Nicholas Mosley

For the 16th-century Lord Mayor of London, see Nicholas Mosley (mayor).

Nicholas Mosley, 3rd Baron Ravensdale, 7th Baronet, MC FRSL (born 25 June 1923), is an English novelist. He is the eldest son of Sir Oswald Mosley, 6th Baronet, an English politician known principally as the founder of the British Union of Fascists, and his first wife, Lady Cynthia Mosley, a daughter of George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston (Viceroy of India and Foreign Secretary).

Life

Mosley was born in London in 1923. In 1932 his father, Sir Oswald Mosley, founded the British Union of Fascists and became an open supporter of Benito Mussolini. In 1933, when he was only ten, Nicholas Mosley's mother, Lady Cynthia, died and in 1936 Diana Mitford, one of the Mitford sisters, who was already his father's mistress, became his stepmother.

As a young boy Mosley began to stammer and attended weekly sessions with the speech therapist Lionel Logue to help him to overcome this disorder.[1] He later said his father claimed never really to have noticed this stammer, but despite this he may, as a result of it, have been less aggressive when speaking to him than he was towards other people.[2]

Mosley was educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford. In 1940 his father was interned because of his campaigning against the war with Germany. Despite this the younger Mosley was soon commissioned into the Rifle Brigade and saw active service in Italy, winning the Military Cross in 1945.[3]

In 1966 Mosley succeeded his aunt Irene Curzon, 2nd Baroness Ravensdale, his mother's elder sister, as Baron Ravensdale, thus gaining a seat in the House of Lords. On the death of his father on 3 December 1980 he also succeeded to his father's baronetcy. In 1999 he lost his seat in parliament as a result of House of Lords reform.

In 1983, after his father's death, Mosley published Beyond the Pale: Sir Oswald Mosley and Family 1933–1980,[4] in which he proved to be a harsh critic of his father, calling into question his motives and even his understanding of politics. This book contributed to the Channel 4 television programme Mosley (1998), based on Oswald Mosley's life. At the end of this serial, Mosley is portrayed meeting his father in prison to ask him about his national allegiance. Mosley now lives in London. He is a half-brother of Max Mosley, former President of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA).

Marriages and children

Mosley has been married twice and is the father of five children. On 14 November 1947 he married firstly Rosemary Laura Salmond (divorced 1974, died 1991), daughter of Sir John Maitland Salmond and the Hon. Monica Margaret Grenfell,[5] and they had four children:

In 1974, after a divorce, Mosley married secondly Verity Elizabeth Raymond, daughter of John Raymond, and they have one son, Marius Mosley (born 28 May 1976).[5]

Novels

Non-fiction

Other

Bibliography

Arms

Footnotes

  1. ↑ "Broadcasting with the King's Microphone". BBC News. 27 February 2011. Retrieved 27 February 2011.
  2. ↑ Mosley, Nicholas (27 February 2011). "Broadcasting House interview". Broadcasting House (Interview). Interview with Paddy O'Connell. London, UK: BBC.
  3. ↑ London Gazette Issue 37027; published 10 April 1945 (pg. 7 of 10).
  4. ↑ Rules of the Game; Beyond the Pale: Memoirs of Sir Oswald Mosley and Family Hardcover via amazon.com, 1 June 1991; accessed 24 October 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Burke's Peerage, volume 3 (2003), p. 3,283
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Mary Irene Curzon		 Baron Ravensdale
1966–present 		Incumbent
Heir apparent:
Daniel Mosley
Baronetage of Great Britain
Preceded by
Oswald Mosley		 Baronet
(of Ancoats)
1980–present 		Incumbent
Heir apparent:
Daniel Mosley
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