Norma Major
Template:Short description Template:EngvarB Template:Use dmy dates Script error: No such module "infobox".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Template:Main otherScript error: No such module "Check for clobbered parameters".Template:Wikidata image Dame Norma Christina Elizabeth, Lady Major Template:Post-nominals (Template:Née, formerly Johnson; born 12 February 1942) is an English philanthropist who is married to former British prime minister Sir John Major.
Early life
Norma Christina Elizabeth Wagstaff is the daughter of Norman Reuel Wagstaff, a Lieutenant in the Royal Artillery, and Edith Georgina Wagstaff (née Johnson),[1] a former umbrella saleswoman. She was born in Shropshire while her father was stationed there during World War II. He was killed in a motorcycle accident a few days after the end of the Second World War, when Norma was just three years old, and her mother subsequently reverted to using her maiden name after becoming estranged from her in-laws, so she was known as Norma Johnson growing up.
Major was educated at a boarding school in Bexhill-on-Sea, Oakfield Preparatory School in Dulwich, and Peckham School for Girls where she was head girl. She was a skilled dressmaker.[2] She was also a member of the Young Conservatives.[2]
Marriage
At a Conservative Party meeting during the campaign for the 1970 Greater London Council elections, she was introduced to John Major.[2] The couple married on 3 October 1970.
They have a son together, James Major,[3] and a daughter, Elizabeth Major.[4] She kept a low profile during her husband's premiership (1990–1997), doing charity work and writing two books, Joan Sutherland: The Authorised Biography (1994) and Chequers: The Prime Minister's Country House and its History (1997).[2]
Following the release of the Diaries (1987-1992), of Edwina Currie, (released in 2002) a former junior minister in the Thatcher government at the same time as her husband's tenure as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, it was revealed to the public that the Majors had experienced a period of infidelity, as there had been a workplace relationship between Major and Currie whilst both were married. It was later clarified that Norma had known of the affair long before the release of the book. [5]
Charity work
In June 1999, Major was created a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 1999 Birthday Honours, in recognition of her charity work.[6] Major is a supporter of Mencap,[2] and she has been credited with helping to raise £6,000,000 for the charity.[7]
References
Template:S-endTemplate:Spouses of the Prime Minister of the United KingdomTemplate:John MajorTemplate:Authority control- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b c d e Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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- ↑ "Major and Currie had four-year affair" Template:Webarchive, BBC News Online, 28 September 2002.
- ↑ Template:London Gazette
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- Pages with script errors
- 1942 births
- Living people
- 20th-century English biographers
- 20th-century English women writers
- Alumni of London South Bank University
- English philanthropists
- Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire
- Spouses of prime ministers of the United Kingdom
- Wives of knights
- English women biographers