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- BIOGRAPHY
He was only three when his mother ran away and she was hardly ever spoken of again. With his elder twin brothers, he was brought up by their father in France, which was then cheap and sent to Eton at the early age of nine. He was a real linguist, knowing perfect German from his childhood tutor and then learning Russian, Chinese and Japanese.
In 1862, while at Spa in Belgium, he encountered a fellow countryman and after chatting for some time, the gentleman asked his name. 'Dear me,' he said, 'if you are the son of Mr. Mitford of Exbury and Lady Georgiana Ashburnham, you are descended from perhaps the two oldest Saxon families in England. Sir, you are a remarkable person.' The man was Sir Bernard Burke, of Burke's Peerage; and being keen on his lineage, he enjoyed telling this story in his 'Memories'.
From 1866 until 1868 he spent in Japan with the British diplomatic mission and, as a result, in 1873 he published 'Tales of Old Japan', a medley of reminiscences, descriptions, legends and fairy stories, told with skill and charm. He wrote a book about his time in China, 'An Attaché in Peking', also full of interest and liveliness but not as highly regarded as his book about Japan. Passing his early years in the Diplomatic Service, later he spent twelve years at the Office of Works. Here he helped restore the Tower of London and remodel Hyde Park.
On 31 December 1874 Bertie married Lady Clementina Ogilvy and they became the parents of nine children. However, in comparison with her husband, Lady Clementina Mitford was regarded as being stuffy.
In 1886 he inherited Batsford from a cousin, together with large estates in Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire; so he resigned from the Office of Works and moved there with his growing family to devote himself to his new local responsibilities. He then became Member of Parliament for Stratford. In 1894 the estate duty was introduced and, unable to prevent this law, he at least succeeded in securing a small amendment, namely the exemption of legacies to universities.
However, he also liked the ladies and, years later, Lady Cunard accused Tom Mitford that his grandfather used to take the Prince of Wales 'wenching'. According to Richard Hough, in his 'Winston and Clementine', Bertie was the father, by his wife's sister, of Katherine, Clementine, Bill and Nellie Hozier. This would make him the defacto-father-in-law of Sir Winston Churchill.
On 22 July 1902 he was made a Peer and, as title chose the name Redesdale, the same name having belonged to the cousin who had left him the Batsford estate.
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