Editing Nancy Mitford (section)

==Family==
[[File:Algernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford, Vanity Fair, 1904-06-16.jpg|thumb|upright|"Bertie" Mitford, created Baron Redesdale in 1902]]
The Mitford family dates from the [[Norman conquest of England|Norman era]], when Sir John de Mitford held the [[Mitford Castle|Castle of Mitford]] in [[Northumberland]]. A later Sir John held several important public offices during the late 14th and early 15th centuries, and the family maintained a tradition of public service for many generations.<ref name=Burke282>Burke, p. 282.</ref> In the 18th century [[William Mitford]] was a leading classical historian, responsible for the definitive history of ancient Greece.<ref>Burke, p. 286.</ref><ref>{{ODNBweb |first1=W. W. |last1=Wroth |first2=J. S. (revised) |last2=Taylor |title=Mitford, William (1744–1827) |year=2004 |edition=online |id=18860 }}</ref> His great-grandson [[Bertram Freeman-Mitford, 1st Baron Redesdale|(Algernon) Bertram Mitford]], born in 1837 and known as "Bertie", was a diplomat and traveller who held minor office in [[Second Disraeli ministry|Disraeli's second ministry, from 1874 to 1880]].<ref>Acton, pp. 2–4.</ref> 

In 1874, he married Clementina, the second daughter of [[David Ogilvy, 10th Earl of Airlie]], a union that linked the Mitfords to some of Britain's most prominent aristocratic families.<ref name=Hastings2>Hastings, p. 2.</ref> Blanche Ogilvy, Clementina's elder sister, became the wife of [[Henry Hozier|Sir Henry Montague Hozier]], a soldier turned businessman. Their four children included daughters [[Clementine Churchill, Baroness Spencer-Churchill|Clementine]] ("Clemmie"), who in 1908 married the future British Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]], and Nellie, who married Bertram Romilly.<ref>Lovell, p. 25.</ref>

Both Hozier and Blanche were promiscuous, and it is generally accepted by historians and family members that Hozier was not Clemmie's father although he was registered as such.<ref>Lovell, p. 25.</ref> Blanche told her friend Lady Londonderry, shortly before Clemmie's birth, that the father of the expected child was her own brother-in-law, Bertie Mitford.<ref>Lovell, p. 533.</ref> Most historians believe that other candidates for the paternity are more likely.{{#tag:ref|Mary Soames, daughter of Clementine and Winston Churchill, considers the most likely father of Clementine to have been William George "Bay" Middleton (1846–92), a Scottish landowner, horseman and possible lover of [[Empress Elizabeth of Austria]]. Soames suggests that Bertie Mitford may have been the father of Nellie, Clementine's younger sister.<ref name=Soames>Soames, Ch. 1: "Forbears and Early Childhood"</ref>|group= n}}

Bertie Mitford's marriage produced five sons and four daughters. His career in government service ended in 1886 when, after the death of a cousin, he inherited a considerable fortune. [[Name change#Historical usage|A condition of the inheritance was that he adopt the surname]] "Freeman-Mitford". He rebuilt [[Batsford House]] in [[Gloucestershire]], the family's [[country seat]], served briefly as a [[Conservative Party (UK)|Unionist]] MP in the 1890s and otherwise devoted himself to books, writings and travel. In 1902, he was raised to the peerage as 1st Baron Redesdale, a re-creation of a title that had previously been held in the family but had lapsed in 1886.<ref>{{ODNBweb |first=Edmund |last=Gosse |first2=H. G. C. (revised) |last2=Matthew |title=Mitford, Algernon Bertram Freeman-, first Baron Redesdale (1837–1916) |year=2004 |edition=online |id=35048}}</ref>{{#tag:ref|William Mitford's brother [[John Freeman-Mitford, 1st Baron Redesdale|John Freeman-Mitford]], [[Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)|Speaker of the House of Commons]] and [[Lord Chancellor of Ireland]], had been ennobled as Baron Redesdale in 1802. The title had lapsed on the death of the first Baron's son.<ref>{{ODNBweb |first=D. S. |last=Greer |title=Mitford, John Freeman-, first Baron Redesdale (1748–1830) |origyear=2004 |year=2008 |edition=online |id=18857}}</ref><ref>{{ODNBweb |first=L.C. |last=Sanders |first2=H. C. G. (revised) |last2=Matthews |title=Mitford, John Thomas Freeman-, first earl of Redesdale (1805–1886) |origyear=2004 |year=2009 |edition=online |id=18858}}</ref>|group= n}}

===Selective Mitford family tree===
{{Further|Mitford family}}
[[File:Mitford-selective-tree1.jpg|upright=3.5|thumb|center|Chart showing some of the connections of the Mitford family, through marriages, to other leading families, including the Russells ([[Duke of Bedford|dukes of Bedford]]),<ref>{{ODNBweb |first=Jonathan |last=Parry |title=Russell, John, Viscount Amberley (1842–18769) |origyear=2004 |year=2014 |edition=online |id=24324}}</ref> the Churchills ([[Duke of Marlborough (title)|dukes of Marlborough]]) and, via [[Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy|Princess Alexandra]], the [[British royal family]].<ref name=Hastings234/> [[Deborah Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire|Deborah Mitford]] married [[Andrew Cavendish, 11th Duke of Devonshire|Andrew Cavendish]], who became the 11th [[Duke of Devonshire]].<ref>Lovell, p. 338.</ref>]]