Mitford family
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The Mitfords were an aristocratic British family who achieved contemporary notoriety for their controversial and stylish lives as young people, and later for their very public political divisions between communist and fascist. The six daughters of the family were known collectively as the Mitford sisters; two became well-known writers and another managed one of the most successful stately homes in England. Two married nephews of prime ministers, Winston Churchill and Harold Macmillan; two married wealthy aristocrats.
They were the children of David Bertram Ogilvy Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale (March 13, 1878 – March 17, 1958) and his wife Sydney Bowles (d. 25 May 1963). The family home was Asthall Manor beside the River Windrush in Oxfordshire (). The Mitford sisters (and their one brother) grew up in an aristocratic country house set-up not unusual for its time, with emotionally distant parents, a large household with many servants, and a disregard for formal education. Girls were expected to marry young and well. The parents were described as "nature's fascists"; at least two of their daughters followed in their footsteps, while one turned her back on her inherited privileges and ran away to become a Communist. Following on from the autobiographical sketches of many of the family characters in Nancy's books, Jessica's memoir Hons and Rebels describes their upbringing.
- The Hon. Nancy Mitford (November 28, 1904 – June 30, 1973). Married Peter Rodd and had a longstanding relationship with French politician and statesman Gaston Palewski. Lived in France much of her adult life. Writer of many novels, including her most popular (and somewhat autobiographical), The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate. Also a noted biographer of historical figures, including the Sun King.
- The Hon. Pamela Mitford (November 25, 1907 – April 12, 1994). Married Derek Jackson. John Betjeman, who for a time was in love with Pamela Mitford, referred to her as the "Rural Mitford".
- The Hon. Thomas Mitford (January 2, 1909 – March 30, 1945). Educated at Eton, where he had a homosexual relationship with James Lees-Milne, although this is stated as being his only homosexual affair and occurred as a schoolboy at Eton. Died as a soldier in Burma.
- The Hon. Diana Mitford (June 17, 1910 – August 11, 2003). Married aristocrat and writer Bryan Walter Guinness in the society wedding of the year. Left him in the society scandal of the year for British Fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley. Was imprisoned in Holloway Prison during the Second World War. Never renounced her belief in fascism.
- The Hon. Unity Valkyrie Mitford (August 8, 1914 – May 28, 1948). Famous for her adulation of and friendship with Adolf Hitler. Shot herself in the head when World War II broke out, but failed to kill herself and eventually died of meningitis on the Island of Inch Kenneth.
- The Hon. Jessica Mitford (September 11, 1917 – July 22, 1996). The red sheep of the family. Eloped with Esmond Romilly to the Spanish Civil War. Spent most of her adult life in the United States. Two years after Esmond was killed during military service she married Robert Treuhaft, whom she met as part of her work as a civil rights activist. Member of the American Communist Party (until 1958). Wrote several volumes of memoirs and several muckrakers, including the bestselling The American Way of Death (1963) about the funeral industry.
- The Hon. Deborah Mitford (born March 31, 1920). She married Andrew Cavendish, Duke of Devonshire and with him turned his ancestral home, Chatsworth, into one of Britain's most successful stately homes.
The daughters were the subject of a song, "The Mitford Sisters", by Luke Haines, and a musical "The Mitford Girls" by Caryl Brahms and Ned Sherrin.
