Lady Luke of Pavenham (October 1879 - 1 August 1941) was the first County Commissioner for Bedfordshire Girl Guides, between 1916 and 1937. She was a recipient of the Silver Fish Award, the Girl Guiding movement’s highest adult honour.
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Personal life
Born Hon. Edith Laura St. John, she was the seventh of twelve children born to Beauchamp St John, 17th Baron St John of Bletso and Helen Charlotte St John née Thornton. She grew up in Melchbourne Park and played the organ at the village church from the age of 13 until she was married.
She married George Lawson Johnston, 1st Baron Luke (1873-1943) in 1902. Their London home was in Portman Square and their Bedfordshire home was Pavenham Bury. George was British National Chair of the International Chamber of Commerce which necessitated a significant amount of travel. By 1904, Edith had visited South Africa, Canada, USA, South America and Australia. She made 17 trips to Argentina. In 1922 they built a house, called ‘’Pavenham’’, in Santa Fe, Argentina. A 1932 newspaper article reported that she had travelled 300,000 miles.
She and Johnston had four daughters and two sons. Her daughter Margaret married James Pitman. Her son Hugh married Audrey (Pearl) Lawson-Johnston, the last survivor of the sinking of the RMS Lusitania in 1915. She held “original but common-sense views on education and the bringing-up of children”, blaming “modern parents for allowing their debutante daughters to become powdered, painted and blasé young women, dazzled with the gaiety of society but bored with life.” She believed in the “first principles of the Christian faith – to help and think of others and live a life of usefulness.”