the Stateside Mitford

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"Objectivity? I always have an objective." JM

Born this day one of the six Mitford Sisters, Jessica,  known as DECCA
portrait by William Acton

they all seem to hold a unique tie to their generation- 

she was to feel the constraints of her privilege most.

she would resent her parents for not allowing her a formal education., yet her Hons and Rebels leaves any sensitive Anglophile longing for ties to that Mitford family.

 Decca seated age 6, with Unity age 9

 "The Hons' Cupboard, where Debo and I spent much of our time, still has the same distinctive, stuffy smell and enchanting promise of complete privacy from the Grown-ups."  Jessica Mitford

Decca , center above & below

 The year she made her come out Decca fell out with the frivolity and flirting of the season, and ran off with her second cousin Esmond Romilly to Spain-joining Communists in the Spanish Civil War. Esmond was reporting on the war scene at the time and Decca was falling in love with Esmond.

 the young &  golden Romillys

Oh yes-and Esmond was First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill's nephew. Family, along with a British destroyer tried desperately to make the pair see reason and return to England. 

Ever the rebel, Decca married Esmond in 1937.

 Esmond and Decca, at left

 The young marrieds emigrated to the States  in 1939- soon after Britain declared war on Germany and Romilly enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force. Decca stayed in the States while in 1941-Esmond was killed in a bombing raid over Germany. Decca stayed on in America, marrying Robert Treuhaft in 1943-and so her life in civil rights and political life was born stateside. 

Her first book-written in 1960 when she was 43- Hons and Rebels-is a memoir of  her childhood. In her book, The American Way of Death Mitford writes a scathing criticism of  the funeral industry  practices toward Death and Family. The book became an instant bestseller &  was one of the inspirations for Tony Richardson's film The Loved One,  based on Evelyn Waugh's novel. More on this movie later. In 1977, Mitford published A Fine Old Conflict- about her life as a Communist. The book's title was Decca's version of the Communist anthem The Internationale- with the words being Tis the Final Conflict.

Her last work was an update entitled The American Way of Death Revisited. Jessica- Decca- died in 1998 of lung cancer in accordance with her wishes she was cremated and her ashes were scattered at sea for a mere $533. 31- 

A woman of conviction to the Last.





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