Barbara Lewis Shenfield

Dame Barbara Estelle Shenfield (née Farrow, later Mrs Lewis; 9 March 1919 – 17 June 2004) was a British academic and Liberal Party politician.

Born in Smethwick, Staffordshire to George and Jane Farrow, of Bearwood, she attended Langley High School, Worcester and the University of Birmingham, where she received Honors in Social and Political Science, graduating in three years.

In 1959, after a three-year break, she worked as a Lecturer at the Department of Economics and Social Studies, Bedford College, London University, until 1965.

She was Chairman of the Women's Royal Voluntary Service from 1981 to 1988, in recognition of which she was created Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1986.

Among her publications were: In 1951, ten years after the death of her first husband, she married Birmingham lecturer Arthur Shenfield (died 1990).

[1] By 1955, Arthur Shenfield had cut his ties with the Liberal Party to become economic director at the Federation of British Industries.