Pamela Freeman-Mitford (25 November 1907 – 12 April 1994) was one of the

Mitford sisters The Mitford family is an aristocratic British 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. They were celebrated and ...

Biography

Pamela Freeman-Mitford was born on 25 November 1907, the second daughter of

David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale David Bertram Ogilvy Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale (13 March 1878 – 17 March 1958), was a British peer, soldier, and landowner. He was the father of the Mitford sisters, in whose various novels and memoirs he is depicted. Ancestry and ...

, and Sydney Bowles (1880–1963).

John Betjeman Sir John Betjeman, (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architect ...

, who for a time was in love with her, referred to her in his unpublished poem, "The Mitford Girls", as the "most rural of them all" since she preferred to live quietly in the country. They met when she was managing Biddesden, in Wiltshire, the house of her brother-in-law,

Bryan Guinness, 2nd Baron Moyne Bryan Walter Guinness, 2nd Baron Moyne (27 October 1905 – 6 July 1992) was a British aristocrat, writer, poet and heir to part of the Guinness family brewing fortune. He was vice-chairman of Guinness plc and authored several works of poetry a ...

. In 1936, she married the millionaire physicist

Derek Jackson Derek Ainslie Jackson, OBE, DFC, AFC, FRS (23 June 1906 – 20 February 1982) was a British physicist. Biography Derek Jackson was born in 1906, the son of Welsh businessman Sir Charles Jackson. He was educated at Rugby School and Trinity ...

. Jackson was bisexual and married six times. They lived at Tullamaine Castle in

Fethard, County Tipperary Fethard (; ) (archival records) is a small town in County Tipperary, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Dating to the Norman invasion of Ireland, the Defensive wall, town's walls were first laid-out in the 13th century, with some sections of these ...

, with Jackson's bisexuality and womanizing raising some suspicions that it was a marriage of convenience. After her divorce in 1951, she spent much of the next twenty years as the companion of Giuditta Tommasi (died 1993), an Italian horsewoman.

Jessica Mitford Jessica Lucy "Decca" Freeman-Mitford (11 September 1917 – 23 July 1996) was an English author, one of the six aristocratic Mitford sisters noted for their sharply conflicting politics. Jessica married her second cousin Esmond Romilly, who ...

described her as having become a "you-know-what-bian", although

Diana Diana most commonly refers to: * Diana (name), given name (including a list of people with the name) * Diana (mythology), ancient Roman goddess of the hunt and wild animals; later associated with the Moon * Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–1997), ...

was less certain whether Pamela and Giuditta were lovers. They parted in 1972 when Pamela returned to the

Cotswolds The Cotswolds ( ) is a region of central South West England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper River Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and the Vale of Evesham. The area is defined by the bedroc ...

to live at Caudle Green. She died on 12 April 1994, in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitford, Pamela 1907 births 1994 deaths English socialites English lesbians Mitford family Daughters of barons 20th-century English LGBTQ people