Elizabeth Young, Lady Kennet

Elizabeth Ann Young, Lady Kennet, was born in London on 14 April 1923, the only daughter of Captain Bryan Fullerton Adams DSO (22 July 1887 – 22 September 1971),[2][3] and his first wife Audrey Marshall (12 June 1898 – 11 July 1929). When she was a small child, the family moved about with her father to his naval appointments. When he retired from the Navy, he was appointed Naval expert to the Disarmament Section of the League of Nations in Geneva. Her first school was a French school (where she became bilingual in French), her second school was the International School of Geneva ("Ecolint");[4] after that she moved to an English school further up the lane, St George's School, Clarens. She returned to England to attend Downe House, whence she won an Exhibition to Somerville College, Oxford, to read Philosophy, Politics and Economics, and was awarded a two-year War Degree. After three years in the Women's Royal Naval Service, Young worked with her future brother-in-law Peter Scott in the earliest days of the Severn Wildlife Trust at Slimbridge.

In 1948, she married the Hon Wayland Hilton Young, 2nd Baron Kennet (2 August 1923 – 7 May 2009), who inherited the title of Baron Kennet in 1960 on the death of his father, the politician Edward Hilton Young, 1st Baron Kennet.[2] His mother was the sculptor Kathleen Scott, widow of Captain Robert Falcon Scott of the Antarctic.,[2] and daughter of Canon Lloyd Stuart Bruce and his wife Jane (née Skene). Wayland and Elizabeth had one son, William Aldus (Thoby) Young, and five daughters;[5] Easter Russell, educationalist; the sculptor Emily Young; Mopsa English, educationalist; the writer Louisa Young, aka children's author Zizou Corder, and artist, writer, environmentalist and videographer Zoe Young.

Lady Kennet had twelve grandchildren and one great grandchild, and lived in London. She spent her last few years writing a new book entitled Preemptive Mourning, which will be posthumously published. She continued to draw the view from her window, compose haikus, and blog until close to the end. A collection of her poems and drawings will be produced by her descendants.

On marrying, Young began writing, starting with an article for Vogue on the Island of Giglio in 1950. She continued to write on a wide range of mostly political issues, especially on disarmament, arms control and maritime affairs, but also on other subjects such as churches in Old London Churches (John Betjeman's Book of the Year), and Italy in Northern Lazio (winner of the 1990 European Federation Tourist Press Book Prize) both co-written with Wayland Young.[6] Her book of poems Time is as Time Does was published in 1958, and was Geoffrey Grigson's Poetry Book of the Year.

Following the publication of Old London Churches, a threat to Christ Church Spitalfields led her to set up and run the Hawksmoor Committee, chaired by John Betjeman. At roughly the same time, she was asked by Arthur Koestler and Paul Ignotus to set up the Tibor Dery Committee, to promote the release of imprisoned Hungarian writers. Both committees were successful in their aims.

Young was also an active member of many boards and organisations including the Advisory Board for Redundant Churches; the Advisory Committee for the Protection of the Sea; the Royal United Services Institution'; the Royal Institute for International Affairs; Chatham House; the International Institute for Strategic Studies; as well as contributing to various ad hoc political and conservationist groups – most recently the Stonehenge Alliance which has so far successfully protected the World Heritage Site from ill-considered road schemes.

Despite being neither American nor a scientist, she was an honorary member of the Federation of American Scientists.