Last night I dreamt that I bumped into the Duchess of Devonshire while shopping in Harvey Nichols. It turned out that we were old friends and we went of to have tea together.
Back in the realms of reality... I thought I would do a post on the The Mitford Girls.
From the top left: Unity, Jessica, Diana, Nancy, Deborah and Pamela.
Six aristocratic sisters born in the first decade of the 20th century whose lives spanned extraordinary extremes. The Mitford sisters, the daughters of the 2nd Baron Redesdale. In the 1930s they were celebrated and sometimes scandalous figures.
Diana the Fascist, Jessica the Communist, Unity the Hitler-lover, Nancy the Novelist; Deborah the Duchess and Pamela the unobtrusive poultry connoisseur.
In order:
Nancy Mitford (28 November 1904 – 30 June 1973) 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.
Pamela Mitford (25 November 1907 – 12 April 1994); John Betjeman was for a time was in love with her, and referred to her as the "Rural Mitford". She married and later divorced millionaire physicist Derek Jackson.
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, whom she married in 1936. The couple were imprisoned in Holloway Prison from May 1940 until November 1943.
Unity Mitford (8 August 1914 – 28 May 1948). Her adulation of, and friendship with, Adolf Hitler was widely publicised. She shot herself in the head just hours after Britain declared war on Germany, surviving, but with permanent brain damage.
Jessica Mitford (11 September 1917 – 23 July 1996). Unlike the rest of her family, she was a communist. She eloped to Spain to participate in the Civil War, and subsequently moved to the United States. In 1941 her husband's aircraft was lost over the North Sea with all on board. She remained in the U.S. most of her adult life, She remarried and was a member of the American Communist Party until 1958. She was the grandmother of James Forman Jr. and Chaka Forman, sons of the African-American civil rights leader James Forman.
Deborah Mitford (31 March 1920 – 24 September 2014). Married Andrew Cavendish, 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.
I do have the Duchess of Devonshire's Chatsworth Cookery Book by the way.
Toodle-loo
Boy they sound like a real fun bunch. Our president would most likely love them.
ReplyDeleteThat whole family was interesting, from low to high points. I met Andrew,then Duke of Devonshire at some garden function; I think I'd much rather have met the Duchess!
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