Obituary: Sheila Kirkland

Published on: 20 Sep, 2026
Updated on: 20 Sep, 2026

Sheila Kirkland

By Adrian Chandler

Sheila Kirkland passed away in the Royal Surrey County Hospital on July 8 2026, aged 89 years.

She was a Guildford girl born and bred and was educated locally, including at Sandfield School in York Road. Her early life was spent in Westborough and times were not easy for the family. Her early career was spent in London.

She met her husband, Colin, in the 1950s and slowly things became more comfortable as their careers developed.

After long service as secretary to the Dean of the Cathedral, Sheila felt it was time to retire in the early 2000s. This was a period of change for Sheila as she also lost her husband.

The Conservative party was on the lookout for candidates for the 2003 election in the hope of regaining control of Guildford Borough Council.

Pamela Harding, former Mayor and President of Onslow Conservatives, persuaded Sheila to stand and following a hard campaign, Sheila was elected to Guildford Borough council for Onslow ward. The Lib Dems grabbed back the seat four years later and Sheila agreed to put her energies into chairing the branch.

She put in a lot of hard work as she also took on the role of secretary hosting many meetings at her home and fundraising events.

But council duties came calling again as Sheila was persuaded to stand for the Westborough ward for Guildford Borough council in 2015 and unexpectedly won the seat.

Sheila Kirkland (centre) was one of the three elected councillors for Westborough ward in 2015. Others pictured Elizabeth Hooper (left) and Julia McShane.

Sheila contributed much to the council, sitting on scrutiny and planning committees, task groups, involving herself in climate change evaluation and took on the role of Older Persons Champion.

She lost the Westborough seat in 2019 and began stepping back from the heavy political involvement about this time.

Sheila continued to provide voluntary help at Guildford Cathedral almost right up to her final months and the funeral on August 25 was a fitting tribute to a much loved and enthusiastic lady.