{{Short description|English schoolteacher and magistrate (born 1951)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Use British English|date=September 2025}}
{{Infobox officeholder | name = Dame Susan Snowdon | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|DCVO}} | image = Susan Snowdon.jpg | image_size = | caption = Snowdon in 2022 | order = | office = Lord Lieutenant of Durham | term_start = 2013 | term_end = | monarch = Elizabeth II <br /> Charles III | predecessor = Sir Paul Nicholson | successor = <!-- Personal --> | birth_name = <!-- only use if different from name --> | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=y|1 April 1951}} | birth_place = | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} --> | death_place = | citizenship = <!-- use only when necessary per WP:INFONAT --> | spouse = Keith Snowdon | profession = Teacher }}
'''Dame Susan Snowdon''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|sep=,|DCVO}} (born 1 April 1951) is a former teacher and magistrate. She was the Lord Lieutenant of Durham from 2013 to 2026 and was the first woman to hold that post.<ref name="The Journal - Sue Snowdon becomes first female Lord Lieutenant of County Durham">{{cite news|title=Sue Snowdon becomes first female Lord Lieutenant of County Durham|url=http://www.thejournal.co.uk/news/north-east-news/sue-snowdon-becomes-first-female-4394898|accessdate=18 September 2013|newspaper=The Journal|date=2 March 2013}}</ref><ref name="The Northern Echo - Battling back from the brink">{{cite news|last=Leatherdale|first=Duncan|title=Battling back from the brink|url=http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/features/leader/10276912.Battling_back_from_the_brink/|accessdate=18 September 2013|newspaper=The Northern Echo|date=8 March 2013}}</ref>
==Career== Snowdon was born on 1 April 1951; her father was a shop-keeper.<ref name="The Northern Echo - Battling back from the brink" /> She was a primary school teacher in Chilton and Ferryhill, County Durham. In 1989, in order to advance her career and become a deputy head teacher, she underwent a medical. This showed that her aortic valve "had completely perished" and she required immediate surgery to prevent her death by Christmas of that year. The surgery, in which a metal valve was successfully fitted, saved her life. However, such a major health issue meant that she could no longer teach.<ref name="The Northern Echo - Battling back from the brink" />
On 3 August 2006, she was commissioned a Deputy Lieutenant (DL) in the County of Durham.<ref name="LG 18 September 2006">{{London Gazette |issue=58100 |date=18 September 2006 |page=12687 }}</ref> On 8 March 2013, she was appointed Lord Lieutenant of County Durham. She succeeded Sir Paul Nicholson to become the county's 30th Lord Lieutenant.<ref name="The Northern Echo - Battling back from the brink" /> Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, she remained in her position but as the King’s representative in county Durham.
Snowdon was appointed a Dame Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (DCVO) in the 2025 Birthday Honours.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=64759|date=14 June 2025|page=B4|supp=y}}</ref>
==Personal life== She is married to Keith Snowdon, a farmer.<ref name="The Journal - Sue Snowdon becomes first female Lord Lieutenant of County Durham" /><ref name="GOV - Lord Lieutenant for County Durham">{{cite web|title=Lord Lieutenant for County Durham|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/lord-lieutenant-for-county-durham|work=Press release|publisher=Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street|accessdate=18 September 2013|date=18 December 2012}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-hon}} {{s-bef | before=Paul Nicholson }} {{s-ttl | title=Lord Lieutenant of Durham | years =2013 – 2026}} {{s-aft | after=Mike Butterwick, CBE}} {{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Snowdon, Susan}} Category:1951 births Category:Lord-lieutenants of Durham Category:Schoolteachers from County Durham Category:Living people Category:Dames Commander of the Royal Victorian Order