58: The Other Mitford Girl
About this episode
This episode explores the life of Sydney Redesdale, the matriarch of the Mitford family, and her influence on her daughters.
The Mitfords continue to fascinate us, thanks to the witty novels, biographies and letters they wrote, their political involvement on both left and right, and their brush with world history. Rarely a year goes by without another Mitford documentary, film or television series, a volume of letters or a biography. In our latest podcast our emphasis moves from the girls to their mother – matriarch of one of the most outrageous, controversial, influential, glamorous and intriguing families of the twentieth century. Sydney Redesdale ( née Bowles), known by her family as ‘Muv’, was never going to have a conventional life. Her mother died when she was 7, and from the age of 14 she ran her father’s house. She fell in love with David Mitford (later Lord Redesdale) as a teenager and they married in 1904. Of their seven children, Nancy, Pamela, Tom, Diana, Jessica, Unity and Debo, two became bestselling authors, one was imprisoned and two lost their lives as a result of the Second World War, and their political views ranged from fascism to communism. Sydney was the original Mitford girl, from whom much of her daughters’ legendary strong will, self-confidence and extremism was born. Nancy’s…
Topics covered
- Mitford family
- biography
- political involvement
- 20th century history
- literature
- family dynamics
Keywords
- Mitford girls
- Sydney Redesdale
- biographies
- politics
- 20th century
- literature
- family history
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: The Pursuit of Love, Love in a Cold Climate
More episodes of Slightly Foxed
- 56: The Thrilling World of Dick Francis
- 55: At Home with the Brontës
- 54: The Many Lives of Muriel Spark
- 53: Dervla Murphy: A Life at Full Tilt
- 52: William Golding: A Literary Colossus
- 51: John le Carré: Secrets & Lies
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