Barbara Freyberg, Baroness Freyberg

Lady Barbara Freyberg, Baroness Freyberg, (née Jekyll, formerly McLaren; 14 June 1887 – 24 September 1973) GBE, DStJ was a British peeress and member of the "Tuis", Women's War Service Auxiliary during World War II.

Life Born as Barbara Jekyll, she was a daughter of Colonel Sir Herbert Jekyll, KCMG and his wife, Dame Agnes Graham Jekyll, DBE.

On 14 June 1922 Barbara married her second husband, Bernard Cyril Freyberg (later Baron Freyberg), at St. Martha-on-the-Hill, near Guildford, Surrey. They had one son: Paul Richard Freyberg, 2nd Baron Freyberg (27 May 1923 – 26 May 1993).

World War II

Lady Freyberg made a number of significant contributions during the Second World War, working with the Welfare Branch of the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force. She was a member of the New Zealand Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, leading the 'Tuis' who managed the New Zealand Forces club. The Club and the Tuis provided a place of solace and feeling of home for all New Zealand troops stationed across London, the Middle East and Italy. She also supported wounded soldiers in Cairo and kept families back in New Zealand informed through letters of condolence.

Death She died in 1973 at 65 Chelsea Square, London SW3. She was interred in the churchyard of Saint Martha on the Hill in Guildford, Surrey, alongside her second husband (and later her son).