Chiswick Timeline of Writers & Books: a quick guide
From the Writers Trail:
11. Nancy Mitford 1904-1973. Novelist: The Pursuit of Love, Love In A Cold Climate. Lived in Chiswick 1934-36 while married to Peter Robb. Wrote Wigs on The Green here, a satire on the Mosleys, causing a rift between the Mitford sisters.
Rose Cottage, 84 Strand on the Green, W4 3PU (Private house, no access)
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Nancy Mitford – novelist who lived at Strand on the Green The Chiswick Calendar
The Mitford Sisters, Chiswick and The Pursuit of Love Chiswick Book Festival event, 2021
Who Was Who at Strand on the Green ChiswickW4.com
Rose Cottage – Panorama of the Thames
Nancy Mitford website
BBC adaptation of Nancy Mitford’s The Pursuit of Love The Chiswick Calendar
Wigs on the Green (written at Rose Cottage) Wikipedia
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1. Nancy Mitford lived at Strand on the Green in the 1930s, where she wrote Wigs on The Green, which caused a rift with her sisters Diana and Unity. The Pursuit of Love was published in 1945.
Read Nancy Mitford, 20th century novelist who lived at Strand on the Green, The Chiswick Calendar. Images above: Rose Cottage, Strand on the Green, photograph Joanna Raikes; Nancy Mitford by Bassano Ltd, October 1932, courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery
2. Read about our Chiswick’s Writers Walk from Strand on the Green to Grove Park, conducted during the Chiswick Book Festival – by members of Ealing & West London Tour Guides.
Chiswick’s picturesque riverside has been home to political journalists, thriller writers, playwrights, humourists, poets and classic novelists. As you wander along the Thames with your Ealing & West London Guide you’ll encounter the likes of Nancy Mitford, Geoffrey Household, Margaret Kennedy, Robert Bolt and John Osborne. The 2-hour walk begins outside the Strand Café, Strand-on-the-Green (Kew Bridge end) and ends by Chiswick mainline station.
3. Nancy’s youngest sister Deborah married the Duke of Devonshire, whose family had owned Chiswick House. “It never disappoints or fails to inspire” she wrote in her book, Counting My Chickens.
The Duke and Duchess lived at the family seat, Chatsworth House, and when some of the furniture was auctioned, two armchairs found their way back to Chiswick House. Dr Esme Whittaker, English Heritage: “On 2 March, English Heritage acquired at auction a pair of George III painted beech armchairs, with cane backs and seats, for the collection at Chiswick House. The chairs were part of the furnishings and objects that accompanied Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire (1920–2014) when she moved from Chatsworth to her last home, The Old Vicarage at Edensor on the Chatsworth estate.” See: Furniture History Society Newsletter, May 2016.
Chiswick Timeline Writers Trail
Read more stories via the Writers Tales page.
The Chiswick Timeline of Writers & Books lists almost 500 writers who have written a book and lived in Chiswick W4, or written books about the area. See A Quick Guide.