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.
ReplyDeleteThey would have torn him to shreds. They called Hitler, 'Herr House-Painter'.
DeleteThat 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!
ReplyDeleteMe to. I think she was marvellous and the best of a very odd bunch.
DeleteHave you read any of Nancy's books? I always meant to, are they worth a punt?
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No I Haven’t dear but funny enough we have just come back from seeing 'Downton Abbey, The Grand Finale'
DeleteJulian Fellowes didn't base Downton on Nancy's books but her stories are filled with caricatures of her own family and acquaintances, creating a fictional world that, while distinct from Downton, provides a similarly vivid if often humorous look at the upper class.
I can't imagine they all got on with each other very well considering their differences? I shall have to do some swotting.
ReplyDeleteP. S. The Mother lived in one of Chatsworth House's staff flats (north wing) for a time when I was a baby/toddler (both her parents worked there at various times and lived in Pilsley, one of the estate villages). I must ask her if we ever met the Duchess.
OMG you were a Chatsworth House baby ( servants quatres) !
DeleteYou need to talk to your Mum and get as much family history and stories as you can.
I never did and regret it now that it's to late.
Love to your Mum and to Bitey.
En France, nous avions deux sœurs de Mitford.
ReplyDeleteDiana vivait au Temple de la Gloire à Orsay, près de Paris.
Cette femme étrange adorait la culture Européenne classique et pourtant soutenait nazisme qui allait la détruire. :\
Nancy était beaucoup plus charmante et digne, recipiendaire du titre de Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur. :)
Elle à vecu à Paris, puis à Versailles.
Toutes les sœurs de Mitford sont intéressantes.
Les sœurs de Mitford en tant que groupe montrent les divisions entre les familles, bonnes et mauvaises. Les étudiants en sociologie devraient les étudier.
-Beau Mec à Deauville
I agree Sociology students should study them.
DeleteThe big thing is whether people's character is shaped by 'Nurture or Nature'.
They came from the same eccentric aristocratic family and where brought up together in a similar way but could not have been more extremely different as individuals.
I love this! Great post spilling some tea about the Mitford sisters! I think the appropriate English refrain for Unity is that she was a bit of a Nutter. My great grandfather, a proper English Gentleman always liked calling out the Nutters. As a kid I thought he meant they liked squirrels too much. I was mystified!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had a nice dream tea with the best of them!
I am so pleased you liked this. they were an extra ordinary family in every way. luckily I only had tea with Deborah Mitford the sadly missed Duchess of Devonshire.
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