and social activist. She was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her efforts.-Biography:Born as Ethel May Robinson, she attended Leeds University on...

  • 1969: Rita Buxton
    Rita Buxton
    Dame Rita Mary Buxton, DBE was an Australian community worker, activist, racehorse owner and philanthropist.-Background and family:...

    , Hilda Bynoe
    Hilda Bynoe
    Dame Hilda Louisa Gibbs Bynoe, DBE was governor of Grenada between 1967 and 1972...

    , Mary Cartwright
    Mary Cartwright
    Dame Mary Lucy Cartwright DBE FRS was a leading 20th-century British mathematician. She was born in Aynho, Northamptonshire where her father was the vicar and died in Cambridge, England...

    , Daphne du Maurier
    Daphne du Maurier
    Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning DBE was a British author and playwright.Many of her works have been adapted into films, including the novels Rebecca and Jamaica Inn and the short stories "The Birds" and "Don't Look Now". The first three were directed by Alfred Hitchcock.Her elder sister was...

    , Lady Olwen Carey Evans, Molly Gibbs
    Humphrey Gibbs
    Sir Humphrey Vicary Gibbs, GCVO, KCMG, OBE was the penultimate Governor of the colony of Southern Rhodesia who served through, and opposed, the Unilateral Declaration of Independence in 1965....

    , Ella Macknight
    Ella Macknight
    Dame Ella Macknight, DBE, MRCOG, FRCOG, FAMA, FAGO was an obstetrician and gynaecologist who worked at the Queen Victoria Hospital, Melbourne...

    , Anna Neagle
    Anna Neagle
    Forming a professional alliance with Wilcox, Neagle played her first starring film role in the musical Goodnight Vienna , again with Jack Buchanan. With this film Neagle became an overnight favourite...

    , Sister Mary Regis, Lucy Stuart Sutherland, Elizabeth Yarwood

1970s

  • 1970: Dorothy Ackroyd, Mary M. Anderson, Te Atairangikaahu
    Te Atairangikaahu
    Dame Te Atairangikaahu, ONZ, DBE, OStJ was the Māori queen for 40 years, the longest reign of any Māori monarch. Her full name and title was Te Arikinui Te Atairangikaahu...

    , Sara Barker, Bessie Bottomley, Margaret Cole
    Margaret Cole
    Dame Margaret Isabel Cole, DBE was an English socialist politician.Daughter of John Percival Postgate and Edith Allen, Margaret was educated at Roedean School and Girton College, Cambridge. While at Girton, through her reading of H. G...

    , Marion Kettlewell, Margaret Miles, Peggy van Praagh
    Peggy van Praagh
    Dame Margaret "Peggy" van Praagh, DBE had a long and distinguished career in ballet as a dancer, choreographer, teacher, producer, advocate and director.-Dancing:...

  • 1971: Kate Isabel Campbell
    Kate Isabel Campbell
    Dame Kate Campbell, FRCOG, DBE was a noted Australian physician and paediatrician.Born at Hawthorn, Melbourne of Scottish descent, Kate Isabel Campbell was the third of four siblings...

    , Agatha Christie
    Agatha Christie
    Dame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...

    , Mary Cramer, Adelaide Doughty, Kathleen Ollerenshaw
    Kathleen Ollerenshaw
    Dame Kathleen Mary Ollerenshaw, née Timpson, DBE is a British mathematician and politician. Deaf since the age of eight, she loved doing arithmetic problems as a child. As a young woman, she attended St Leonards School and Sixth Form College in St Andrews, Scotland where today the house of young...

  • 1972: Nancy Buttfield
    Nancy Buttfield
    Dame Nancy Buttfield DBE was an Australian Senator and the first woman to serve in the Australian Parliament as a representative of the state of South Australia....

    , Cicely Courtneidge
    Cicely Courtneidge
    Dame Esmerelda Cicely Courtneidge DBE was an English actress and comedienne. The daughter of the producer Robert Courtneidge, she was appearing in his productions in the West End, by the age of 16, and was quickly promoted from minor to major roles in his Edwardian musical comedies.After the...

    , Muriel Harris, Unity Lister
    Unity Lister
    Dame Unity Viola Webley Lister, DBE was a British Conservative political activist.Born in Woolwich to a doctor father and a Quaker mother, she had a facility for foreign languages, and this earned her an important post in the Military Censor's office during the Second World War.-Post WWII:She was...

    , The Baroness Plowden, Freya Stark
    Freya Stark
    Dame Freya Madeline Stark, Mrs. Perowne, DBE was a British explorer and travel writer. She wrote more than two dozen books on her travels, which were mainly in Arabia, Iran and Afghanistan....

    , Susan Walker
  • 1973: Sylvia Crowe
    Sylvia Crowe
    Dame Sylvia Crowe, DBE was a British landscape architect and garden designer.Born in Sussex, and trained under Madeline Agar at Swanley College .She was President of the Institute of Landscape Architects from 1957 to 1959...

    , Kathleen Kenyon
    Kathleen Kenyon
    Dame Kathleen Mary Kenyon , was a leading archaeologist of Neolithic culture in the Fertile Crescent. She is best known for her excavations in Jericho in 1952-1958.-Early life:...

    , Sister Mary Leo
    Sister Mary Leo
    Dame Sister Mary Leo, DBE, RSM was a New Zealand nun who is best known for training some of the world's finest sopranos, including Dames Malvina Major, Kiri Te Kanawa and Heather Begg....

    , Marjorie Williamson
    Marjorie Williamson
    Dame Elsie Marjorie Williamson, DBE was a British academic, educator, physicist and university administrator.-Education:...

  • 1974: Josephine Barnes
    Josephine Barnes
    Dame Alice Josephine Mary Taylor Barnes, DBE , known professionally as Dr. Josephine Barnes, was a leading obstetrician and gynaecologist....

    , Emma Clode, The Baroness Denington of Stevenage
    Evelyn Denington, Baroness Denington
    Evelyn Joyce Denington, Baroness Denington DBE was a British politician. She served as chair of the Stevenage Development Corporation from 1966 to 1980 and chair of the Greater London Council from 1975 to 1976....

    , Phyllis Frost
    Phyllis Frost
    Dame Phyllis Irene Frost AC DBE JP was an Australian welfare worker and philanthropist, known for her commitment to causes, such as helping prisoners....

    , Joan Hammond
    Joan Hammond
    Dame Joan Hilda Hood Hammond, DBE, CMG was an Australian operatic soprano, singing coach and champion golfer.- Early life :...

    , Rose Heilbron
    Rose Heilbron
    Dame Rose Heilbron, DBE, QC was one of the outstanding barristers of the post-war period in the United Kingdom, whose career included many 'firsts' for a woman - she was the first woman to win a scholarship to Gray's Inn, the first woman to be appointed King's Counsel in England, the first to lead...

    , Albertha Isaacs, The Viscountess Macmillan of Ovenden
    Katharine Macmillan, Viscountess Macmillan of Ovenden
    Katharine Macmillan, Viscountess Macmillan of Ovenden, DBE is the daughter of the 4th Baron Harlech and granddaughter of the 4th Marquess of Salisbury....

    , Margot Smith
  • 1975: Jacobena Angliss
    Jacobena Angliss
    Dame Jacobena Angliss, DBE was an Australian philanthropist, arts supporter, and community worker.She was born in Epping, Victoria as Jacobena Victoria Alice Grutzner, daughter of Jacob and Frances Grutzner. Jacobena Grutzner married butcher and meat exporter William Charles Angliss at St...

    , Helen Blaxland
    Helen Blaxland
    Dame Helen Frances Blaxland, DBE was an Australian non-fiction writer. She spent much of her life working for charitable institutions, particularly the Australian Red Cross Society, for which she was named OBE in 1967...

    , Bridget D'Oyly Carte
    Bridget D'Oyly Carte
    Dame Bridget Cicely D'Oyly Carte, DBE , was the granddaughter of impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte and the only daughter of Rupert D'Oyly Carte...

    , Joyce Daws
    Joyce Daws
    Dame Joyce Margaretta Daws, DBE, FRCS, FRACS, FAMA was an Australian-based British doctor who specialized in thoracic surgery at various hospitals for over twenty years, primarily in Melbourne...

    , Frances Gardner, Wendy Hiller
    Wendy Hiller
    Dame Wendy Margaret Hiller DBE was an Academy Award-winning English film and stage actress, who enjoyed a varied acting career that spanned nearly sixty years. The writer Joel Hirschorn, in his 1984 compilation Rating the Movie Stars, described her as "a no-nonsense actress who literally took...

    , Margaret Kidd
    Margaret Kidd
    Dame Margaret Henderson Kidd QC, married name Macdonald was a pioneering woman lawyer, based in Edinburgh, Scotland....

    , Ruth Kirk, Vera Lynn
    Vera Lynn
    Dame Vera Lynn, DBE is an English singer-songwriter and actress whose musical recordings and performances were enormously popular during World War II. During the war she toured Egypt, India and Burma, giving outdoor concerts for the troops...

    , Dorothy Rees
    Dorothy Rees
    Dame Dorothy Mary Rees DBE was a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom, and was briefly a Member of Parliament ....

    , Betty Ridley
    Betty Ridley
    Dame Mildred Betty Ridley, DBE was a leading figure in the life of the Church of England from the 1960s into the 1980s, serving as Third Church Estates Commissioner from 1972 until 1981, the first woman to hold the post...

  • 1976: Janet Baker
    Janet Baker
    Dame Janet Abbott Baker, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English mezzo-soprano best known as an opera, concert, and lieder singer.She was particularly closely associated with baroque and early Italian opera and the works of Benjamin Britten...

    , Edith Burnside, Joan Evans
    Joan Evans (art historian)
    Dame Joan Evans, DBE was a British historian of French and English mediaeval art.Born at Nash Mills, Apsley, Hertfordshire, she was the daughter of antiquarian and businessman John Evans and his third wife, Maria Millington Lathbury...

    , Violet Dickson
    Violet Dickson
    Dame Violet Penelope Dickson, DBE was the wife of British colonial administrator H. R. P. Dickson. She lived in Kuwait for 61 years, half of them as a widow, and published several books on the country...

    , Monica Gallagher
    Monica Josephine Gallagher
    Dame Monica Josephine Gallagher, DBE, DSG is an Australian community worker and church activist.She has been associated with church and other community groups in her voluntary work...

    , Elizabeth Hill, Ada Norris
    Ada Norris
    Dame Ada May Bickford Norris, DCMG, DBE , was an Australian women's rights activist and community worker. She founded the UNAA National Status of Women Network in 1974 and served as President of Australia's National Council of Women...

  • 1977: Lady Moyra Browne
    Lady Moyra Browne
    Lady Moyra Blanche Madeleine Browne, DBE is a former nurse and the only daughter of Vere Ponsonby, 9th Earl of Bessborough and his wife, Roberte....

    , Patricia Mackinnon
    Patricia Mackinnon
    Dame Una Patricia Mackinnon DBE , née Bell, was Vice-President and President of the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia and a national councillor for the Australian Hospitals Association....

    , Rosemary Murray
    Rosemary Murray
    Dame Alice Rosemary Murray, DBE was a British chemist, educator and university administrator.-New Hall, Cambridge:...

    , Iris Origo
    Iris Origo
    Dame Iris Margaret Origo, Marchesa of Val d'Orcia, DBE , née Cutting, was an Anglo-Irish writer, who devoted much of her life to the improvement of the Tuscan estate at La Foce, near Montepulciano, which she purchased with her husband in the 1920s.-Origins and upbringing:Origo was the daughter of...

    , Marjorie Parker
    Marjorie Parker (DBE)
    Dame Marjorie Parker, DBE was an Australian civic and political activist who was created a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1977.-Family life:...

    , Cecily Pickerill, Winifred Prentice
    Royal College of Nursing
    The Royal College of Nursing is a union membership organisation with over 395,000 members in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1916, receiving its Royal Charter in 1928, Queen Elizabeth II is the patron...

    , Frances Yates
    Frances Yates
    Dame Frances Amelia Yates DBE was a British historian. She taught at the Warburg Institute of the University of London for many years.She wrote extensively on the occult or Neoplatonic philosophies of the Renaissance...

  • 1978: Isobel Baillie
    Isobel Baillie
    Dame Isobel Baillie DBE was a Scottish soprano, popular in opera, oratorio and lieder. She was regarded as one of the 20th century's great oratorio singers.Isobel Baillie was born in Hawick, Scottish Borders, in 1895...

    , Mary Durack
    Mary Durack
    Dame Mary Durack AC DBE was an Australian author and historian. She wrote Kings in Grass Castles and Keep Him My Country.-Childhood:...

    , Audrey Reader
    Audrey Reader
    Dame Audrey Reader DBE was an Australian charity worker, who worked primarily in promoting the interests of women and of immigrants to Australia.-Early years:...

    , Sheila Sherlock
    Sheila Sherlock
    Professor Dame Sheila Patricia Violet Sherlock, Mrs. James, DBE, MD, FRCP, FRCP Ed, FRS was a British physician, hepatologist and teacher.-Early life:...

  • 1979: Mary Austin
    Mary V. Austin
    Dame Mary Valerie Austin, DBE , née Hall-Thompson, was an Australian community worker and political activist. The daughter of Admiral P. H...

    , Margaret Booth
    Margaret Booth (judge)
    Dame Margaret Myfanwy Wood Booth, DBE is a retired British judge.In January 1979, she became the third woman to be appointed as a High Court judge. Like her predecessors, Elizabeth Lane and Rose Heilbron, she was assigned to the Family Division.She retired from judicial office in 1994...

    , Sister Philippa Brazill
    Sister Philippa Brazill
    Sister Mary Philippa Brazill, DBE, LLD , generally known as Sister Philippa, was an Australian nursing educator and administrator....

    , Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, Elizabeth Coker, Gracie Fields
    Gracie Fields
    Dame Gracie Fields, DBE , was an English-born, later Italian-based actress, singer and comedienne and star of both cinema and music hall.-Early life:...

    , Judith Hart
    Judith Hart
    Judith Hart, Baroness Hart of South Lanark DBE PC was a British Labour Party politician...

    , Naomi James
    Naomi James
    Dame Naomi Christine James DBE, was the first woman to sail single-handed around the world via Cape Horn...

    , Doris Johnson, Daphne Purves
    Daphne Purves
    Dame Daphne Helen Purves, DBE was New Zealand's oldest Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire at the time of her death. Her main area of expertise was education...

    , Joan Sutherland
    Joan Sutherland
    Dame Joan Alston Sutherland, OM, AC, DBE was an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano noted for her contribution to the renaissance of the bel canto repertoire from the late 1950s through to the 1980s....

    , Margaret Weston
    Margaret Weston
    Dame Margaret Kate Weston, DBE, FMA was the Director of the Science Museum, London, UK.- Life :Margaret Weston was born in Oakridge, Gloucestershire, the daughter of a headmaster....


1980s

  • 1980: Edith Bolte, Rachel Cleland
    Rachel Cleland
    Dame Rachel Cleland, DBE , born Rachel Evans, was an Australian expatriate community and social welfare worker in Papua New Guinea....

    , Miriam Dell
    Miriam Dell
    Dame Miriam Patricia Dell, ONZ, DBE was a founding member of the Hutt Valley Branch of the National Council of Women . Dell became National President of the Council in 1970....

    , Phyllis Friend
    Phyllis Friend
    Dame Phyllis Friend, DBE, FRCN is a British nursing officer.She spent a great deal of her professional career at the Royal London Hospital where she received her basic nursing education and undertook Part I Midwifery Training...

    , Margaret Guilfoyle
    Margaret Guilfoyle
    Dame Margaret Georgina Constance Guilfoyle, AC, DBE was a British-born Australian Senator for the state of Victoria from 1971 to 1987. She was the second woman to receive a federal ministerial portfolio, after Dame Enid Lyons...

    , Ida Mann
    Ida Mann
    Dame Ida Caroline Mann, DBE, FRCS was a distinguished English-reared ophthalmologist whose long-term association with Australia began when she moved to Perth, Western Australia, after World War II....

    , Raigh Roe
    Raigh Roe
    Dame Raigh Edith Roe DBE has been a member of the Australian Country Women's Association since 1941; she became Branch President, Western Australian State President and, eventually, National President of the CWA....

    , Cicely Saunders
    Cicely Saunders
    Dame Cicely Mary Saunders, was a prominent Anglican, nurse, physician and writer, involved with many international universities...

    , The Baroness Soames
    Mary Soames, Baroness Soames
    Mary Soames, Baroness Soames, is the youngest of Winston Churchill and his wife Clementine's five children and, as of 2011, the sole surviving child...

    , Ann Springman
  • 1981: Beryl Beaurepaire
    Beryl Beaurepaire
    Dame Beryl Beaurepaire, AC, DBE is an Australian activist and politician.She was born as Beryl Edith Bedggood in Camberwell, Victoria and educated at Fintona Girls' School. She served as a meteorological officer in the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force from early 1942 to late 1945...

    , Margaret Blackwood, Mary Bridges, Whina Cooper
    Whina Cooper
    Dame Whina Cooper ONZ DBE , was born Hohewhina Te Wake, daughter of Heremia Te Wake of the Te Rarawa iwi, at Te Karaka, Hokianga,...

    , Pamela Hunter, Celia Johnson
    Celia Johnson
    Dame Celia Elizabeth Johnson DBE was an English actress.She began her stage acting career in 1928, and subsequently achieved success in West End and Broadway productions. She also appeared in several films, including the romantic drama Brief Encounter , for which she received a nomination for the...

    , Ruby Litchfield, Betty Paterson, The Baroness Pike
    Mervyn Pike
    Irene Mervyn Parnicott Pike, Baroness Pike, commonly known as Mervyn Pike, DBE was a British Conservative politician....

    , Shelagh Roberts, Margaret Scott
    Margaret Scott (dancer)
    Dame Catherine Margaret Mary Scott, AC, DBE , best known as Margaret Scott, arrived in Australia in 1947 on tour with the Ballet Rambert and stayed there. She danced with the Sadler's Wells Ballet, appointed a principal dancer in 1941, and Ballet Rambert as a principal from 1943 to 1948...

  • 1982: Doris Fitton
    Doris Fitton
    Doris Alice Fitton Mason, DBE was an Australian actress and theatrical director who founded and for 35 years headed Sydney's Independent Theatre, staging a diverse range of local and international dramas, many for the first time in Australia, including Sumner Locke-Elliott's wartime comedy, Rusty...

    , Elisabeth Frink
    Elisabeth Frink
    Dame Elisabeth Jean Frink, DBE, CH, RA was an English sculptor and printmaker...

    , Catherine M. Hall
    Catherine M. Hall
    Dame Catherine Mary Hall, DBE, FRCN was a British nurse and nursing administrator who served as the third General Secretary of the UK's Royal College of Nursing ....

    , Roma Mitchell
    Roma Mitchell
    Dame Roma Flinders Mitchell, AC, DBE, CVO, QC was an Australian lawyer, judge and state governor. Mitchell was the first Australian woman to be a judge, a Queen's Counsel, a chancellor of an Australian university and the Governor of an Australian state.Roma Mitchell was born in Adelaide in 1913,...

    , Kiri Te Kanawa
    Kiri Te Kanawa
    Dame Kiri Jeanette Te Kanawa, ONZ, DBE, AC is a New Zealand / Māori soprano who has had a highly successful international opera career since 1968. Acclaimed as one of the most beloved sopranos in both the United States and Britain she possesses a warm full lyric soprano voice, singing a wide array...

    , Alice Wedega
    Alice Wedega
    Dame Alice Wedega, DBE was a Papuan politician, educator, peacemaker and conscientious objector....

    , Ida Yonge
  • 1983: The Marchioness of Anglesey
    Shirley Paget, Marchioness of Anglesey
    Elizabeth Shirley Vaughan Morgan, Marchioness of Anglesey, DBE, CBE, LVO Elizabeth Shirley Vaughan Morgan, Marchioness of Anglesey, DBE, CBE, LVO Elizabeth Shirley Vaughan Morgan, Marchioness of Anglesey, DBE, CBE, LVO (born 4 December 1924, better known as Dame Shirley Paget, is a writer and the...

    , Rosamund Holland-Martin
    Rosamund Holland-Martin
    Dame Rosamund Mary Holland-Martin, DBE, DL , née Hornby, was a long-term leader and fund-raiser for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.-NSPCC:...

    , Leonie Kramer
    Leonie Kramer
    Dame Leonie Judith Kramer, AC, DBE is an Australian academic, educator and professor.-Education:Kramer was educated at the Presbyterian Ladies' College, Melbourne, the University of Melbourne, where she gained a Bachelor of Arts in 1945, and Oxford University, where she gained a Doctor of...

    , Olga Uvarov
    Olga Uvarov
    Dame Olga Nikolaevna Uvarov, DBE, FRCVS was a veterinary surgeon and clinical researcher. She was the first woman president of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons...

  • 1984: The Baroness Seccombe, Guinevere Tilney, Catherine Tizard
    Catherine Tizard
    Dame Catherine Anne Tizard, was Mayor of Auckland City and the 16th Governor-General of New Zealand, the first woman to hold either office.-Early life:...

    , Mary Warnock
  • 1985: Jean Herbison
    Jean Herbison
    Dame Jean Marjory Herbison, DBE, CMG, was a New Zealand academic, educator, researcher and Chancellor of the University of Canterbury...

    , The Baroness Jenkins of Hillhead, Jill Knight
    Jill Knight
    Joan Christabel Knight, Baroness Knight of Collingtree, DBE , known as Jill Knight, is a former Conservative Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom. She was created a Life Peer as Baroness Knight of Collingtree, of Collingtree in the County of Northamptonshire in 1997 after standing down at...

    , Alison Munro, Joan Varley
  • 1986: Vivienne Boyd
    Vivienne Boyd
    Dame Vivienne Myra Boyd, née Lowe was knighted as DBE in 1986 for her service in New Zealand community and public affairs, included being president of the National Council of Women , a member and later chair of the Consumer Council and chair of the Abortion Supervisory Committee .She had active...

    , Peggy Fenner
    Peggy Fenner
    Dame Peggy Edith Fenner, DBE is a British Conservative Party politician.Fenner was elected MP for Rochester and Chatham at the 1970 general election...

    , Dorothea Horsman, Christian Howard
    Christian Howard
    Dame Rosemary Christian Howard DBE was the daughter of Geoffrey Howard and Ethel Christian Methuen. She was awarded the honorary degree of Lambeth Master of Arts by the Archbishop of Canterbury....

    , Gwyneth Jones, Merle Park, Simone Prendergast
    Simone Prendergast
    Dame Simone Ruth Prendergast, DBE, JP, DL was created a DBE for her political and public service. She is a retired member of the UK's Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions' Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal which reviews cases of malfeasance and/or misconduct against British solicitors.-Case...

    , Barbara Shenfield, Rosa Tokiel
  • 1987: Elizabeth Chesterton, Marie Clay
    Marie Clay
    Dame Marie Mildred Irwin Clay, DBE, FRSNZ was a distinguished researcher from New Zealand known for her work in global educational literacy. She was committed to the idea that children who struggle to learn to read and write can be helped with early intervention.-Life and career:She was born in...

    , Dorothy Fraser, Penelope Jessel, Mary Kekedo, Elizabeth Maconchy
    Elizabeth Maconchy
    Dame Elizabeth Violet Maconchy Le Fanu DBE was an English composer, most noted for her cycle of thirteen string quartets.-Biography:...

    , Joan Metge
    Joan Metge
    Dame Joan Metge, DBE, FRSNZ is a New Zealand social anthropologist, educator, lecturer and writer. She was educated at the University of Auckland and the London School of Economics where she earned her Ph.D in 1958....

    , Iris Murdoch
    Iris Murdoch
    Dame Iris Murdoch DBE was an Irish-born British author and philosopher, best known for her novels about political and social questions of good and evil, sexual relationships, morality, and the power of the unconscious...

    , Sheila Quinn
    Sheila Quinn
    Dame Sheila Margaret Imelda Quinn, DBE, FRCN, RGN, RM, RNT is a British nurse and Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing. She was president of the FRCN from 1982 to 1986...

  • 1988: Beryl Grey, Barbara Clayton, Judi Dench
    Judi Dench
    Dame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English film, stage and television actress.Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo...

    , Rosalinde Hurley, Elaine Kellett-Bowman
    Elaine Kellett-Bowman
    Dame Mary Elaine Kellett-Bowman, DBE is a British Conservative politician.Born Mary Elaine Kay, she was educated at The Mount School, York, St Anne's College, Oxford and Barnett House, Oxford, and became a barrister, called to the bar by Middle Temple in 1964...

    , Laurie Salas
  • 1989: Silvia Cartwright
    Silvia Cartwright
    Dame Silvia Rose Cartwright, PCNZM, DBE, QSO, DStJ was the 18th Governor-General of New Zealand.She is a graduate of the University of Otago, where she gained her LL.B degree in 1967, and a former student at Otago Girls' High School.- Public life and family :In 1989, she became the first female...

    , The Baroness Dunn
    Lydia Dunn, Baroness Dunn
    Lydia Selina Dunn, Baroness Dunn, DBE, JP was the Senior Unofficial Member of the Legislative Council and Executive Council in Hong Kong in 1985-1988 and 1988-1995, after Rogerio Hyndman Lobo and Chung Sze Yuen respectively...

    , The Baroness Emerton, Janet Fookes, Margaret Fry, Barbara Goodman
    Barbara Goodman
    Dame Barbara Goodman, DBE, QSO, JP is an Auckland, New Zealand politician.She was Mayoress of Auckland City as well as a former Auckland City Councillor for 12 years...

    , Rosemary Rue
    Rosemary Rue
    Dame Rosemary Rue, DBE, FRCP, FFPHM, FRCPsych, FRCS was a British physician and civil servant, most notable as the one-time regional general manager/medical officer of the Oxford Regional Health Authority.She was also:* President of the Medical Women’s Federation * President of...


1990s

  • 1990: Josephine Abaijah
    Josephine Abaijah
    Dame Josephine Abaijah, GCL, DBE was the first woman to be elected to the Papua New Guinea House of Assembly, in 1972. She was the only woman elected at that time....

    , Venetia Blaize
    Herbert Blaize
    Herbert Augustus Blaize was a Grenadian politician and leader of the Grenada National Party. When Grenada was still a British Crown Colony he served as the first Chief Minister from 1960-61, and again, from 1962-67. He became the first Premier of the autonomous Associated State of Grenada briefly...

    , Joyanne Bracewell
    Joyanne Bracewell
    Dame Joyanne Winifred Bracewell, DBE, QC, FRSA was the most senior judge of the Family Division of the High Court of Justice at the time of her death, after the President of the Family Division.-Early life and career:...

    , The Baroness Hylton-Foster, The Baroness Lloyd of Highbury
    June Lloyd, Baroness Lloyd of Highbury
    June Kathleen Lloyd, Baroness Lloyd of Highbury DBE was a British paediatrician and, in retirement, a cross bench member of the House of Lords...

    , Maggie Smith
    Maggie Smith
    Dame Margaret Natalie Smith, DBE , better known as Maggie Smith, is an English film, stage, and television actress who made her stage debut in 1952 and is still performing after 59 years...

    , Miraka Szászy
    Miraka Szászy
    Dame Miraka "Mira" Szászy, née Petricevich, DBE, QSM, JP was a prominent Māori leader. She was the first Māori woman to graduate with a degree from the University of Auckland - BA, Dip SocSci...

    , Rachel Waterhouse
    Rachel Waterhouse
    Dame Rachel Waterhouse, DBE is a local historian of Birmingham and the West Midlands of England, consumer affairs activist and writer....

    , Dorothy Winstone
    Dorothy Winstone
    Dame Dorothy Gertrude Winstone, DBE, CMG is a retired New Zealand educationist and academic.The Dorothy Winstone Centre Theatre at the Auckland Girls' Grammar School in Auckland, New Zealand is named in her honour...

  • 1991: Barbara Cartland
    Barbara Cartland
    Dame Barbara Hamilton Cartland, DBE, CStJ , was an English author, one of the most prolific authors of the 20th century...

    , Stella Casey, Eugenia Charles
    Eugenia Charles
    Dame Mary Eugenia Charles, DBE was Prime Minister of Dominica from 21 July 1980 until 14 June 1995. She was Dominica's first, and to date only, female prime minister, as well as the nation's longest serving prime minister...

    , The Baroness Digby, Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies
    Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies
    Dame Gwen Lucy Ffrangcon-Davies, DBE was a British actress and centenarian. She was born in London of a Welsh family; the name "Ffrangcon" originates from a valley in Snowdonia...

    , Jane Gow, Malvina Major
    Malvina Major
    Dame Malvina Lorraine Major, GNZM, DBE is a New Zealand opera singer. She was born in Hamilton, New Zealand into a large musical family. As a child she performed at various concerts, singing mainly country and western pop and music from the shows. She received her first classical training in 1955,...

    , Shirley Porter
    Shirley Porter
    Dame Shirley Porter, Lady Porter, DBE, is a former Conservative leader of Westminster City Council in London and a prominent philanthropist in Israel and the UK. She is the daughter and heir of Sir Jack Cohen, the founder of Tesco supermarkets...

    , Paddy Ridsdale
    Paddy Ridsdale
    Dame Victoire Evelyn Patricia "Paddy" Bennett, Lady Ridsdale DBE was a British secretary and intelligence operative. She was author Ian Fleming's secretary during World War II and was the model for his character Miss Moneypenny, James Bond's loyal, long-suffering secretary...

    , Lucie Rie
    Lucie Rie
    Dame Lucie Rie, DBE was an Austrian-born British studio potter.-Early life:Lucie Rie was born as Lucie Gomperz in Vienna, Lower Austria, Austria-Hungary the youngest child of Benjamin Gomperz, a Jewish medical doctor who was a consultant to Sigmund Freud. She had two brothers, Paul and Teddy...

    , Sue Tinson
    Sue Tinson
    Dame Susan W. Tinson, DBE, FRTS , known as Sue Tinson, is a British business executive and former television executive at ITN....

    , Margaret Turner-Warwick
    Margaret Turner-Warwick
    Dame Margaret Turner-Warwick, DBE is a retired British medical doctor and thoracic specialist. She was the first woman president of the Royal College of Physicians and, later, chairman of the Royal Devon and Exeter Health Care NHS Trust .-Background:Born in 1924 as Margaret Elizabeth Harvey in...

  • 1992: Jocelyn Barrow, Ann Ebsworth
    Ann Ebsworth
    Dame Ann Marian Ebsworth, DBE was a British barrister and judge. In 1992, she became the sixth female High Court judge, and the first to be assigned to the Queen's Bench Division....

    , Rangimarie Hetet, Edna Lewis, Moura Lympany
    Moura Lympany
    Dame Moura Lympany DBE was an English concert pianist.She was born as Mary Gertrude Johnstone at Saltash, Cornwall. Her father was an army officer who had served in World War I and her mother originally taught her the piano...

    , Wendy Mitchell, Shirley Oxenbury, Anne Poole
    Anne Poole
    Dame Anne Poole , DBE, RGN, RM, RHV, CBIM was Chief Nursing Officer, Department of Health.On 27 January 1997 she was named to serve on the Criminal Injuries Compensation Appeal Panel....

    , Norma Restieaux
    Norma Restieaux
    Dame Norma Jean Restieaux, DBE is a physician, medical researcher, cardiologist and author from New Zealand.-Writings:She authored or co-authored the following:...

    , Angela Rumbold
    Angela Rumbold
    Dame Angela Claire Rosemary Rumbold, DBE was a British Conservative Party Member of Parliament until 1997.- Education :...

    , Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
    Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
    Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, DBE was a German-born Austrian/British soprano opera singer and recitalist. She was among the most renowned opera singers of the 20th century, much admired for her performances of Mozart, Schubert, Strauss, and Wolf.-Early life:Olga Maria Elisabeth Friederike...

    , The Baroness Serota
    Beatrice Serota, Baroness Serota
    Beatrice Katz Serota, Baroness Serota DBE was a British Government minister and a Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords....

    , Janet Smith
  • 1993: Mary H. Arden, Reubina Ballin, Patricia Bergquist
    Patricia Bergquist
    Dame Patricia Rose Bergquist, DBE, MSc , PhD, DSc, FRSNZ was a New Zealand scientist who specialized in anatomy and taxonomy...

    , Catherine Cookson
    Catherine Cookson
    Dame Catherine Cookson DBE was a British author. She became the United Kingdom's most widely read novelist, with sales topping 100 million, while retaining a relatively low profile in the world of celebrity writers...

    , Mary Corsar, Pat Evison
    Pat Evison
    Dame Helen June Patricia Evison, DBE , known as Pat Evison, was a New Zealand actress.-Early life and education:...

    , Mary Glen-Haig
    Mary Glen-Haig
    Dame Mary Alison Glen-Haig DBE is a British fencer who competed in four Olympic games in 1948, 1952, 1956 and 1960. She was born in London, the daughter of William James, a fencer at the 1908 London Olympics...

    , Phyllis Guthardt
    Phyllis Guthardt
    The Reverend Dr. Phyllis Myra Guthardt DBE served for four years as the chancellor of the University of Canterbury until her tenure ended on 31 December 2002....

    , Louise Henderson
    Louise Henderson
    Dame Louise Etiennette Sidonie Henderson, DBE was a New Zealand artist and painter.Born in Paris, she was raised there and it was there she met her future husband Hubert Henderson, a New Zealander. Hubert returned to New Zealand in 1923 and proposed to Louise, but propriety demanded that a single...

    , Thora Hird
    Thora Hird
    Dame Thora Hird DBE was an English actress.-Early life and career:Hird was born in the Lancashire seaside town of Morecambe. She first appeared on stage at the age of two months in a play her father was managing...

    , Dawn Lamb, Anne McLaren
    Anne McLaren
    The Hon. Dame Anne Laura Dorinthea McLaren, DBE, FRS, FRCOG was the daughter of Henry McLaren, 2nd Baron Aberconway and Christabel McNaughten. She became a leading figure in developmental biology. Her work helped lead to human in vitro fertilisation...

    , Thea Muldoon
    Robert Muldoon
    Sir Robert David "Rob" Muldoon, GCMG, CH served as the 31st Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1975 to 1984, as leader of the governing National Party. Muldoon had been a prominent member of the National party and MP for the Tamaki electorate for some years prior to becoming leader of the party...

    , Annette Penhaligon
    Annette Penhaligon
    Dame Annette Lidgey Egerton , DBE is a British politician.She was born to Owen Bennett Lidgey and Mabel Richards Lidgey, and was educated at Truro Girls' School, Truro. In 1968, she married the Liberal politician David Penhaligon...

    , Margaret Price
    Margaret Price
    Dame Margaret Berenice Price, DBE was a Welsh soprano.-Early years:Price was born in Blackwood, Wales. Born with deformed legs, she was operated on at age four and suffered pain in her legs the rest of her life. She often looked after her younger brother John who was born with a mental handicap...

    , Muriel Spark
    Muriel Spark
    Dame Muriel Spark, DBE was an award-winning Scottish novelist. In 2008 The Times newspaper named Spark in its list of "the 50 greatest British writers since 1945".-Early life:...

    , Heather Steel, Augusta Wallace
    Augusta Wallace (judge)
    Dame Augusta Wallace, DBE was the first woman in New Zealand to be appointed as a judge to the District Court in 1976; she served for eighteen years....

  • 1994: Margaret Brain, Hazel Byford, Brenda Hale
    Brenda Hale, Baroness Hale of Richmond
    Brenda Marjorie Hale, Baroness Hale of Richmond, DBE, QC, PC, FBA is a British legal academic, barrister, judge and a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom....

    , Marea Hartman, Georgina Kirby
    Georgina Kirby
    Dame Georgina Kamiria Kirby, DBE, QSO, JP is a New Zealander who was made a dame “for services to the Māori people” on 11 June 1994. She attended Horohoro School, Rotorua; Rotorua High School and Auckland University.-Career:...

    , Eileen Mayo
    Eileen Mayo
    Dame Eileen Rosemary Mayo, RA, DBE was an English-born artist and designer who worked in England, Australia and New Zealand in almost every available medium - drawings, woodcuts, lithographs on stone and tempera, tapestry and silk screening...

    , Diana Rigg
    Diana Rigg
    Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg, DBE is an English actress. She is probably best known for her portrayals of Emma Peel in The Avengers and Countess Teresa di Vicenzo in the 1969 James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service....

    , Gillian Wagner
  • 1995: Joyce Anelay, Elizabeth Anson, Josephine Barstow
    Josephine Barstow
    Dame Josephine Clare Barstow DBE is an English soprano.-Education and early career:Josephine Barstow was born in Sheffield and educated at the University of Birmingham. She made her professional debut with the touring company Opera for All in 1964...

    , Marjorie Bean
    Marjorie Bean
    Dame Dr. Marjorie Louise Bean was the first Bermudian woman to be appointed to Bermuda's former Legislative Council. She was a trustee and founding member of the ....

    , June Clark
    June Clark
    Professor Dame June Clark, DBE, RN, FRCN FAAN is a Professor Emeritus of Community Nursing, at Swansea University in Wales....

    , Margaret Clark
    Margaret Clark
    Margaret Clark is the former mayor of Rosemead, California. Having previously served five terms, she now serves on the Rosemead city council.When she was re-elected mayor in 2009, she stated: "I'll look at each project that comes before us individually," she said. "The council sets policy... We...

    , Sister Pauline Engel
    Pauline Engel
    Sister Pauline Frances Engel, DBE is a member of the Sisters of Mercy who served as the third principal of Carmel College in Auckland, New Zealand, and the first principal to be appointed by Carmel College's Board of Governors....

    , Elizabeth Esteve-Coll
    Elizabeth Esteve-Coll
    Dame Elizabeth Esteve-Coll, DBE, FRSA is a British academic and former museum director.-Career:Born as , the daughter of a Darlington bank clerk, she was educated at Darlington High School, Trinity College, Dublin and Birkbeck, University of London.She was the first woman director of a national...

    , Elizabeth Harper, Rosalyn Higgins
    Rosalyn Higgins
    Dame Rosalyn Higgins, DBE, QC is the former President of the International Court of Justice. Higgins was the first female judge to be appointed to the ICJ, and was elected President in 2006. Her term of office expired on 6 February 2009...

    , Mary Hogg
    Mary Hogg
    Dame Mary Claire Hogg, DBE , styled The Hon. Mrs Justice Hogg, is a British lawyer and judge. She is the daughter of the late Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone and his wife Mary Evelyn Martin, and is the sister of Douglas Hogg, 3rd Viscount Hailsham...

    , Anne Salmond
    Anne Salmond
    Dame Mary Anne Salmond, DBE, FRSNZ, FBA is a New Zealand historian, anthropologist and writer.-Background:Salmond was born in Wellington in 1945 and grew up in Gisborne, before being sent to board at Solway College in Masterton...

    , The Baroness Thorneycroft
    Carla Thorneycroft, Baroness Thorneycroft
    Carla Thorneycroft, Baroness Thorneycroft, DBE, OM , , was the wife of Conservative Party politician and Chancellor of the Exchequer Peter Thorneycroft...

  • 1996: Fiona Caldicott
    Fiona Caldicott
    Dame Fiona Caldicott, DBE, FRCPsych, FRCP, FRCPI, FRCGP, FMedSci, is a psychiatrist and psychotherapist and, previously, Principal of Somerville College, Oxford....

    , The 18th Baroness Darcy de Knayth
    Davina Ingrams, 18th Baroness Darcy de Knayth
    Davina Marcia Herbert Ingrams, 18th Baroness Darcy de Knayth, DBE was a crossbench member of the House of Lords, continuing to sit after the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999 as an elected peer.-Biography:...

    , Jane Drew
    Jane Drew
    Dame Jane Drew, DBE, FRIBA was an English modernist architect and town planner. She qualified at the AA School in London, and prior to World War II became one of the leading exponents of the Modern Movement in London....

    , Rennie Fritchie, Felicity Lott
    Felicity Lott
    Dame Felicity Ann Emwhyla Lott, DBE, FRCM is an English soprano.-Education:From her earliest years she was musical, having started studying piano at age 5. She also played violin and began singing lessons at 12. She is an alumna of Royal Holloway, University of London, obtaining a BA in French and...

    , Sheila Noakes, Antoinette Sibley
    Antoinette Sibley
    Dame Antoinette Sibley, DBE is an English prima ballerina. She joined the Royal Ballet in 1956 and became a soloist in 1960. During her time there she was the Royal Ballet's most popular star...

    , Gillian Weir
    Gillian Weir
    Dame Gillian Constance Weir DBE is a New Zealand organist.-Biography:Gillian Weir was a co-winner of the Auckland Star Piano Competition at 19, playing Mozart. A year later she won a scholarship of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music in London...

  • 1997: Rachael Dyche, Deirdre Hine
    Deirdre Hine
    Dame Deirdre Joan Hine, née Curran DBE FFPH FRCP FLSW is a Welsh medical doctor. In 1984 she began her career as a public health physician in Wales. She was named Chair of the Commission for Health Improvement. Since January 2004 she has chaired the-Background:Hine was born to David Alban Curran...

    , Cleo Laine
    Cleo Laine
    Dame Cleo Laine, Lady Dankworth, DBE is a jazz singer and an actress, noted for her scat singing and vocal range...

    , Barbara Mills
    Barbara Mills
    Dame Barbara Jean Lyon Mills, DBE, QC was a British barrister. She held various senior public appointments including Director of Public Prosecutions, and was widely seen as a pioneer for women gaining such appointments in the higher echelons of the legal profession...

    , Bridget Ogilvie
    Bridget Ogilvie
    Dame Bridget Margaret Ogilvie, AC, DBE, FRS is an Australian and British scientist.Ogilvie was born in 1938 at Glen Innes, New South Wales, Australia, to John Ogilvie and Margaret Beryl McRae...

    , Joan Sawyer
    Joan Sawyer
    Dame Joan Augusta Sawyer, DBE, PC was President of the Bahamas Court of Appeal from September 5, 2001. Formerly Chief Justice of the Commonwealth of the Bahama islands from October 26, 1996 to September 4, 2001, Sawyer was the first woman to ever serve as Chief Justice and President of the Court...

    , Rosanna Wong Yick-ming
    Rosanna Wong Yick-ming
    Dame Rosanna Wong Yick-ming, DBE, JP , also known by her married name Mrs Rosanna Tam Wong Yick-ming in her former marriage from 1979 lasting until 1992, and primarily known as Dr Rosanna Wong in public occasions after 1997, is a Hong Kong social work administrator and politician who has served as...

  • 1998: Gillian Beer
    Gillian Beer
    Dame Gillian Beer, DBE , King Edward VII Professor of English Literature and President, Clare Hall, University of Cambridge, is a British literary critic and academic.-Career:...

    , Lorna Boreland-Kelly, Patricia Collarbone
    Patricia Collarbone
    Dame Patricia "Pat" Collarbone, DBE, FRSA is an education advisor. She advises public bodies in England, including the National College for School Leadership , the Training and Development Agency for Schools and the Department for Children, Schools and Families .She taught for 28 years in Inner...

    , Tamsyn Imison
    Tamsyn Imison
    Dame Tamsyn Imison, DBE was a prominent British educator and 'educational strategist' whose first career was as a scientific illustrator....

    , Betty Kershaw
    Betty Kershaw
    Dame Janet Elizabeth Murray "Betty" Kershaw, DBE, FRCN, CStJ, née Gammie , was Professor of Nursing and Dean at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Sheffield from 1999 to 2006....

    , Helen Metcalf
    Helen Metcalf
    Dame Helen Metcalf, DBE, FRSA was a British academic, educator, and politician.-Personal life:...

    , Gillian Oliver
    Gillian Oliver
    Dame Gillian Frances "Gill" Oliver, DBE, FRCN, is an expert in cancer nursing and palliative care and has been instrumental in developing cancer services, policy and strategy in the UK and beyond...

    , Ruth Runciman
    Ruth Runciman
    Dame Ruth Runciman DBE is a former Chair of the UK Mental Health Act Commission.She is the mother of British political scientist David Runciman, and as wife of British sociologist Garry Runciman has the right to the title of Viscountess Runciman of Doxford, which she does not use...

    , Veronica Sutherland
    Veronica Sutherland
    Dame Veronica Evelyn Sutherland, DBE, CMG is a former British career diplomat who served in government from 1965 until 1999, including a stint as Ambassador to the Republic of Ireland...

    , Mary Uprichard
    Mary Uprichard
    Dame Mary E. Uprichard, DBE, FRCM is a British nursing, midwifery and health care activist. She was made Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1998.-Positions:* First President of the UKCC...

  • 1999: Jill Black
    Jill Black
    Dame Jill Margaret Black DBE, PC, QC is a member of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales.Black was educated at the University of Durham, and was called to the Bar in 1976 . She became a Queen's Counsel in 1994 and was appointed a Deputy High Court judge in 1996 and a Recorder in 1998...

    , Lois Browne-Evans
    Lois Browne-Evans
    Dame Lois Marie Browne-Evans, DBE, JP was a lawyer and political figure in Bermuda. She led the Progressive Labour Party in opposition before being appointed Bermuda's first female Attorney-General. She first gained recognition in 1953 as the Bermuda's first female barrister...

    , A. S. Byatt
    A. S. Byatt
    Dame Antonia Susan Duffy, DBE is an English novelist, poet and Booker Prize winner...

    , Diana Collins
    Diana Collins
    Dame Diana Clavering Collins, DBE was the widow of Dr John Collins, the fiery Canon of St Paul's Cathedral who earned an international reputation for his leadership of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and the British campaign against apartheid in South Africa...

    , Pauline Fielding, Mavis Grant, Heather Hallett
    Heather Hallett
    Dame Heather Carol Hallett, DBE , styled The Rt Hon. Lady Justice Hallett, is an English judge of the Court of Appeal...

    , Norma Major
    Norma Major
    Dame Norma Christina Elizabeth Major, DBE , is the wife of Sir John Major, the former British Prime Minister.-Biography:...

    , Yvonne Moores
    Yvonne Moores
    Dame Yvonne Moores, DBE, FRSH, CIMgt is a former Chief Nursing Officer for England and Director of the NHS playing a key role as advisor to the Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Health on a range of issues related to policy and improving the quality of clinical services.Moores serves as...

    , Helen Reeves
    Helen Reeves
    Dame Helen Reeves, DBE is the former Chief Executive of Victim Support in the UK. She retired in 2005 after spending 26 years with the national charity....

    , Margaret Seward, Helena Shovelton
    Helena Shovelton
    Dame Helena Richards Shovelton, DBE, FRSA, Hon. FRCP is former Chair of the UK Citizens Advice Bureau and former Chair of the UK National Lottery Commission...

    , Lesley Southgate

2000s

  • 2000: Julie Andrews
    Julie Andrews
    Dame Julia Elizabeth Andrews, DBE is an English film and stage actress, singer, and author. She is the recipient of Golden Globe, Emmy, Grammy, BAFTA, People's Choice Award, Theatre World Award, Screen Actors Guild and Academy Award honors...

    , Beryl Bainbridge
    Beryl Bainbridge
    Dame Beryl Margaret Bainbridge, DBE was an English author from Liverpool. She was primarily known for her psychological novels, often set amongst the English working classes. Bainbridge won the Whitbread Awards prize for best novel in 1977 and 1996; she was nominated five times for the Booker...

    , Shirley Bassey
    Shirley Bassey
    Dame Shirley Bassey, DBE , is a Welsh singer. She found fame in the late 1950s and was "one of the most popular female vocalists in Britain during the last half of the 20th century"...

    , Beulah Bewley
    Beulah Bewley
    Dame Beulah Rosemary Bewley, DBE is a retired British public health physician and ex-President of the Medical Women's Federation on the General Medical Council....

    , Marie Descartes, Vivien Duffield
    Vivien Duffield
    Dame Vivien Duffield, DBE , is an English philanthropist.-Career:The daughter of millionaire businessman Sir Charles Clore and his wife, Lady Francine, Vivien Louise Duffield was educated at the Lycée Français, Heathfield School and Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University where she read languages...

    , Anne Evans
    Anne Evans
    Dame Anne Evans DBE is an international Welsh operatic soprano.-Education:Anne Elizabeth Jane Evans was born in London of Welsh descent. She studied at the Royal College of Music with among others Margaret Cable, and the Geneva Conservatoire. She was accepted into the conservatoire without...

    , Glynne Evans, Geraldine Keegan
    Geraldine Keegan
    Dame Geraldine Mary Marcella Keegan, DBE, is the head teacher of St. Mary's College , which is one of Northern Ireland's most successful schools. It was the first school in the UK to receive three charter marks for excellence, the government's gold medal of public service. On top of this, St...

    , Judith Kilpatrick, Jill Macleod Clark
    Jill Macleod Clark
    Dame Jill Macleod Clark, DBE, RGN, FRCN is Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Health & Biological Sciences and Head of the School of Nursing & Midwifery, University of Southampton....

    , Patricia Morgan-Webb
    Patricia Morgan-Webb
    Dame Patricia Morgan-Webb, DBE is a British educator and academic. She was the head of Clarendon College , and New College , both in Nottingham....

    , Lorna Muirhead
    Lorna Muirhead
    Dame Lorna Elizabeth Muirhead , DBE, SRN, CStJ, FRCOG is a past President of the Royal College of Midwives and, since 2006, the current Lord Lieutenant of Merseyside....

    , Mary Peters
    Mary Peters (athlete)
    Dame Mary Elizabeth Peters, DBE, DL is a former British athlete, competing mainly in the pentathlon and shot put.-Biography:Mary Peters was born in Halewood, Lancashire, but moved to Ballymena at age eleven...

    , Anne Rafferty
    Anne Rafferty
    Dame Anne Judith Rafferty DBE is a Lord Justice of Appeal.-Career:Educated at Wolverhampton Girls' High School and a graduate of the University of Sheffield, Rafferty was the first woman Chair of the Criminal Bar Association. She became a Queen's Counsel in 1990 and a Recorder the following year....

    , Marlene Robottom
    Marlene Robottom
    Dame Marlene Robottom, DBE, is a British academic and educator.The former headteacher at the Mulberry School for Girls, Tower Hamlets, London, retired in December 2005 having led Mulberry School to notable success. During her time at the school, the Mulberry School for Girls achieved Beacon,...

    , Miriam Rothschild
    Miriam Rothschild
    Dame Miriam Louisa Rothschild DBE, FRS was a British natural scientist and author with contributions to zoology, entomology, and botany.-Early life:...

    , Steve Shirley
    Steve Shirley
    Dame Stephanie "Steve" Shirley, DBE, FRA, FREng, FRSA, FBCS is a British businesswoman and philanthropist. She originally arrived in Britain as an unaccompanied Kindertransport child refugee. She was placed with foster parents and later re-united with her biological parents, but later claimed she...

    , Patricia Symmonds
    Patricia Symmonds
    Dame Olga Patricia Symmonds, GCM, DBE , best known as Patricia Symmonds, is a Barbadian politician, member of the Senate of Barbados and a former teacher....

    , Elizabeth Taylor
    Elizabeth Taylor
    Dame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age...

    , Dorothy Tutin
    Dorothy Tutin
    Dame Dorothy Tutin DBE was an English actor of stage, film, and television.An obituary in The Daily Telegraph described her as "one of the most enchanting, accomplished and intelligent leading ladies on the post-war British stage...

  • 2001: Ingrid Allen, Eileen Atkins
    Eileen Atkins
    Dame Eileen June Atkins, DBE is an English actress and occasional screenwriter.- Early life :Atkins was born in the Mothers' Hospital in Clapton, a Salvation Army women's hostel in East London...

    , The Baroness Campbell of Surbiton, Wendy Davies
    Wendy Davies
    Wendy Elizabeth Davies OBE FBA FSA FRHistS FLSW is an Emeritus Professor of History at University College, London in England.Davies studied for her BA degree and PhD degree in history at UCL. Following positions in Munich and Birmingham, she returned to UCL as a Lecturer in Medieval History...

    , Karlene Davis
    Karlene Davis
    Dame Karlene Davis, DBE is a former General Secretary of the Royal College of Midwives, Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Midwifery, Regional Representative for Europe in the International Confederation of Midwives, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, and a member of the Wellbeing...

    , Jill Ellison
    Jill Ellison
    Dame Jill Ellison, DBE is Director of Nursing, Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust. She was educated at St Margaret's School, Bushey and now heads the Nurse Directors Association ....

    , Jean Else
    Jean Else
    Jean Else, formerly Dame Jean Else DBE is an English former educator/headteacher, who garnered both acclaim and notoriety over the course of her long teaching career...

    , Julia Higgins
    Julia Higgins
    Dame Julia Stretton Higgins, DBE, FRS, FREng is Professor of Polymer Science in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemical Technology at Imperial College London...

    , Sharon Hollows
    Sharon Hollows
    Dame Sharon Hollows, DBE is an English schoolteacher and headmistress.When Hollows took on her first headship at Calverton Primary School in Newham in 1994, pupils' performance was very poor...

    , Thea King
    Thea King
    Dame Thea King DBE FRCM FGSM was a British clarinettist.Thea King was born in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, the daughter of Henry Walter Mayer King, the manager of a family engineering business, George. W. King Ltd., based in Hitchin then Stevenage, Hertfordshire, and his wife, Dorothea...

    , Sheila McKechnie
    Sheila McKechnie
    Dame Sheila Marshall McKechnie, DBE was a Scottish trade unionist, housing campaigner and consumer activist....

    , Sally Powell
    Sally Powell
    Dame Sally Ann Vickers Powell, DBE is a local councillor in Great Britain for the Labour Party, where she is deputy leader of the Local Government Association's Labour Group.-Career:...

    , Lesley Rees, Mary Richardson, Dela Smith
    Dela Smith
    Note: Do not confuse with British cooking master, Delia Smith----Dame Dela Smith, DBE has been Headteacher at Beaumont Hill Technology College since 1992. She has over 30 years experience in special education...

    , Marilyn Strathern
    Marilyn Strathern
    Dame Ann Marilyn Strathern, DBE, FBA is a British anthropologist who was Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge from 1998 until her retirement in 2009...

    , Janet Trotter
    Janet Trotter
    Dame Janet Olive Trotter, DBE is a senior administrator in higher education who helped found the University of Gloucestershire in 2001 and became its first Vice-Chancellor in the same year.-Career:...

  • 2002: Margaret Barbour
    Margaret Barbour
    Dame Margaret Barbour, DBE is a British businesswoman and philanthropist who together with her daughter Helen Barbour established the Women's Fund in 1999 to encourage and support women within Tyne & Wear and Northumberland to develop their full potential...

    , Laura Cox, Ruth Deech, Catherine Elcoat, Judith Mayhew
    Judith Mayhew
    Dame Judith Mayhew Jonas, DBE is a New Zealand-born British lawyer and academic.Born and educated in New Zealand, Judith Mayhew graduated LLM from the University of Otago, where she lectured before moving to the UK as a lecturer in law at King's College London where she set up and became Director...

    , Jessica Rawson
    Jessica Rawson
    Jessica Rawson, DBE, FBA is an English art historian, curator and academic administrator, specializing in Chinese art. After many years at the British Museum, she was Warden of Merton College, Oxford, from 1994 until her retirement in 2010...

    , Janet Ritterman, Marjorie Scardino
    Marjorie Scardino
    Dame Marjorie Morris Scardino, DBE, FRSA is the CEO of Pearson PLC. She became the first female Chief Executive of a FTSE 100 company when she was appointed CEO of Pearson in 1997...

    , Meg Taylor
    Meg Taylor
    Dame Meg Taylor DBE is a Papua New Guinean lawyer and diplomat.She received her LL.B degree from Melbourne University, Australia, and her LL.M degree from Harvard University, USA...

    , Sheila Wallis
  • 2003: Elizabeth Blackadder
    Elizabeth Blackadder
    Dame Elizabeth Violet Blackadder, DBE, RA, RSA is a Scottish painter and printmaker. She is the first woman to be elected to both the Royal Scottish Academy and the Royal Academy....

    , Yvonne Buckland, Pamela Coward
    Pamela Coward
    Dame Pamela Sarah Coward, DBE is a British educator and teacher who was created a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2003 for having transformed her school, Middleton Technology School, in Middleton, Greater Manchester....

    , Pauline Green
    Pauline Green
    Dame Pauline Green DBE is a former Labour and Co-operative Member of the European Parliament and former Leader of the Parliamentary Group of the Party of European Socialists...

    , Louise Johnson, Helen Mirren
    Helen Mirren
    Dame Helen Mirren, DBE is an English actor. She has won an Academy Award for Best Actress, four SAG Awards, four BAFTAs, three Golden Globes, four Emmy Awards, and two Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Awards.-Early life and family:...

    , Elizabeth Neville, Anna Pauffley, Julia Polak
    Julia Polak
    Dame Professor Julia Margaret Polak, DBE, FMedSci is a current head of the Centre for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine at Imperial College London, a centre for medical research she set up with Professor Larry Hench, also from Imperial College, to develop cells and tissues for...

    , Anita Roddick
    Anita Roddick
    Dame Anita Roddick, DBE was a British businesswoman, human rights activist and environmental campaigner, best known as the founder of The Body Shop, a cosmetics company producing and retailing beauty products that shaped ethical consumerism...

    , Ruth Robins
    Ruth Robins
    Dame Ruth Laura Robins, DBE, is a British educator and academic.Robins served as Headteacher of the Jews' Free School for 14 years, ending on 31 December 2007...

    , Rita Weller, Jenifer Wilson-Barnett
  • 2004: Florence Baron
    Florence Baron
    Dame Florence Jacqueline Baron, DBE , styled The Hon. Mrs Justice Baron, is a British High Court Judge.Baron was educated at Jersey College for Girls and later at St Hugh's College, Oxford. She was called to the Bar at the Middle Temple in 1976, became a QC in 1995 and was made a Recorder in 1999...

    , Enid Bibby, The Baroness Brittan of Spennithorne, Alexandra Burslem
    Alexandra Burslem
    Dame Alexandra Vivien "Sandra" Burslem, née Thornley DBE, JP, DL, FRSA is a British academic and educationalist. Born in Shanghai, China, she was the daughter of , the British Ambasador to China....

    , Hilary Cropper, Sandra Dawson
    Sandra Dawson
    Dame Sandra June Noble Dawson DBE, was Master of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge University and is KPMG Professor of Management Studies at the Judge Business School. She was also Director of the Judge Business School from 1995 to 2006...

    , Linda Dobbs
    Linda Dobbs
    Dame Linda Penelope Dobbs, DBE , styled The Hon. Mrs Justice Dobbs, was the first non-white person to be appointed to the senior judiciary of England and Wales, being appointed a high court judge in 2004....

    , Jacqueline Docherty
    Jacqueline Docherty
    Dame Jacqueline Docherty, DBE is a British nursing administrator and medical professional, who was Director of Nursing at King's College Hospital, London....

    , Jane Goodall
    Jane Goodall
    Dame Jane Morris Goodall, DBE , is a British primatologist, ethologist, anthropologist, and UN Messenger of Peace. Considered to be the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is best known for her 45-year study of social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National...

    , Elizabeth Gloster
    Elizabeth Gloster
    Dame Elizabeth Gloster, DBE , styled The Hon. Mrs Justice Gloster, is the first appointed female judge of the Commercial Court in the United Kingdom. Gloster was educated at Roedean School and Girton College, Cambridge...

    , Joan Harbison
    Joan Harbison
    Dame Joan Irene Harbison is a Northern Irish public servant and activist. She was a teacher and lecturer who served as Chief Commissioner of the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland until July 2006...

    , Pauline Harris, Patricia Hodgson
    Patricia Hodgson
    Dame Patricia Anne Hodgson, DBE is the Principal of Newnham College, Cambridge.-Biography:Following an early stint at the Conservative Party research department , Hodgson worked as a producer and journalist and was a founder-member of the distance learning team at the Open University...

    , Elisabeth Hoodless
    Elisabeth Hoodless
    Dame Elisabeth Anne Marian Frost Hoodless, DBE is the Executive Director of Community Service Volunteers , the United Kingdom's leading volunteering and training charity. She is also a former Labour councillor in North London, and a long-term Labour party member...

    , Olwen Hufton
    Olwen Hufton
    Dame Olwen H. Hufton, DBE, FBA, FRHistS is a historian of early modern Europe and a pioneer of social history and of women's history. Hufton is an expert on Early Modern, western European comparative socio-cultural history with special emphasis on gender, poverty, social relations, religion and work...

    , Deirdre Hutton
    Deirdre Hutton
    Dame Deirdre Hutton, CBE became Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority on the 1st August 2009 and was previously Chair of the Food Standards Agency until July 2009. She has served on a number of public bodies and has considerable experience of corporate governance, risk-based regulation and consumer...

    , Gillian Morgan
    Gillian Morgan
    Dame Gillian Morgan, DBE . Permanent Secretary to the Welsh Assembly Government from 1 May 2008.-Healthcare:Morgan's career has been mainly in healthcare, both in medicine and management and includes a period as Chief Executive of North and East Devon Health Authority...

    , Julia Neuberger, Denise Platt
    Denise Platt
    Dame Denise Platt, DBE, FRSA is a British civil servant. She is the Chair of the Commission for Social Care Inspection...

    , Joan Plowright
    Joan Plowright
    Joan Ann Plowright, Baroness Olivier, DBE , better known as Dame Joan Plowright, is an English actress, whose career has spanned over sixty years. Throughout her career she has won two Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award and has been nominated for an Academy Award, an Emmy, and two BAFTA Awards...

    , Jane Roberts, Marion Roe
    Marion Roe
    Dame Marion Audrey Roe, DBE is a Conservative politician in the United Kingdom.-Early life:She went to independent Bromley High School for Girls , then the independent Croydon High School...

    , Gail Ronson
    Gail Ronson
    Dame Gail Ronson, DBE is a British leading charity fundraiser and the wife of businessman Gerald Ronson. She is also an aunt by marriage to Mark, Samantha and Charlotte Ronson.She has contributed and supported the following:...

  • 2005: Carol M. Black
    Carol M. Black
    Professor Dame Carol Black DBE MD FRCP MACP FMedSci is the UK National Director for Health and Work, Chairman of the Nuffield Trust, Chairman of the Governance Board of the new Centre for Workforce Intelligence, President of the British Lung Foundation, and Pro-Chancellor of the University of Bristol...

    , Maureen Brennan
    Maureen Brennan
    Dame Maureen Brennan is headteacher at Barr Beacon Language College in Walsall, West Midlands. She took over leadership of this school in Easter 2007 after spending several years as the Principal of Hillcrest School and Community College in Netherton, West Midlands...

    , Tanni Grey-Thompson
    Tanni Grey-Thompson
    Carys Davina "Tanni" Grey-Thompson, Baroness Grey-Thompson, DBE is a Welsh athlete and TV presenter.Grey-Thompson was born with spina bifida and uses a wheelchair. She is considered to be one of the most successful disabled athletes in the UK...

    , Kelly Holmes
    Kelly Holmes
    Dame Kelly Holmes, DBE, MBE is a retired British middle distance athlete. She specialised in the 800 metres and 1500 metres events and won a gold medal for both distances at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens...

    , Carol Kidu
    Carol Kidu
    Dame Carol Kidu, Lady Kidu, DBE is an Australian-born Papua New Guinean politician. She is the only current female member of Parliament, and served as Minister for Community Development under Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare from 2002 to 2011...

    , Ellen MacArthur
    Ellen MacArthur
    Dame Ellen Patricia MacArthur, DBE is an English sailor, up until 2009, from Whatstandwell near Matlock in Derbyshire, now based in West Cowes, on the Isle of Wight. She is best known as a solo long-distance yachtswoman. On 7 February 2005 she broke the world record for the fastest solo...

    , Mary Macdonald
    Mary Macdonald
    Dame Mary Beaton Macdonald, DBE is a British schoolteacher and former headmistress who was created a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2005 for her work turning around the failing Riverside Community Primary School in North Tyneside, where she spent 13 years.-Scandal:The same...

    , Julia Macur, Sarah Mullally
    Sarah Mullally
    Dame Sarah Elisabeth Mullally, DBE began her career in nursing in 1984, at St Thomas' Hospital, having qualified from London South Bank University....

    , Gillian Pugh
    Gillian Pugh
    Dame Gillian Pugh, DBE was Chief Executive of Coram Family, England’s oldest children’s charity, until her retirement on 25 April 2005, after eight years of service....

    , Nancy Rothwell
    Nancy Rothwell
    Dame Nancy J. Rothwell, DBE, FRS is a British physiologist and academic who became the President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manchester in July 2010, having been Deputy President and Deputy Vice-Chancellor since January 2010. Dame Nancy is also a director of pharmaceuticals company...

    , Jennifer Smith
    Jennifer M. Smith
    Dame Jennifer Meredith Smith, DBE, JP, DHumL, MP was the premier of Bermuda from 1998 until 2003, the first premier who was not a member of the United Bermuda Party...

    , Caroline Swift
    Caroline Swift
    Dame Caroline Jane Swift, DBE , styled The Hon. Mrs Justice Swift, was leading counsel to the Inquiry in the Shipman Inquiry, which began in 2001....

    , Jean Thomas
    Jean Thomas (academic)
    Dame Jean Olwen Thomas, DBE, FMedSci, FLSW, FRS is Master of St Catharine's College, Cambridge.She was born in Treboeth, Swansea to John Robert and Lorna Thomas, attended Llwyn-y-Bryn High School for Girls and then studied chemistry at the University of Wales, gaining a first class B.Sc in 1964...

    , Fanny Waterman
    Fanny Waterman
    Dame Fanny Waterman, DBE is a piano teacher, and the founder, Chairman and Artistic Director of the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition. She is also president of the Harrogate International Music Fesitval.-Life:...

  • 2006: Averil Cameron
    Averil Cameron
    Dame Averil Millicent Cameron, DBE, FBA is Professor of Late Antique and Byzantine History in the University of Oxford, and was formerly the Warden of Keble College, Oxford between 1994 and 2010....

    , Liz Forgan
    Liz Forgan
    Dame Elizabeth "Liz" Anne Lucy Forgan, DBE is an English journalist and executive for radio and television.-Early life:Forgan was educated at the independent Benenden School in Kent, a girls's boarding school, and at St Hugh's College, Oxford, then an all-female college.She initially worked on...

    , Anna Hassan
    Anna Hassan
    Dame Anna Hassan, DBE, is a British educator. She is Consultant Head at Daubeney Primary School and a former Executive Head of Millfields Community School .-Millfields:...

    , Carole Jordan
    Carole Jordan
    Professor Dame Carole Jordan, DBE, FRS, FInstP, was the first ever female president of the Royal Astronomical Society. She was also only the third female recipient of its Gold Medal .-Education:Carole Jordan was educated at Harrow County Grammar School for Girls and at University College London...

    , Suzi Leather
    Suzi Leather
    Dame Susan Catherine "Suzi" Leather, DBE DL , sometimes known as Susie Leather, has been the chair of the Charity Commission since 1 August 2006. Previously she was chair of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority...

    , Julie Mellor
    Julie Mellor
    Dame Julie Thérèse Mellor, DBE was the former chair of the Equal Opportunities Commission between 1999 and 2005.Mellor is now a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers. She is a non executive board member of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and of the Green Alliance...

    , Janet Nelson, Daphne Sheldrick
    Daphne Sheldrick
    Dame Daphne Sheldrick, DBE is a Kenyan author, conservationist and expert in animal husbandry, particularly the raising and reintegrating of orphaned elephants into the wild for over 30 years....

    , Ruth Silver
    Ruth Silver
    Dame Dr. Ruth Muldoon Silver, DBE is a British educator.Ruth Silver was born in Lanarkshire, Scotland. She was the Principal of Lewisham College, was chair of the Working Men's College governing board from 2002 to 2005, and, at 2010, is the chair of The Learning and Skills Improvement Service , a...

    , Vivienne Westwood
    Vivienne Westwood
    Dame Vivienne Westwood, DBE, RDI is a British fashion designer and businesswoman, largely responsible for bringing modern punk and new wave fashions into the mainstream.-Early life:...

  • 2007: Yasmin Bevan
    Yasmin Bevan
    Dame Yasmin Bevan, DBE is the Executive Principal and Headteacher of Denbigh High School and Challney High School for Boys, both in Luton, England. Her current appointment as Executive Principal of both schools started in September 2008...

    , Jocelyn Bell Burnell
    Jocelyn Bell Burnell
    Susan Jocelyn Bell Burnell, DBE, FRS, FRAS , is a British astrophysicist. As a postgraduate student she discovered the first radio pulsars with her thesis supervisor Antony Hewish. She was president of the Institute of Physics from October 2008 until October 2010, and was interim president...

    , Marcela Contreras
    Marcela Contreras
    Dame Marcela Contreras Arriagada, DBE is a Chilean-born British leading blood expert, immunologist and university educator....

    , Mary Douglas
    Mary Douglas
    Dame Mary Douglas, DBE, FBA was a British anthropologist, known for her writings on human culture and symbolism....

    , Ann Dowling, Evelyn Glennie
    Evelyn Glennie
    Dame Evelyn Elizabeth Ann Glennie, DBE is a Scottish virtuoso percussionist. She was the first full-time solo percussionist in 20th-century western society.-Early life:Glennie was born and raised in Aberdeenshire...

    , Joan Higgins
    Joan Higgins
    Dame Joan Margaret Higgins, DBE is a British academic and educator.Higgins graduated in Social Administration from the University of York in 1971 and has held academic posts at the University of Portsmouth, University of Southampton and University of Manchester Dame Joan Margaret Higgins, DBE is a...

    , Janet Husband
    Janet Husband
    Dame Janet Elizabeth Siarey Husband, DBE, FRCR, is Emeritus Professor of Radiology at the Institute of Cancer Research. She retired from full-time clinical practice as a consultant radiologist at the NHS Foundation Trust in September 2007.-Personal life:...

    , Mary Keegan, Barbara Kelly
    Barbara Kelly (public servant)
    Dame Barbara Mary Kelly, DBE, DL , FRIAS is a Scottish civic activist. She is chairman of the Dumfries and Galloway Arts Festival, and Convener of the Crichton Foundation....

    , Emma Kirkby
    Emma Kirkby
    Dame Carolyn Emma Kirkby, DBE is an English soprano singer and one of the world's most renowned early music specialists. She attended Sherborne School For Girls in Dorset and was a classics student at Somerville College, Oxford, and an English teacher before developing a career as a soloist...

    , Ann Leslie
    Ann Leslie
    Dame Ann Elizabeth Mary Leslie DBE is a British journalist who writes for the Daily Mail.-Education:...

    , Mary Marsh
    Mary Marsh
    Dame Mary Elizabeth Marsh, FRSA was the Chief Executive of the UK National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children from 2000 to 2008.Marsh is a daughter of George Donald Falconer, by his wife, Lesley Mary née Wilson...

    , Mary Perkins
    Mary Perkins
    Dame Mary Lesley Perkins, DBE is co-founder and a senior executive of Specsavers, a leading bricks and mortar United Kingdom eyeglass company....

    , Josephine Williams
    Jo Williams
    Dame Josephine Williams, DBE, DL was the chief executive of Mencap until 1 November 2008. She is now a Commissioner of the Care Quality Commission....

  • 2008: Joan Bakewell, Christine Beasley
    Christine Beasley
    Dame Christine Joan Beasley, DBE is a British nurse and NHS healthcare administrator.-Career:Beasley began training in 1962 at the Royal London Hospital and worked as a staff nurse...

    , Hilary Blume, Lynne Brindley
    Lynne Brindley
    Dame Lynne Janie Brindley, DBE, FRSA is a British professional librarian and has been the Chief Executive of the British Library, the United Kingdom's national library, since July 2000.-Career:...

    , Kay Davies
    Kay Davies
    Dame Kay Elizabeth Davies, DBE, FRS is a British human geneticist.She is the Dr Lee's Professor of Anatomy at Oxford University and a fellow of Hertford College...

    , Margaret Drabble, Janet Finch
    Janet Finch
    Dame Janet Valerie Finch DBE, DL, AcSS is a British sociologist and academic administrator. She was Vice-Chancellor and Professor of Social Relations at Keele University, and has held a number of other public appointments in the UK...

    , Clara Furse
    Clara Furse
    Dame Clara Hedwig Frances Furse DBE was the Chief Executive of the London Stock Exchange between 2001 and May 2009, and was the first female to occupy the position. In 2005 she was ranked 19th in Fortune magazine's Most powerful women in business list.Furse was born in Canada to Dutch parents, and...

    , Eleanor King, Donna Kinnair, Monica Mason
    Monica Mason
    Dame Monica Mason DBE is a ballet dancer and has been the director of The Royal Ballet, since 2002.-Early life:Monica Margaret Mason was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1941...

    , The Baroness O'Loan of Kirkinriola
    Nuala O'Loan
    Nuala Patricia O'Loan, Baroness O'Loan, DBE is a noted public figure in Northern Ireland. She was the first Police Ombudsman in between 1999 and 2007. In July 2009, it was announced that she was to be appointed to the House of Lords. Consequently, she was raised to the peerage as Baroness O'Loan,...

    , Judith Parker, Sonia Proudman
    Sonia Proudman
    Dame Sonia Rosemary Susan Proudman, DBE , styled The Hon. Mrs Justice Proudman, is a British High Court judge.-Education:Proudman was educated at St Paul's Girls' School and Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.-Career:...

    , Fiona Reynolds
    Fiona Reynolds
    Dame Fiona Claire Reynolds, DBE is the Director-General of the National Trust. She was awarded the DBE in the New Year Honours 2008 for "services to Heritage and conservation".-Early life:...

    , Elizabeth Slade, Barbara Stocking
    Barbara Stocking
    Dame Barbara Mary Stocking, Mrs. MacInnes, DBE is Vice Chair of the SCHR and Chief Executive of . She joined the latter in 2001....

    , Mary Tanner
    Mary Tanner
    Dame Mary Elizabeth Tanner, DBE is President of the World Council of Churches. She has been a member of the WCC Faith and Order Commission since 1974, serving as its moderator from 1991 to 1998....

    , Jacqueline Wilson
    Jacqueline Wilson
    Dame Jacqueline Wilson, DBE, FRSL is an award-winning English author, known for her vast and diverse work in children's literature. Her novels have been adapted numerous times for television, and commonly deal with such challenging themes as adoption, divorce and mental illness...

  • 2009: Jenny Abramsky
    Jenny Abramsky
    Dame Jennifer Gita Abramsky, DBE is chairman of the UK's National Heritage Memorial Fund . The NHMF makes grants to preserve heritage of outstanding national importance. Until her retirement from the BBC Jenny Abramsky was its most senior woman employee; she was Director of Audio and Music...

    , Sally Davies, Elizabeth Fradd
    Elizabeth Fradd
    Dame Elizabeth Fradd, DBE, FRCN is a British nursing academic. Between 1973 and 1983 when she held a variety of registered nurse, midwife and health visitor posts, she also trained as a children’s nurse who has also managed children’s units in Nottingham and worked as a nursing officer at the...

    , Barbara Hakin, Wendy Hall
    Wendy Hall
    Dame Wendy Hall DBE, FREng, FBCS, FIET, FCGI, FRS is Professor of Computer Science at the University of Southampton, England.- Background :...

    , Anne Owers
    Anne Owers
    Dame Anne Elizabeth Owers, Mrs. Cook, née Spark, DBE is Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons. Owers is the fifth holder of the post, and was appointed in August 2001, succeeding David Ramsbotham...

    , Linda Partridge
    Linda Partridge
    Dame Linda Partridge DBE is a British geneticist, who studies the biology and genetics of ageing and age-related diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease....

    , Gail Rebuck
    Gail Rebuck
    Dame Gail Rebuck, Baroness Gould of Brookwood DBE is a British publisher, chairman and chief executive of Random House UK. She was married to Philip Gould, Lord Gould of Brookwood until his death in November 2011.-Life:...

    , Philippa Russell, Rosalind Savill
    Rosalind Savill
    Dame Rosalind Joy Savill, DBE, FSA, FBA is a British art and museum curator.An alumna of the University of Leeds, Savill was first employed at the Victoria and Albert Museum as a canteen cashier. Later she was named Museum Assistant at the , where she was appointed as Assistant to the Director in...

    , Victoria Sharp
    Victoria Sharp
    Dame Victoria Madeleine Sharp, DBE , styled The Hon. Mrs Justice Sharp, is a British judge.Educated at North London Collegiate School and the University of Bristol, Victoria Sharp was called to the Bar, Inner Temple in 1979...

    , Joan Stringer
    Joan Stringer
    Dame Joan Kathleen Stringer, DBE, FRSE, FRSA is a British political scientist and Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Edinburgh Napier University.-Education:...

    , Mitsuko Uchida
    Mitsuko Uchida
    , born 20 December 1948, is a Japanese naturalized British classical pianist.-Career:Born in Atami, a seaside town close to Tokyo, Japan, Uchida moved to Vienna, Austria, with her diplomat parents when she was twelve years old, after her father was named the Japanese ambassador to Austria...


2010s

  • 2010: Val Beral, Claire Bertschinger
    Claire Bertschinger
    Dame Claire Bertschinger DBE is a Swiss-British nurse and activist in advocacy on behalf of the suffering people in the developing world.-Biography:...

    , Monica Dacon
    Monica Dacon
    Dame Monica Jessie Dacon, née Sheen DBE, CMG is a former Saint Vincent and the Grenadines schoolteacher, educator and politician. She is the widow of parliamentarian St. Clair Dacon....

    , Athene Donald
    Athene Donald
    Dame Athene Margaret Donald, DBE, FRS is a distinguished British physicist. She is Professor of Experimental Physics in the University of Cambridge's Department of Physics, and a member of the ....

    , Ellen Eaton, Amelia Fawcett, Jacqueline Fisher, Janet Gaymer
    Janet Gaymer
    Dame Janet Marion Gaymer, DBE, QC served from January 2006 to December 2010 as a Civil Service Commissioner and Commissioner for Public Appointments, regulating ministerial appointments to designated public bodies in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.She was previously Senior Partner of Simmons...

    , Julia Goodfellow
    Julia Goodfellow
    Professor Dame Julia Mary Goodfellow, DBE, FMedSci, FInstP is Vice-Chancellor of the University of KentShe completed her undergraduate degree in physics at the University of Bristol and completed a PhD in biophysics at the Open University Research Unit in Oxford. She began her career at Birkbeck...

    , Susan Ion, Barbara Monroe, Janet Paraskeva
    Janet Paraskeva
    The Rt Hon. Dame Janet Paraskeva DBE is a British government official.She was appointed as the First Civil Service Commissioner on 1 January 2006. On 15 November 2007 Paraskeva was announced by Peter Hain, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, as first Chair of the Child Maintenance and...

    , Paula Rego
    Paula Rego
    Paula Rego is a painter born in Portugal although she is a naturalised British citizen.-Biography:Rego was born in the Portuguese capital Lisbon, the daughter of an electrical engineer who worked for the Marconi Company. Although this gave her a comfortable middle class home, the family was...

    , Alison Richard
    Alison Richard
    Dame Alison Fettes Richard, DBE, DL was the 344th Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. She was the first female Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge since the post became full-time...

    , Clare Tickell
    Clare Tickell
    Dame Clare Tickell, DBE is the Chief Executive of Action for Children. Before this position she served as:* 1997–2004 Chief Executive, Stonham Housing Association* 1992–1997 Chief Executive, Phoenix House Housing Association...

    , Marcia Twelftree, Naila Zaffar
  • 2011: Helen Alexander, Elish Angiolini, Patricia Bacon, Anne Begg
    Anne Begg
    Dame Anne Begg, DBE is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Aberdeen South since 1997...

    , Ruth Carnall, Rosemary Cramp, Antonia Fraser
    Antonia Fraser
    Lady Antonia Margaret Caroline Fraser, DBE , née Pakenham, is an Anglo-Irish author of history, novels, biographies and detective fiction, best known as Antonia Fraser...

    , Caroline Humphrey
    Caroline Humphrey
    Professor Dame Caroline Humphrey, Lady Rees of Ludlow DBE, FBA is a British anthropologist. Together with Urgunge Onon she founded the Mongolia and Inner Asia Studies Unit in 1986...

    , Susan John
    Lampton School
    Lampton School is a comprehensive secondary school, located in Hounslow, Middlesex, England.-Admissions:Lampton is a Humanities Specialist School, Leading Edge, and training school which currently has around 1,350 students on roll. Lampton borders the A4 Great West Road in Hounslow, and is next to...

    , Reena Keeble, Sally MacIntyre, Jenni Murray
    Jenni Murray
    Dame Jennifer Susan "Jenni" Murray, DBE is a British journalist and broadcaster. She attended Barnsley Girls High School and has a degree in French and Drama from Hull University...

    , Felicity Palmer
    Felicity Palmer
    Dame Felicity Joan Palmer, DBE , is an English mezzo-soprano and music professor. She sang soprano roles until 1983....

    , Indira Patel, Janet Suzman
    Janet Suzman
    Dame Janet Suzman, DBE is a South African-born-British actress and director.-Early life:Janet Suzman was born in Johannesburg to a Jewish family, the daughter of Betty and Saul Suzman, a wealthy importer of tobacco....

    , Lady Wallace of Saltaire
    Helen Wallace
    Dame Helen Sarah Wallace, Lady Wallace of Saltaire, DBE, CMG, FBA , née Rushworth, is a British expert in European Studies and, by marriage to William Wallace, Baron Wallace of Saltaire, a peeress....

    , Harriet Walter
    Harriet Walter
    Dame Harriet Mary Walter, DBE is a British actress.-Personal life:She is the niece of renowned British actor Sir Christopher Lee, as the daughter of his elder sister Xandra Lee. On her father's side she is a great-great-great-granddaughter of John Walter, founder of The TimesShe was educated at...


See also

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