Mervyn Pike, Baroness Pike

The Baroness Pike
The Right Honourable; The Baroness Pike; DBE
	Pike in 1959
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Home Affairs
	In office; 1 March 1963 – 16 October 1964
Prime Minister	Harold Macmillan; Alec Douglas-Home;
Preceded by	Charles Fletcher-Cooke
Succeeded by	George Thomas
Assistant Postmaster-General
	In office; 22 October 1959 – 1 March 1963
Prime Minister	Harold Macmillan
Preceded by	Kenneth Thompson
Succeeded by	Ray Mawby
Member of the House of Lords; Lord Temporal
	In office; 15 May 1974 – 11 January 2004; Life peerage
Member of Parliament; for Melton
	In office; 19 December 1956 – 8 February 1974
Preceded by	Anthony Nutting
Succeeded by	Michael Latham
Personal details
Born	Irene Mervyn Parnicott Pike; 16 September 1918
Died	11 January 2004 (aged 85)
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservative
Alma mater	University of Reading
Military service
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch/service	Royal Air Force
Unit	Women's Auxiliary Air Force

Irene Mervyn Parnicott Pike, Baroness Pike, DBE (16 September 1918 – 11 January 2004) was a British Conservative politician. The name by which she came to be known, Mervyn, had been the name of her father's best friend, who was to have been her godfather; when he was killed in action, a few days before she was born, her father decided that the baby would take his name.[1]

Early life

Born into a family of Castleford pottery manufacturers, she was educated at Hunmanby Hall (East Riding of Yorkshire) and at Reading University and served with the Women's Auxiliary Air Force during World War II. She was managing director of a firm of pottery manufacturers.[1]

Career

Pike contested Pontefract in 1951 and Leek in 1955 without success. She was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Melton at a by-election in December 1956. She held several positions including Assistant Postmaster-General from 1959 to 1963, joint Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department from 1963 to 1964 and Chair of the WRVS from 1974 to 1981 and the Broadcasting Complaints Commission from 1981 to 1985.

Awards

Pike was created a life peer on 15 May 1974 as Baroness Pike, of Melton in the County of Leicestershire,[2] and was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 1981 Birthday Honours.[3]

Coat of arms of Mervyn Pike, Baroness Pike
	Escutcheon Or on a cross Gules a churchwarden's staff headed of a mitre Or on a chief Sable a castleford fine stoneware teapot Proper. Supporters On either side a fox that on the dexter gorged with a wreath of ivy and that on the sinister with a wreath of rosemary Proper and each resting the interior hind foot on a portcullis Or. Compartment A grassy mount Proper. Motto Faithful Endeavour Orders Order of the British Empire [4]

Death

She died in 2004, unmarried, aged 85, from natural causes.

References

Roth, Andrew (16 January 2004). "Obituary: Baroness Pike of Melton". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
"No. 46292". The London Gazette. 17 May 1974. p. 6033.
"No. 48639". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 June 1981. p. 8.
Debrett's Peerage & Baronetage. 2000.

External links

Announcement of her death at the House of Lords – House of Lords minutes of proceedings, 13 January 2004

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Anthony Nutting	Member of Parliament for Melton 1956 – February 1974	Succeeded by Michael Latham

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[guardianobit-1] Roth, Andrew (16 January 2004). "Obituary: Baroness Pike of Melton". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 May 2015.

[2] "No. 46292". The London Gazette. 17 May 1974. p. 6033.

[3] "No. 48639". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 June 1981. p. 8.

[4] Debrett's Peerage & Baronetage. 2000.