Rosalind Runcie

Angela Rosalind "Lindy" Runcie, Baroness Runcie (née Angela Rosalind Turner) is a formerly well-known classical pianist and the widow of Lord Robert Runcie, Archbishop of Canterbury.

Family and early life

She was a daughter of J.W. Cecil Turner, a recipient of the Military Cross. [Burke's Peerage] Her father served as the bursar of Trinity Hall, Cambridge. [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3724/is_199609/ai_n8739310 John Grigg, "A primate wrongly damned", 28 September, 1996 article of the Spectator]

Rosalind Runcie was educated at the Perse School, Cambridge and the Guildhall School of Music, London. [Carpenter, Humphrey, "Robert Runcie: The Reluctant Archbishop". Hodder & Stoughton, 1996. ISBN 0-340-57107-1] ]

Marriage and children

She married Robert Runcie on 5 September 1957. They had two children [Burke's Peerage] :

*James Runcie (born 1959). Married Marilyn Elsie Imrie. They are parents of Charlotte Susan Elizabeth Runcie.
*Rebecca Runcie (born 1962). Married T.M. Christopher Tabor. They are parents of Matthew Alexander Tabor and Edward Michael Runcie Tabor.

Activities in later life

In 1974, Michael Ramsey, Archbishop of Canterbury was scheduled to retire in November. His successor was to be appointed by Harold Wilson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. But already in April Ladbroke's, a bookmaker firm, had announced the booking of bets as to who the next Archbishop would be. Rosalind Runcie, whose husband was at the time Bishop of St Albans and considered a likely candidate, was reported by Time magazine to have disapproved of the entire process: "It's revolting to turn important church affairs into a horse race." [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,908543,00.html Time magazine, Monday April 8, 1974 articles] ] The Archbishop appointed was Donald Coggan, Archbishop of York, who Ladbroke's had considered a leading candidate.

The same year Robert Runcie was offered the position which Coggan had vacated, that of the Archbishop of York. Rosalind was reportedly set against moving from St Albans, Hertfordshire to York, North Yorkshire, resulting in her husband turning down the offer. Her husband was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury in 1980. His acceptance of the position was reportedly delayed for weeks because Rosalind was opposed to moving to Canterbury, Kent. [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3724/is_199609/ai_n8739310 John Grigg, "A primate wrongly damned", 28 September, 1996 article of the Spectator]

Rosalind continued giving piano recitals in both the United Kingdom and the United States. According to an 1983 article of the Wrexham Evening Leader, Rosalind Runcie had raised over 60,000 pound sterlings for charity through her recitals. [ [http://www.chestereveningleader.co.uk/12174/Headlines-of-the-past.3702869.jp Wrexham Evening Leader, January 21 1983 article "Archbishop's wife"] ] Lady Runcie is interested in gardening and redesigned the gardens at Lambeth Palace (the London base of the Archbishop of Canterbury) in 1986. [Carpenter, Humphrey, "Robert Runcie: The Reluctant Archbishop". Hodder & Stoughton, 1996. ISBN 0-340-57107-1] ]

During the 1980s, the Early Diagnostic Unit for breast cancer of the The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust was threated with closure. Rosalind Runcie and June Kenton, owner of the Rigby & Peller shop which has received a Royal Warrant for custom-making the brassieres of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, organized a petition for its continued existence, gathering thousands of signatures. Their petition was delivered to Norman Fowler, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (term 14 September, 1981 - 13 June, 1987) who withdrew the notice of closure. [ [http://www.rigbyandpeller.com/breast-cancer-awareness/index.aspx Rigby and Peller, London "Breast Cancer Awareness"] ] [ [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/womenfamily.html?in_article_id=512380&in_page_id=1799 Angela Brooks, "I spent years fitting bras for breast cancer patients. When I fell victim I knew I'd never have an implant", 5 February, 2008 article about June Kenton] ]

In 1987, Rosalind was featured in articles of the Daily Star, a daily British tabloid newspaper. She took legal actions against the publisher under the English defamation law. The case reportedly concluded with a settlement in her favor. [ [http://www.caslon.com.au/defamationprofile7.htm Caslon Analytics defamation profile, "Safra, Amex and Runcie" cases] ] In 1988, Rosalind was named Honorary President of the Anglo-Armenian Association. [ [http://www.agbu.org/publications/article.asp?A_ID=243 David Zenian, The Corridors of British political life", 3 January 2003 article] ]

Lady Runcie now resides in St Albans (in which city she had lived in the 1970s during her husband's time as Bishop of St Albans) and teaches piano privately and at St Albans School and St Albans High School for Girls. [Carpenter, Humphrey, "Robert Runcie: The Reluctant Archbishop". Hodder & Stoughton, 1996. ISBN 0-340-57107-1] ]

References

* Carpenter, Humphrey, "Robert Runcie: The Reluctant Archbishop". Hodder & Stoughton, 1996. ISBN 0-340-57107-1.

External links

* [http://www.thepeerage.com/p23943.htm#i239423 Her profile in Peerage.com]
* [http://www.caslon.com.au/defamationprofile7.htm Caslon Analytics defamation profile, listing her case against the Daily Star]
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,908543,00.html Time news articles of April 8, 1974 mentioning a statement by her]