Frances D'Souza, Baroness D'Souza

The Right Honourable The Baroness D'Souza CMG, PC
Lord Speaker
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 September 2011
Preceded by	Baroness Hayman
Convenor of the Crossbench Peers
In office 6 November 2007 – 31 August 2011
Preceded by	The Lord Williamson of Horton
Succeeded by	The Lord Laming
Member of the House of Lords
Incumbent
Assumed office 2004
Personal details
Born	Frances Gertrude Claire Russell 18 April 1944 (1944-04-18) Sussex, England, UK
Nationality	British
Political party	Non-aligned
Other political affiliations	Crossbench (2004–11)
Spouse(s)	Stanislaus Joseph D'Souza (1959-1974, 2003-present) Martin John Griffiths (1985-1993)
Children	2
Committees	Procedure Committee (2005–present) Selection (2007–11) Privileges (2007-11) House (2007–present) Liaison (2007–11) Administration and Works (2007–11)

Frances Gertrude Claire D'Souza, Baroness D'Souza, CMG, PC (born 18 April 1944) is a British scientist and life peer in the House of Lords. She is currently Lord Speaker, having taken office on 1 September 2011.

Biography

Frances Gertrude Claire Russell, the daughter of Robert Anthony Gilbert Russell, of Ardingly, Sussex and Pauline Russell (née Parmet) was educated at St Mary's School, Princethorpe and went to University College, London to read Anthropology, graduating BSc in 1970. She subsequently undertook further study at Lady Margaret Hall, obtaining the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (D.Phil.) in 1976 from the University of Oxford.

D'Souza worked for the Nuffield Institute of Comparative Medicine from 1973-77, Oxford Polytechnic (now Oxford Brookes University) from 1977-80 and was an independent research consultant for the UN from 1985-88.

In 1959 she married Dr Stanley D'Souza (of Portuguese descent). They had two children together but divorced in 1974. Between 1985-93 she was married to Martin John Griffiths. In 2003 she re-married her first husband.^{[citation needed]}

D'Souza's eldest daughter is the journalist Christa D'Souza.

Lady D'Souza was invested as a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1999.^{[citation needed]}

Lords career

D'Souza was created a life peer as Baroness D'Souza, of Wychwood in the County of Oxfordshire on 1 July 2004. She previously sat as a Crossbencher in the House of Lords, where she was the Convenor of the Crossbench Peers from 2007 to 2011. Her attendance in the Lords is "well above average".

On 13 July 2011, D'Souza was elected Lord Speaker of the House of Lords and began her new role on September 2011.

Offices held

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by The Baroness Hayman	Lord Speaker	Incumbent
Preceded by The Lord Williamson of Horton	Convenor of the Crossbench Peers 2007–2011	Succeeded by The Lord Laming
Order of precedence in England and Wales and in Northern Ireland
Preceded by Princess Alexandra, The Hon Lady Ogilvy	Ladies Lord Speaker	Succeeded by The Dowager Duchess of Norfolk
Order of precedence in Scotland
Preceded by Ambassadors and High Commissioners to the United Kingdom	Ladies Lord Speaker	Succeeded by Tricia Marwick MSP (Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament)

References

• "DodOnline". http://www.dodonline.co.uk/engine.asp?lev1=4&lev2=38&menu=81&biog=y&id=32305. Retrieved 19 October 2006. 

External links

• www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk