For our first talk of 2026 on Wednesday 14th January we welcomed Gillian Cane, who presented in lively and witty style, her profiles of the Mitford Sisters.
It is fair to say that for most of us these six Mitford sisters were, by anybody’s standards, outrageous. Gillian’s spirited talk reminded us how they often shocked, occasionally appalled but in the case of all six of them, always fascinated.
This fascination was reflected by a record turnout of 100+ members and visitors and an interesting Q&A session afterwards.
Unique Anecdotes around Familiar Stories
Gillian interweaved many – what were to most of us – unique anecdotes around the more familiar stories of the lives of each sister
Though Gillian did not quote him, perhaps the lives of the sisters might be characterised – as writer and journalist Ben Macintyre does – as: ‘Diana the Fascist, Jessica the Communist, Unity the Hitler-lover; Nancy the Novelist; Deborah the Duchess and Pamela the unobtrusive Poultry Connoisseur’.
There was much in Gillian’s talk to embellish and expand on these aphorisms, and she did so with humour and obvious relish. The references to Unity’s odd pets including a snake and a rat named Ratular, and Jessica’s penchant for teasing her father and measuring his head to compare its size to Piltdown Man – these were among many amusing moments to create a fine rounded picture of the sisters.
The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters
As a post-script Gillian referenced the collection of previously unseen letters written by the six sisters, gathered by Charlotte Mosley, Diana Mitford’s daughter‑in‑law. These were published as ‘Letters Between Six Sisters’ and were stored in a building at Chatworth House, home of course of Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire.
Drawn from family papers preserved across decades in various Mitford homes these letters – only a fraction of the total – capture the shifting social world and political storms of the twentieth century, while also tracing their own complicated, lifelong bonds.
About Gillian Cane
As Gillian’s family hails from the Derbyshire region, Chatsworth House and the Mitfords became a fascination from an early age. She devoured books by and about them. Later in life she met some of the family, and suddenly found herself living close to where they were born and brought up. Thus this talk followed.
Gillian has had an eclectic career after studying archaeology, such as: serving as an Army officer, sitting on the Governing Council of the Alliance Internationale de Tourisme, (where she incidentally worked with Max Mosely, Diana Mitford’s son), assisting in a programme for recovering drug addicts and alcoholics, and guiding and volunteering at the Bodleian Library, Oxford University.
Next Talk: A History of Witney New Mill >> Details here
