Michael Pakenham Michael Pakenham Sir Michael Aidan Pakenham, (born 3 November 1943) is a British retired diplomat. Pakenham is the third son of Labour politician Frank Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford, and Elizabeth Harman. He is the brother of Thomas Pakenham, Lady Antonia Fraser and Lady Rachel Billington. He was educated at Ampleforth College and Trinity College, Cambridge, and was an exchange fellow at Rice University. Pakenham was briefly a reporter for the "Washington Post" before joining the Foreign Office in 1965. He served in Nairobi and Warsaw before being seconded to the Cabinet Office 1971–74 as Assistant Private Secretary, then Private
Elizabeth Pakenham, 1st Countess of Longford Longford barony held by Elizabeth's great-great-uncles, Francis Aungier, 1st Earl of Longford, and Ambrose Aungier, 2nd Earl of Longford, of the first creation, was revived when her husband Thomas Pakenham was created Baron Longford in the Peerage of Ireland. In 1785 the earldom was revived and Lady Longford was created Countess of Longford in her own right. The family seats were Pakenham Hall in County Westmeath and Longford Castle in County Longford (demolished in 1972). The Countess of Longford survived her husband, who died in April 1766, aged 52; his title was inherited by their eldest son, Edward. When the