Violet Bonham Carter

Helen Violet Bonham Carter, Baroness Asquith of Yarnbury, DBE (15 April 1887 – 19 February 1969), known until her marriage as Violet Asquith, was a British politician and diarist. She was the daughter of H. H. Asquith, Prime Minister from 1908 to 1916, and she was known as Lady Violet, as a courtesy title, from her father's elevation to the peerage as Earl of Oxford and Asquith in 1925. Later she became active in Liberal politics herself, and was a leading opponent of appeasement. She stood for Parliament and became a life peer.

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The Right Honourable The Baroness Asquith of Yarnbury DBE
Violet Bonham Carter, 1915
President of the Liberal Party
In office 1945–1947
Preceded by	James Meston
Succeeded by	Isaac Foot
President of the Women's Liberal Federation
In office 1923–1925
Preceded by	Viscountess Cowdray
Succeeded by	Margaret Wintringham
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal
In office 21 December 1964 – 19 February 1969 Life Peerage
Personal details
Born	Helen Violet Asquith (1887-04-15)15 April 1887 Hampstead, London, England[1]
Died	19 February 1969(1969-02-19) (aged 81) London, England
Cause of death	Myocardial infarction
Resting place	St Andrew's Church, Mells
Political party	Liberal
Spouse	Sir Maurice Bonham Carter ​ ​ (m. 1915; died 1960)​
Children	Hon. Helen Bonham Carter Mark Bonham Carter, Baron Bonham Carter of Yarnbury Hon. Raymond Bonham Carter Laura, Baroness Grimond of Firth
Parents	H. H. Asquith Helen Kelsall Melland
Relatives	Helena Bonham Carter (granddaughter) Adam Ridley (grandson) Jane Bonham Carter, Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury (granddaughter)

She was also involved in arts and literature. Her diaries cover her father's premiership before and during the First World War and continue until the 1960s. She was Sir Winston Churchill's closest female friend, apart from his wife, and her grandchildren include the actress Helena Bonham Carter.