Patricia Hornsby-Smith, Baroness Hornsby-Smith
Politician; life peer (1914-1985)
Margaret Patricia Hornsby-Smith, Baroness Hornsby-Smith, (17 March 1914 – 3 July 1985) was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom.
Early life and education
Margaret Patricia Hornsby-Smith was born on 17 March 1914 in East Sheen, the second child and only daughter of shopkeeper Frederick Charles Hornsby-Smith, a saddle dealer and master umbrella maker, and his wife, Ellen (née Minter). She was educated at the local elementary school, and at Richmond County School for Girls. After leaving school she worked as a private secretary for several firms and for an employers' federation. Her interest in politics was established early and she joined the Junior Imperial League at the age of sixteen. The following year she was invited to join the Conservative Party's supporting team of speakers for the 1931 election campaign.
During the war she undertook voluntary work. In 1941 she took a job in the civil service as Principal Private Secretary to Lord Selborne, the minister of economic warfare, a post she held until the end of the war.
Political career
Her political career took off after the war. She was elected for a term on Barnes council where she served from 1945 – 1949.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Patricia Hornsby-Smith, Baroness Hornsby-Smith” as politician; life peer (1914-1985). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as politician; life peer (1914-1985). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7145639. VIAF identifies the subject as 305210572. The Library of Congress control number is no2013095806. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1914, 1985, 1931 and 1941.
Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Patricia Hornsby-Smith, Baroness Hornsby-Smith”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Patricia Hornsby-Smith, Baroness Hornsby-Smith primary sources, Patricia Hornsby-Smith, Baroness Hornsby-Smith archive and Patricia research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Patricia Hornsby-Smith, Baroness Hornsby-Smith”?
- Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
- How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Patricia Hornsby-Smith, Baroness Hornsby-Smith” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.