OPPENHEIMER, Lady (Laetitia Helen nee LUCAS-TOOTH) 1926-2022
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She was d of Sir Hugh Vere Huntly Duff MUNRO-LUCAS-TOOTH 1st Bt 1903-85 and Laetitia Florence 1903-78 d of Sir John Ritchie FINDLAY of Aberlour 1st Bt 1866-1930 and Harriet Jane BACKHOUSE 1880-1954 d of Sir Jonathan Edmund BACKHOUSE 1st Bt 1849-1918 and Florence 1845-1902 d of Sir John SALUSBURY-TRELAWYN 9th Bt 1816-85 and gd of Sir William LEMON 1st Bt 1748-1824. She m 1947 Sir Michael Bernard Grenville OPPENHEIMER 3rd & last Bt 1924-2020 s of Sir Michael OPPENHEIMER 2nd Bt 1892-1933 and Caroline Magdalen 1899-1971 d of Sir Robert Grenville HARVEY 2nd Bt 1856-1931 and Emily Blanch MURRAY 1872-1935 d of 1st Viscount ELIBANK (who was also a Baronet!) 1840-1927 , and had three daus as above.
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Sir Robert Lucas, 1904 LUCAS-TOOTH, cr Baronet 1906 (7 Dec 1844-19 Feb 1915); m.2 Jan 1873 Helen Tooth (d.17 Aug 1942)
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Beatrice Maude Lucas Lucas-Tooth, d.25 Jun 1944; m.24 Apr 1901 Hugh Munro Warrand (8 Jul 1870-11 Jun 1935)
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Sir Hugh Vere Huntly Duff WARRAND, 1920 LUCAS-TOOTH, 1965 MUNRO-LUCAS-TOOTH OF TEANANICH [this last for himself only], cr Baronet 1 Dec 1920 [with remainder to the heirs male of the body of his mother] (13 Jan 1903-18 Nov 1985); m.10 Sep 1925 Laetitia Florence (1904-5 Jul 1978), dau of Sir John Findlay, Bt.
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Laetitia Helen Lucas-Tooth (30 Dec 1926-6 Apr 2022); m.12 Jul 1947 Sir Michael Bernard Grenville Oppenheimer, 3rd Bt. (d.17 Apr 2020)
colinp
Despite the modern enthusiasm for sex and relationships, she said, the Church exists also for ‘the awkward, the untypical, the solitary’
Lady Oppenheimer, who has died aged 95, was a distinguished moral and philosophical theologian, with a particular interest in the ethics pertaining to personal relationships; her contributions to debates on marriage law in the second half of the 20th century were both significant and influential.
Helen Oppenheimer was only 37 when appointed by the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Michael Ramsey, to a working group on the law of marriage and divorce. The group’s ground-breaking report, Putting Asunder – A Divorce Law for Contemporary Society, published in 1966, explored the possibility of allowing applications for divorce to be tried on the grounds of the breakdown of a relationship as distinct from what was then termed “matrimonial offence”, mainly adultery....
She was born Laetitia Helen Lucas-Tooth on December 30 1926, the daughter of Sir Hugh Lucas-Tooth, 1st Bt, and Laetitia Lucas-Tooth. From Cheltenham Ladies’ College she gained a scholarship to Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, where she read PPE. After graduation, she continued to study for her BPhil.
It was during this time that she met and, in 1947, married Sir Michael Oppenheimer, 3rd Bt. His grandfather was a South African-British diamond merchant who had been awarded the baronetcy in recognition of his charitable work with disabled soldiers. Michael himself served in the Second World War with the South African Artillery before going up to Christ Church, Oxford. After attaining MA and BLitt degrees, he went on to lecture in politics at Lincoln and Magdalen colleges....
She was invited to preach the University Sermon at Oxford in 1979 and in 1993 was awarded an honorary Lambeth DD....
Lady Oppenheimer and her husband, who predeceased her in 2020 after 73 years of marriage, were long-time residents of Jersey. She is survived by their three daughters.
Lady Oppenheimer, born December 30 1926, died April 6 2022