Editing Nancy Mitford (section)

==Childhood==
===Parentage===
Nancy Mitford's father, [[David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale|David Bertram Ogilvy Freeman-Mitford]], was Bertie Mitford's second son, born on 13 March 1878. After several years as a tea planter in [[Sri Lanka|Ceylon]] he fought in the [[Second Anglo-Boer War|Boer War]] of 1899–1902 and was severely wounded.<ref>Hastings, pp. 4–5.</ref> In 1903 he became engaged to Sydney Bowles, the elder daughter of [[Thomas Gibson Bowles]], known as "Tap", a journalist, editor and magazine proprietor whose publications included ''[[Vanity Fair (British magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'' and ''[[The Lady (magazine)|The Lady]]''.<ref>{{ODNBweb |first=Alfred |last=Cochrane |first2=H. C. G. (revised) |last2=Matthew |title=Bowles, Thomas Gibson (1842–1922) |origyear=2004 |year=2008 |edition=online |id=32005}}</ref> The couple were married on 16 February 1904, after which they rented a house in Graham Street in West London.<ref>Hastings, p. 5.</ref> Bowles provided his son-in-law with a job, as business manager of ''The Lady'' magazine. David had little interest in reading and knew nothing of business; thus, according to Nancy Mitford's biographer [[Selina Hastings (writer)|Selina Hastings]], "a less congenial post&nbsp;... could hardly have been imagined".<ref>Hastings, p. 6.</ref> He remained in this position for 10 years.<ref>Lovell, pp. 16–17.</ref> The couple's first child, a daughter, was born on 28 November 1904; they had intended to call her Ruby, but after she was born they changed their minds and named her Nancy.<ref>Hastings, pp. 7–8.</ref>

===First years===
Responsibility for Nancy Mitford's day-to-day upbringing was delegated to her nanny and nursemaid, within the framework of Sydney's short-lived belief that children should never be corrected or be spoken to in anger. Before this experiment was discontinued, the young Nancy Mitford had become self-centred and uncontrollable; Hastings writes that her first years were "characterised by roaring, red-faced rages".<ref>Hastings, p. 9.</ref> Just before her third birthday, a sister, [[Pamela Mitford|Pamela]], was born; the nanny's apparent change of loyalty in favour of the new arrival was a further source of outrage to Mitford, and throughout their childhood and into young adulthood she continued to vent her displeasure on her sister.<ref name=Hastings10>Hastings, p. 10.</ref>

In January 1909 a brother, [[Tom Mitford|Tom]] was born, and in June 1910 another sister, [[Diana Mitford|Diana]], followed.<ref name=Hastings10/> That summer, to relieve the pressure on what was becoming an overcrowded nursery, Nancy Mitford attended the nearby [[Francis Holland School]]. The few months she spent there represented almost the whole of her formal schooling; in the autumn the family moved to a larger house in [[Victoria Road, Kensington|Victoria Road]], [[Kensington]], after which Nancy was educated at home by successive [[governess]]es.<ref name=odnb>{{ODNBweb |first=Selina |last=Hastings |title=Mitford, Nancy Freeman- (1904–1973) |origyear=2004 |year=2015 |edition=online |id=31450 }}</ref> Summers were spent at the family's cottage near [[High Wycombe]], in [[Buckinghamshire]], or with the children's Redesdale grandparents at Batsford Park.<ref>Hastings, pp. 15–17.</ref> In the winter of 1913–14 David and Sydney visited Canada, prospecting for gold on a claim that David had purchased in [[Swastika, Ontario]]. It was here that their fifth child was conceived, a daughter born in London on 8 August 1914 and christened [[Unity Mitford|Unity]].<ref>Lovell, p. 32.</ref>

===War, Batsford Park and Asthall Manor===
On the outbreak of the First World War on 4 August 1914, David re-joined his regiment and was soon in France. In May 1915, Clement, David's older brother, was killed while serving with the [[10th Royal Hussars]],<ref>{{CWGC|id=138541|name=Freeman-Mitford, Clement B. Ogilvy|access-date=18 November 2024}}</ref> which made David heir to the Redesdale title and lands. On 17 August 1916 Bertie Mitford died; David, still serving at the front, became the 2nd Baron Redesdale. Sydney quickly took possession of Batsford House, much of which had been shut up for many years, and occupied the portion of it that she could afford to heat. The children had the run of the house and grounds, and were taught together in the schoolroom. This was a source of frustration for Nancy, whose lively intelligence required greater stimulus. She spent many hours reading in the Batsford House library where, according to Hastings, the foundations of her intellectual life were laid.<ref name=Hastings22>Hastings, pp. 22–24.</ref>

[[File:Asthall Manor, Asthall, nr Burford (Nancy).JPG|thumb|[[Asthall Manor]], the Mitford family home between 1919 and 1926]]
The Redesdale estates were extensive, but uneconomical. At the end of the war Redesdale decided to sell Batsford Park and move his increasing family (a fifth daughter, [[Jessica Mitford|Jessica]], had been born in September 1917) to less extravagant accommodation.{{#tag:ref|A sixth daughter, Deborah, was born in 1920. Hastings has recorded Lord Redesdale's disappointment that this final child was yet another girl; he had hoped for another son.<ref>Hastings, p. 7.</ref>|group= n}} The house was sold early in 1919, together with much of its contents—including, to Nancy's great dismay, a large part of its library.<ref name=Hastings22/> The new family home was [[Asthall Manor]], a [[Jacobean architecture|Jacobean]] mansion near [[Swinbrook]] in Oxfordshire. This was intended as a short-term measure while a new house was built on land nearby.<ref>Lovell, p. 42.</ref> The family stayed in Asthall Manor for seven years, and it became the basis of many of the family scenes which Nancy was later to portray in her semi-autobiographical novels.<ref name=odnb/><ref>Acton, p. 9.</ref>

Growing up proved a difficult process for Nancy. Unable to form a relationship with Pamela, the sister nearest to her in age, she was bored and irritated by her younger siblings, and vented her feelings by teasing and tormenting them.<ref>Hastings, p. 33.</ref> Although there was undoubtedly cruelty in her taunting—the other children, led by Tom, formed a "Leag (sic) against Nancy"<ref>Lovell, pp. 51–52.</ref>—her teasing was also, according to the later reflections of her nephew Alexander Mosley: "a highly-honed weapon to keep a lot of highly competitive, bright, energetic sisters in order. She used it&nbsp;... as a form of self protection".<ref>Alexander Mosley, quoted in {{harvnb|Thompson|2003|p=47}}</ref> Not all her interactions with her siblings were hostile; for their amusement she edited and produced a magazine, ''The Boiler'', to which she contributed entertainingly gruesome murder stories.<ref name=Hastings37>Hastings, pp. 37–38.</ref>

In 1921, after years of pleading for proper schooling, Nancy was allowed a year's boarding at Hatherop Castle, an informal private establishment for young ladies of good family. Laura Thompson, in her biography of Nancy, describes Hatherop as not so much a school, "more a chaste foretaste of debutante life".<ref>{{harvnb|Thompson|2003|pp=51–52}}</ref> Here Nancy learned French and other subjects, played organised games and joined a [[Girl Guide]] troop. It was her first extended experience of life away from home, and she enjoyed it.<ref name=Hastings37/> The following year she was allowed to accompany four other girls on a cultural trip to Paris, Florence and Venice; her letters home are full of expressions of wonder at the sights and treasures: "I had no idea I was so fond of pictures&nbsp;... if only I had a room of my own I would make it a regular picture gallery".<ref>Mosley (ed.), pp. 16–17.</ref>