Young, Baroness (1926-2002), a British Conservative Party politician, became the first woman to lead the House of Lords. She served in this position from 1981 to 1983. She was also Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in 1981 and 1982 and Lord Privy Seal in 1982 and 1983. She was a minister of state in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 1983 to 1987.
Baroness Young was born Janet Mary Baker on Oct. 23, 1926. She was educated in England and the United States and graduated from Oxford University. In 1950, she married Geoffrey Tyndale Young. She was made a life peer in 1971. From 1972 to 1973, she was Baroness in Waiting. As such, she was responsible for organizing members in the House of Lords. In 1973 and 1974, she was parliamentary undersecretary of state in the Department of the Environment. She was a minister of state in the Department of Education and Science from 1979 to 1981. Baroness Young died on Sept. 6, 2002.
