Bridget Cracroft-Eley

Bridget Katharine Cracroft-Eley CVO JP (29 October 1933 – 29 August 2008)[1] was a British secretary, farmer and magistrate.

Born in Lincolnshire, she was the daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Weston Cracroft-Amcotts and his wife Rhona Clifton-Brown, daughter of Edward Clifton-Brown.[1] In 1995, she received an honorary doctorate from De Montfort University and in 2003 from the University of Lincoln.[2]

Cracroft-Eley was appointed High Sheriff of Lincolnshire for 1989[3] and served as justice of the peace of that county.[1] She was appointed the first female Lord Lieutenant of Lincolnshire in 1995, an office she held until her death.[4] In 1997, she became High Steward of Lincoln Cathedral.[5]

On 31 October 1959, she married Robert Peel Charles Eley (1931-1996), son of Charles Ryves Maxwell Eley.[1] They had two children, one son and one daughter.[5] Cracroft-Eley became a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) in the 2008 New Year Honours.[4] She died in August of that year at her home in Hackthorn, aged 74, of a brain tumour.[5]