Hon. Peter Murray Rennell Rodd (16 April 1904 – 17 July 1968)''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage: Vol. III'' (2003) pg 3319 was a British soldier, aid worker and film-maker. He was married to author

Nancy Mitford Nancy Freeman-Mitford (28 November 1904 – 30 June 1973) was an English novelist, biographer, and journalist. The eldest of the Mitford family#Mitford sisters, Mitford sisters, she was regarded as one of the "bright young things" on the ...

from 1933–57.

Early life

Rodd was born at 17,

Stratford Place Stratford Place is a small road in London, off Oxford Street, opposite Bond Street underground station. The road is a cul-de-sac. Stratford House Stratford House was built as the London town house of the Stratford family between 1770 and 177 ...

in London, the second son of Sir Rennell Rodd, a diplomat and politician who was ennobled in 1933 as Baron Rennell, and Lilias Georgina Guthrie (1864–1951). Among his siblings were Francis Rodd, 2nd Baron Rennell (who married the Hon. Mary Constance Vivian Smith), Evelyn Emmet, Baroness Emmet of Amberley (a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

politician and was created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

), Hon. Gloria Rodd (who married the painter

Simon Elwes Lt. Col. Simon Edmund Vincent Paul Elwes, (29 June 1902 – 6 August 1975) was a British war artist and society portrait painter whose patrons included presidents, kings, queens, statesmen, sportsmen, prominent social figures and many members ...

), and Hon. Gustaf Rodd (who married Yvonne Mary Marling, the youngest daughter of diplomat Sir Charles Murray Marling). His mother was the fourth daughter of James Alexander Guthrie, 4th Baron of Craigie and the former Elinor Stirling (a daughter of Adm. Sir James Stirling, Governor of Western Australia). His aunt, Rose Ellinor Guthrie, was the wife of Hon. Sir Cecil Edward Bingham (a younger son of Charles Bingham, 4th Earl of Lucan). His father was the only son of Maj. James Rennell Rodd of the

Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry The Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry (DCLI) was a Light infantry, light infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1959. The regiment was created on 1 July 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms, by the merger of the 32nd ( ...

, and the former Elizabeth Anne Thomson (a daughter of Dr. Anthony Todd Thomson). Through his father, he was a descendant of Adm. Sir John Tremayne Rodd and the geographer

James Rennell Major (United Kingdom), Major James Rennell (3 December 1742 – 29 March 1830) was an English geographer, historian and a pioneer of oceanography. Rennell produced some of the first accurate maps of Bengal at one inch to five miles as well as a ...

. He was educated at Wellington College and

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...

Career

Rodd followed no specific career and his views were erratic and changeable; having joined the

British Union of Fascists The British Union of Fascists (BUF) was a British fascist political party formed in 1932 by Oswald Mosley. Mosley changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists in 1936 and, in 1937, to the British Union. In 1939, f ...

in 1933, by the following year he was fiercely denouncing the movement. In 1938 he carried out humanitarian work in

Perpignan Perpignan (, , ; ; ) is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales departments of France, department in Southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the Me ...

on behalf of refugees from the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

. He was commissioned into the

Welsh Guards The Welsh Guards (WLSH GDS; ), part of the Guards and Parachute Division, Guards Division, is one of the Foot guards, Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. It was founded in 1915 as a single-battalion regiment, during the World War I, First ...

in 1939, and during a varied war career saw service in Africa and Italy, attaining the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He was a major in the Welsh Guards reserve of officers, with the honorary rank of lieutenant-colonel, from 1951 until he reached the age limit in 1954. After the war he attempted unsuccessfully to become a film-maker; his one completed project, ''For Whom the Gate Tolls'', shot in Spain, was a failure. Other than this, for the remainder of his years he lived a more or less idle life, mainly on handouts, mostly in Rome and finally in Malta, where he died in 1968.

Personal life

In 1933, Rodd was married to the novelist and socialite

, daughter of David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale and one of the famous Mitford sisters. They divorced in 1957, although by then the marriage had been over in all but name for some years.Hastings, p. 172 Nancy, who was called "unabashedly snobbish and devastatingly witty" and her family nicknamed him "Prodd" or "the old toll-gater", from his skill at talking at great length on historical subjects such as turnpike roads. Rodd died in

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

on 17 July 1968. Nancy died at her home in

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in 1973.

References

Citations Sources * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodd, Peter 1904 births 1968 deaths People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Welsh Guards officers British Army personnel of World War II Younger sons of barons