Editing Mitford family

{{Short description|English aristocrats}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}
[[Image:The Mitford family in 1928.jpg|thumb|The Mitford family in 1928]]
The '''Mitford family''' is an aristocratic English family who became particularly well known in the 1930s for the six '''Mitford sisters''', the daughters of [[David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale]], and his wife, Sydney Bowles.{{efn|Daughter of [[Thomas Gibson Bowles]]}} They were celebrated and sometimes scandalous figures. One journalist described them as "[[Diana Mosley|Diana]] the Fascist, [[Jessica Mitford|Jessica]] the Communist, [[Unity Mitford|Unity]] the [[Hitler]]-lover; [[Nancy Mitford|Nancy]] the Novelist; [[Deborah Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire|Deborah]] the Duchess and [[Pamela Mitford|Pamela]] the unobtrusive poultry connoisseur".<ref name="The Times">{{Cite web |last=Macintyre |first=Ben |date=2007-10-12 |title=Those utterly maddening Mitford girls {{!}} Ben Macintyre - Times Online |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/ben_macintyre/article2641492.ece |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080726152821/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/ben_macintyre/article2641492.ece |archive-date=2008-07-26 |access-date=2025-04-28 |website=web.archive.org}} </ref> 

==Background==
[[File:Redesdale_Escutcheon.png|thumb|right|150px|Arms of Freeman-Mitford]]
The family traces its origins in [[Northumberland]] back to the time of the [[Norman Conquest]]. [[England in the Middle Ages|In the Middle Ages]] they had been [[border reivers]] based in [[Redesdale]]. The main line had its [[family seat]] first at [[Mitford Castle]], then [[Mitford Old Manor House]], prior to building [[Mitford Hall]] in 1828. All three are near [[Mitford, Northumberland]]. Several heads of the family served as [[High Sheriff of Northumberland]]. 

A junior line, with seats at Newton Park, [[Northumberland]], and [[Exbury House]], [[Hampshire, England|Hampshire]], descends via the historian [[William Mitford]] (1744–1827) and were twice elevated to the [[British peerage]], in 1802 and 1902, under the title [[Baron Redesdale]].<ref>Burke's Peerage, 107th edn. (London 2003).</ref> This branch of the family, to whom the Mitford sisters belonged, were seated at [[Batsford Park]], Gloucestershire, and then at [[Asthall Manor]] and Swinbrook, in Oxfordshire.

==Mitford siblings==
*[[Nancy Mitford]] (28 November 1904 – 30 June 1973) married Peter Rodd, whom she subsequently divorced, and had a longstanding relationship with French politician and statesman [[Gaston Palewski]]. She lived in France for much of her adult life. She wrote many novels, including the semi-autobiographical ''[[The Pursuit of Love]]'' and ''[[Love in a Cold Climate]]''. She was also a biographer of historical figures, including the [[Sun King]].
*[[Pamela Mitford|Pamela "Pam" Mitford]] (25 November 1907 – 12 April 1994) was called "Woman" by her siblings.{{sfn|Mitford|2010|p=ix}} [[John Betjeman]], who for a time was in love with her, referred to her as the "Rural Mitford". She married and later divorced millionaire physicist [[Derek Jackson]], and spent much of the 1960s living with Giuditta Tommasi (died 1993), an Italian horsewoman.<ref>Charlotte Mosley, editor, ''The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters'', London: Fourth Estate, 2007, p. 264. According to her sister Jessica, Pamela Mitford had become "a you-know-what-bian" [lesbian].</ref>
*[[Tom Mitford|Thomas David "Tom" Mitford]] (2 January 1909 – 30 March 1945), the only son, was educated at [[Eton College|Eton]], where he had an affair with [[James Lees-Milne]].{{sfn|Mitford|2010|p=40}} He later had a lengthy affair with Austrian Jewish dancer [[Tilly Losch]] during her marriage to [[Edward James]]. According to Jessica's letters, Thomas supported British fascism and was posted to the [[Burma campaign]] after he had refused to fight in Europe.<ref name=jeslets/> He died in action.
*[[Diana Mitford]] (17 June 1910 – 11 August 2003) married aristocrat and writer [[Bryan Guinness, 2nd Baron Moyne]], in 1929. She left him in 1933 for British fascist leader [[Oswald Mosley]], who she married in 1936 and with whom she had two sons, Alexander and [[Max Mosley]]. The couple were interned in [[Holloway Prison]] from May 1940 until November 1943.
*[[Unity Mitford|Unity Valkyrie Mitford]] (8 August 1914 – 28 May 1948) was known as "Bobo" or "Boud" to her siblings. Her adulation of, and friendship with, [[Adolf Hitler]] was widely publicised. She [[Suicide|shot herself in the head]] just hours after [[United Kingdom declaration of war on Germany (1939)|Britain declared war on Germany]],<ref name=jeslets/> surviving, but with permanent brain damage. In 1944 her family sent her to the Scottish islet of [[Inch Kenneth]], where she lived out the war.<ref>{{cite news |title=The strange case of the aristocrat, Hitler and the tiny Scottish island New book to reveal final years of Mitford sister |url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12488458.the-strange-case-of-the-aristocrat-hitler-and-the-tiny-scottish-island-new-book-to-reveal-final-years-of-mitford-sister/ |access-date=31 May 2021 |work=HeraldScotland |date=26 June 2005 |language=en}}</ref> She died of [[Pneumococcal infection|pneumococcal meningitis]] at West Highland Cottage Hospital, Oban.
*[[Jessica Mitford|Jessica Lucy "Decca" Mitford]] (11 September 1917 – 23 July 1996), unlike the rest of her family, was a [[communist]]. She eloped with [[Esmond Romilly]] to Spain to participate in [[Spanish Civil War|the Civil War]]; they subsequently moved to the United States. On 30 November 1941, during an air raid on [[Hamburg]], Romilly's aircraft [[Esmond Romilly#America, war and disappearance|was lost over the North Sea]] with all on board. She remained in the U.S. most of her adult life, where she married [[Robert Treuhaft]] and was a member of the [[Communist Party USA|American Communist Party]] until 1958. She wrote several volumes of memoirs and several volumes of polemical investigation, including the best-selling ''[[The American Way of Death]]'' (1963) about the [[Death care industry in the United States|funeral industry]]. She was the grandmother of [[James Forman Jr.]] and Chaka Forman, sons of the African-American [[Civil Rights Movement|civil rights]] leader [[James Forman]] by her daughter Constancia Romilly.
*[[Deborah Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire|Deborah Vivien "Debo" Mitford]] (31 March 1920 – 24 September 2014) was nicknamed "Nine" by her sister Nancy (Debo's supposed mental age).<ref>{{Cite news |last=Moss |first=Stephen |date=2014-09-12 |title=The Duchess of Devonshire: 'When you are very old, you cry over some things, but not a lot' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/sep/12/deborah-duchess-of-devonshire-chatsworth |access-date=2024-06-04 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> She married [[Andrew Cavendish, 11th Duke of Devonshire|Andrew Cavendish]] (1920—2004), who later became the Duke of Devonshire, and with him turned his ancestral home [[Chatsworth House]] into one of Britain's most successful [[stately homes]]. She wrote several books.

==Mitford sisters==
[[File:Nancy, Diana, Unity and Jessica Mitford. Sketch magazine cover 1932.jpg|thumb|Cover of ''[[The Sketch]]'', 1932]]
[[File:Mitford-selective-tree1.jpg|thumb|Family tree]]
The sisters gained widespread attention for their stylish and controversial lives as young people, and for their public political divisions between communism and fascism. [[Nancy Mitford|Nancy]] and [[Jessica Mitford|Jessica]] became well-known writers: Nancy wrote ''[[The Pursuit of Love]]'' and ''[[Love in a Cold Climate]]'', and Jessica ''[[The American Way of Death]]'' (1963). Deborah managed [[Chatsworth House]], one of the most successful [[stately homes]] in England.

Jessica and Deborah married nephews of prime ministers [[Winston Churchill]] and [[Harold Macmillan]], respectively. Deborah and [[Diana Mitford|Diana]] both married wealthy aristocrats. [[Unity Mitford|Unity]] and Diana were well known during the 1930s for being close to [[Adolf Hitler]]. Jessica turned her back on her inherited privileges and eloped with her cousin, [[Esmond Romilly]], who was hoping to report on the Spanish Civil War for the ''[[News Chronicle]]'', having briefly fought with the [[International Brigade]].<ref>''Boadilla'' by Esmond Romilly, [[The Clapton Press]] Limited, London, 2018 {{ISBN|978-1999654306}}</ref> Jessica's memoir, ''[[Hons and Rebels]]'', describes their upbringing. Nancy drew upon her family members for characters in her novels. In 1981, Deborah became politically active when she and her husband [[Andrew Cavendish, 11th Duke of Devonshire]], joined the new [[Social Democratic Party (UK)|Social Democratic Party]].<ref name=jeslets/>

The sisters and their brother Thomas were the children of [[David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale]], and his wife Sydney, the daughter of [[Thomas Gibson Bowles|Thomas Bowles]]. To their children, they were known as "Farve" and "Muv", respectively. David and Sydney married in 1904. The family homes changed from Batsford House to [[Asthall Manor]] beside the [[River Windrush]] in Oxfordshire, and then Swinbrook Cottage nearby, with a house at Rutland Gate in London.<ref>26 Rutland Gate, Knightsbridge, SW7 > Notable Abodes |http://www.notableabodes.com/abode-search-results/abode-details/139176/26-rutland-gate-knightsbridge-london</ref> They also lived in a cottage in [[High Wycombe]], Buckinghamshire, which they used as a summer residence.<ref name="thisislondon">{{Cite web |date=2001-03-08 |title=The Mitfords were good ol' High Wycombe gals |url=https://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/news/1189.the-mitfords-were-good-ol-high-wycombe-gals/ |access-date=2024-06-04 |website=Bucks Free Press |language=en}}</ref> 

The siblings grew up in an aristocratic [[country house]] with emotionally distant parents and a large household with numerous servants. This family dynamic was not unusual for upper-class families of the time. The parents disregarded formal education of women of the family, and they were expected to marry at a young age to a financially well-off husband. The children had a private language called "Boudledidge" ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|oʊ|d|əl|d|ɪ|dʒ}}), and each had a different nickname for the others.

After the [[Nazi Regime]] started the [[Invasion of Poland]], the [[European theatre of World War II|Second World War began]] and their political views came into sharper relief. "Farve" remained a conservative who had long favoured [[Neville Chamberlain]]'s approach of appeasing [[Nazi Germany]]. Once [[British declaration of war on Germany (1939)|Britain declared war on Germany]], he returned to being an anti-German British patriot. "Muv" continued her fascist sympathies and usually supported her fascist children. The couple separated in 1943 as a result of this conflict.<ref name="Reynolds"/>

Nancy, a [[social democracy|moderate socialist]], worked in London during [[the Blitz]] and informed on her fascist siblings to the British authorities.<ref name="Reynolds">{{cite news |title=Nancy Mitford spied on sisters |first=Paul |last=Reynolds |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3263733.stm |work=BBC News |date=14 November 2003 |access-date=25 November 2010 }}</ref> Pamela remained seemingly non-political, although according to her sister Nancy, Pamela and Derek Jackson were virulent [[anti-Semites]] verbally during World War II, who had called for all Jews in England to be killed, and wanted an early end to the war with Nazi Germany before England lost any more money.<ref name="Reynolds"/>

Tom, a fascist,{{fact|date=April 2025}} refused to fight Germany but volunteered to fight against [[Imperial Japan]]. He was [[killed in action]] in Burma in 1945. Diana, also a fascist, married to [[Sir Oswald Mosley]], leader of the [[British Union of Fascists]], was imprisoned in London from May 1940 until November 1943 under [[Defence Regulation 18B]]. Unity, fanatically devoted to Hitler and Nazism, was distraught over Britain's war declaration against Germany on 3 September 1939, and tried to commit suicide later that day by shooting herself in the head. She failed in the suicide attempt, but suffered brain damage that eventually led to her early death in 1948.<ref name=jeslets/>

Jessica, a [[Communism|communist]], had moved to the U.S., but her husband [[Esmond Romilly]], a [[Republican faction (Spanish Civil War)|Republican]] veteran from the [[Spanish Civil War]] who volunteered for the [[Royal Canadian Air Force]] in [[World War II]], died in 1941 when his bomber developed mechanical problems over the North Sea and went down.<ref name=jeslets>{{cite book |last1=Mitford |first1=Jessica |author-link1=Jessica Mitford |editor1-first=Peter Y. |editor1-last=Sussman |title=[[Decca: The Letters of Jessica Mitford]] |year=2006 |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson }}</ref> In numerous letters Jessica said that her daughter Constancia received a pension from the Canadian government after Esmond's death until she turned 18.<ref name=jeslets/> 

The strong political rift between Jessica and Diana left them estranged from 1936 until their deaths, although they did speak to each other in 1973, as their eldest sister Nancy was on her deathbed. Aside from Jessica and Diana's estrangement, the sisters kept in frequent contact with each other in the decades after World War II. The sisters were prolific letter-writers, and a substantial body of correspondence still exists, principally letters between them.<ref name="The Times"/>

==Ancestry==
{{Ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
|title=Ancestors of the Mitford siblings
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|1= 1. '''the Mitford siblings'''
|2= 2. [[David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale]]
|3= 3. Sydney Bowles
|4= 4. [[Bertram Freeman-Mitford, 1st Baron Redesdale]]
|5= 5. Lady Clementine Ogilvy
|6= 6. [[Thomas Gibson Bowles]]
|7= 7. Jessica Evans-Gordon
|8= 8. Henry Reveley Mitford
|9= 9. Lady Georgiana Jemima Ashburnham
|10= 10. [[David Ogilvy, 10th Earl of Airlie]]
|11= 11. Hon. Blanche Stanley
|12= 12. [[Thomas Milner Gibson]]
|13= 13. Susannah Bowles
|14= 14. Maj.-Gen. Charles Evans-Gordon
|15= 15. Catherine Rose
}}

==In popular culture==
*Nancy Mitford's 1949 novel, ''[[Love in a Cold Climate]]'', which was based on the family, was serialised by [[Thames Television]] in 1980 and by the [[BBC]] in 2001. Her novel ''[[The Pursuit of Love]]'' was serialised by the BBC in [[The Pursuit of Love (TV series)|2021]].
*The daughters were the subject of a 1981 musical, ''[[The Mitford Girls]],'' by [[Caryl Brahms]] and [[Ned Sherrin]], and of a song, "The Mitford Sisters", by [[Luke Haines]].
*A fictional family based on the Mitford sisters features prominently in [[Jo Walton]]'s 2007 novel ''[[Ha'penny (novel)|Ha'penny]]''; Viola Lark, one of the point-of-view characters, is one of the sisters, another is married to [[Himmler]], and a third is a communist spy.
*The fictional "Combe sisters" in the [[BBC 2]] series ''[[Bellamy's People]]'', first broadcast in 2010, bear a striking resemblance to the Mitford sisters. Bellamy meets two of the surviving Combe sisters, said to have been notorious in the 1930s and '40s for their extreme political views, now living together in a strained relationship in the dramatically different political realities of 2010. One an avid fascist and the other a committed communist, the sisters have hit upon the solution of dividing their stately home down the middle, each converting her side into a homage to her ideology.
*[[Sharon Horgan]], [[Samantha Spiro]] and [[Sophie Ellis-Bextor]] played a version of the Mitford Sisters in a song-based sketch for season 2 of the [[Sky Arts]] comedy series ''[[Psychobitches]]'', in the winter of 2014.
*In his [[Jean d'Ormesson#Bibliography|French-language trilogy of novels]]—''Le Vent du soir'' (1985), ''Tous les hommes en sont fous'' (1985) and ''Le Bonheur à San Miniato'' (1987)—[[Jean d'Ormesson]] recounts a much-imagined version of the exploits of four of the Mitford sisters, through the characters Pandora, Vanessa, Atalanta and Jessica.
*A portion of Jessica Mitford's writing is used as a spoken-word introduction to the song "Last Act of Defiance", about the [[New Mexico State Penitentiary riot]], on thrash metal band [[Exodus (band)|Exodus]]'s 1989 album ''[[Fabulous Disaster]]''.
*[[Jessica Fellowes]] has written six mystery novels, ''The Mitford Murders'' (2017), ''Bright Young Dead'' (2018), ''The Mitford Scandal'' (2020),''The Mitford Trial'' (2021), ''The Mitford Vanishing'' (2022) and ''The Mitford Secret'' (2023), which feature the three oldest sisters, Nancy, Pamela and Diana as major characters, and the rest of the family in supporting roles.<ref>{{cite web |title=Jessica Fellowes |url=https://www.amazon.com/Jessica+Fellowes/e/B005BXYGHE/ |access-date=5 September 2010 |website=Amazon}}</ref>
* Diana Mitford is depicted in season 6 of the BBC/Netflix TV series ''[[Peaky Blinders (TV series)|Peaky Blinders]]'' (2022), played by British actress [[Amber Anderson]]. The show is set in the 1930s and depicts Diana and husband Oswald Mosley getting involved with fictional protagonist Tommy Shelby to advance their political goals.<ref>{{cite web |title=Peaky Blinders Cast |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2442560/fullcredits |website=IMDb}}</ref>
* In the [[Discworld]] novel ''[[The Fifth Elephant]]'' by [[Terry Pratchett]], werewolf Watchwoman Angua von Überwald refers to two relatives of hers as Nancy and Unity. Angua's brother Wolfgang is a werewolf supremacist whose personal insignia reflect those of Nazism.
* In the fourth series of [[BBC]] comedy television series ''[[The Thick of It]]'', British Government minister Peter Mannion describes his [[Special adviser (United Kingdom)|special adviser]] Emma Messinger as having "turned into the wrong Mitford sister"<ref>{{Cite news |last=Heritage |first=Stuart |date=22 September 2012 |title=The Thick of It: lines of the week – episode three |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2012/sep/22/thick-of-it-episode-three}}</ref> during a presentation where she remarks on the physical attractiveness of a likely candidate for [[Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom)|Leader of the Opposition]].
*''[[Outrageous (TV series)|Outrageous]]'' is an upcoming 2025 British television series about the Mitford sisters.

==Gallery==
The Mitford sisters by [[William Acton (painter)|William Acton]]:
<gallery mode="packed" heights="200px">
File:Nancy Mitford.jpg|[[Nancy Mitford]] (1904–1973)
File:Pamela Mitford.jpg|[[Pamela Mitford]] (1907–1994)
File:Diana Mitford by William Acton.jpg|[[Diana Mitford]] (1910–2003)
File:Unity Mitford by William Acton.jpg|[[Unity Mitford]] (1914–1948)
File:Jessica Mitford, by William Acton.jpg|[[Jessica Mitford]] (1917–1996)
File:Deborah Mitford.jpg|[[Deborah Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire|Deborah Mitford]] (1920–2014)
</gallery>

==References==
'''Informational notes'''
{{notelist}}

'''Citations'''
{{reflist}}

'''Bibliography'''
* {{cite book|author=Deborah Mitford, Duchess of Devonshire|title=Wait for Me!: Memoirs|year=2010|publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux|location=New York|isbn=978-0-374-20768-7|ref={{sfnRef|Mitford|2010}} }}

'''Further reading'''
*{{cite book |last=Burke |first=John |author-link=John Burke (genealogist) |title=A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, Enjoying Territorial Possessions Or High Official Rank |year=1835 |publisher=Nabu Press |location=Great Britain |isbn=978-1-171-81928-8}}
*{{cite book |last=Guinness |first=Jonathan |title=The House of Mitford |year=1984 |publisher=Hutchinson |location=London |isbn=978-0-753-81803-9}}
*{{cite book |last=Lovell |first=Mary S. |title=The Mitford Girls: The Saga of the Mitford Family |year=2001 |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |location=London |isbn=978-0-393-01043-5 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/sisterssagaofmit00love }}
*{{cite book |last=Mosley|first=Charlotte | title=The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters |year=2007|publisher=Fourth Estate |location=London |isbn= 978-0-061-37540-8}}
*{{cite book|last1=Thompson |first1=Laura |title=The Six: The Lives of the Mitford Sisters|year=2016|publisher=St. Martin's Press|location=New York|isbn=978-1-250-09953-2}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20020305204517/http://nancymitford.com/ Nancy Mitford Website]
*{{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081021093218/http://www.desmond-mcallister.info/Eng/pub_images/Mitford/Index.htm |date=21 October 2008 |title=Genealogical pictures of the Mitford family}}
*{{Webarchive |url=https://archive.today/20130121093209/http://www.dailyhitchens.com/2010/04/jessica-mitford-interviewed-by.html |date=21 January 2013 |title=Audio interview with Christopher Hitchens of Jessica Mitford (1988)}}
*[http://www.facebook.com/themitfordsociety The Mitford Society], Facebook

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[[Category:Mitford family| ]]
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[[Category:English socialites]]
[[Category:People from Oxfordshire]]