Caroline Gathorne-Hardy, Countess of Cranbrook OBE (née Jarvis; 18 December 1935) is an English aristocrat and campaigner on food quality issues. She is the wife of Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 5th Earl of Cranbrook.
She was born in London in 1935, [1] [2] the daughter of Colonel Ralph George Edward Jarvis of Doddington Hall, Lincolnshire and his wife, Antonia Mary Hilda Meade. [3] Both of her parents were in MI6, and she moved to Portugal as a girl. [1]
She married the Earl of Cranbrook on 9 May 1967, and took up the married name Caroline Gathorne-Hardy. Their early home was in a jungle area of Malaya, where her husband worked as a zoologist. [2] After three years, they took up residence at his family seat, Great Glemham House, Great Glemham, Saxmundham, Suffolk. [2] She ran the estate farm and raised their three children. [2] When her husband inherited the earldom of Cranbrook from his father, on 22 November 1978, she became a Countess. [2]
She was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2004, for services to the red meat industry, after campaigning to save local abattoirs. [2] [4] She is president of the Aldeburgh Food and Drink Festival. [2]
Lady Cranbrook appeared as a castaway on the BBC Radio programme Desert Island Discs on 31 May 2009, [1] and received The Oldie's 'Campaigner of the Year' Award in 2010. [2] The then Prince of Wales called her "the doughtiest fighter for good sense in agriculture". [2]
She and her husband have three children: [3]
Caroline Gathorne-Hardy, Countess of Cranbrook OBE (née Jarvis; 18 December 1935) is an English aristocrat and campaigner on food quality issues. She is the wife of Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 5th Earl of Cranbrook.
She was born in London in 1935, [1] [2] the daughter of Colonel Ralph George Edward Jarvis of Doddington Hall, Lincolnshire and his wife, Antonia Mary Hilda Meade. [3] Both of her parents were in MI6, and she moved to Portugal as a girl. [1]
She married the Earl of Cranbrook on 9 May 1967, and took up the married name Caroline Gathorne-Hardy. Their early home was in a jungle area of Malaya, where her husband worked as a zoologist. [2] After three years, they took up residence at his family seat, Great Glemham House, Great Glemham, Saxmundham, Suffolk. [2] She ran the estate farm and raised their three children. [2] When her husband inherited the earldom of Cranbrook from his father, on 22 November 1978, she became a Countess. [2]
She was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2004, for services to the red meat industry, after campaigning to save local abattoirs. [2] [4] She is president of the Aldeburgh Food and Drink Festival. [2]
Lady Cranbrook appeared as a castaway on the BBC Radio programme Desert Island Discs on 31 May 2009, [1] and received The Oldie's 'Campaigner of the Year' Award in 2010. [2] The then Prince of Wales called her "the doughtiest fighter for good sense in agriculture". [2]
She and her husband have three children: [3]