Nicholas Mosley
Encyclopedia
- For the 16th-century Lord Mayor of London, see Nicholas Mosley (mayor)Nicholas Mosley (mayor)Sir Nicholas Mosley , also spelt Mosly and Moseley, was a manufacturer of woollen cloth, lord of the manor of Manchester, and Lord Mayor of London....
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Nicholas Mosley, 3rd Baron Ravensdale, 7th Baronet of Ancoats
Ancoats
Ancoats is an inner city area of Manchester, in North West England, next to the Northern Quarter and the northern part of Manchester's commercial centre....
MC
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
(born 25 June 1923) is a British novelist. He is the eldest son of Sir Oswald Mosley
Oswald Mosley
Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet, of Ancoats, was an English politician, known principally as the founder of the British Union of Fascists...
, 6th Baronet and Lady Cynthia Mosley
Lady Cynthia Mosley
Lady Cynthia Blanche Mosley was a British politician of Anglo-American parentage and the first wife of the Conservative and Labour MP and British fascist Sir Oswald Mosley...
, a daughter of Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, Viceroy of India and Foreign Secretary. Diana Mosley (one of the noted Mitford sisters) was his stepmother.
Life
Born in London, Mosley was educated at EtonEton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
and Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....
and served in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
during the Second World War, winning the Military Cross
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
for bravery. He succeeded as 3rd Baron Ravensdale
Baron Ravensdale
Baron Ravensdale, of Ravensdale in the County of Derby, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 2 November 1911 for the Conservative politician George Curzon, 1st Baron Curzon, with remainder, in default of issue male, to his eldest daughter and the heirs male of her...
in 1966 on the death of Irene Curzon, 2nd Baroness Ravensdale, his mother's sister. On the death of his father on 3 December 1980, he also succeeded to the Baronetcy
Mosley Baronets
There have been three Baronetcies created for members of the Mosley family, one in the Baronetage of England and two in the Baronetage of Great Britain...
. In 1999 he lost his seat in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
due to the House of Lords Act 1999
House of Lords Act 1999
The House of Lords Act 1999 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that was given Royal Assent on 11 November 1999. The Act reformed the House of Lords, one of the chambers of Parliament. For centuries, the House of Lords had included several hundred members who inherited their seats;...
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His father, Sir Oswald Mosley, founded the British Union of Fascists
British Union of Fascists
The British Union was a political party in the United Kingdom formed in 1932 by Sir Oswald Mosley as the British Union of Fascists, in 1936 it changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists and then in 1937 to simply the British Union...
in 1932 and was a supporter of Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
. Sir Oswald was arrested in 1940 for his antiwar campaigning, and spent the majority of World War II in prison. As an adult, Nicholas was a harsh critic of his father in Beyond the Pale: Sir Oswald Mosley and Family 1933–1980 (1983), calling into question his father's motives and understanding of politics. Nicholas' work contributed to the 1997 Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
television programme titled Mosley based on his father's life. At the end of the mini-series, Nicholas is portrayed meeting his father in prison to ask him about his national allegiance.
Mosley began to stammer
Stuttering
Stuttering , also known as stammering , is a speech disorder in which the flow of speech is disrupted by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words or phrases, and involuntary silent pauses or blocks in which the stutterer is unable to produce sounds...
as a young boy, and attended weekly sessions with speech therapist Lionel Logue
Lionel Logue
Lionel George Logue CVO was an Australian speech therapist and stage actor who successfully treated, among others, King George VI, who had a pronounced stammer.-Early life and family:...
in order to help him overcome the speech disorder. Mosley says his father claimed never really to have noticed his stammer, but feels Sir Oswald may have been less aggressive when speaking to him than he was towards other people as a result.
Nicholas Mosley has been married twice and is the father of five children. He lives in London. He is a half-brother of Max Mosley
Max Mosley
Max Rufus Mosley is the former president of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile , a non-profit association that represents the interests of motoring organisations and car users worldwide...
, former President of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile is a non-profit association established as the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users...
(FIA), a non-profit association that represents the interests of motoring organisations and car users worldwide and is the governing body for Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
and other international motorsport
Motorsport
Motorsport or motorsports is the group of sports which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles, whether for racing or non-racing competition...
s.
Marriages and issue
He married firstly on 14 November 1947 and divorced in 1974 Rosemary Laura Salmond (died 1991), daughter of Sir John Maitland SalmondJohn Salmond
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir John Maitland Salmond, GCB, CMG, CVO, DSO and Bar was a British military officer who rose to high rank in the Royal Flying Corps during World War I...
and Hon. Monica Margaret Grenfell, and had four children:
- Hon. Shaun Nicholas Mosley (born 5 August 1949, died 10 December 2009), married 1978 Theresa Clifford, and had six children:
- Daniel Nicholas Mosley (born 10 October 1982)
- Matthew Mosley (born 6 March 1985)
- Francis Mosley (born 5 July 1988)
- Aidan Clifford Mosley (born 1991)
- Thomas Mosley (born 23 December 1993)
- Monica Mosley (born 5 June 1996)
- Hon. Ivo Adam Rex Mosley (born 14 April 1951), married 10 September 1977 Xanthe Jennifer Grenville Oppenheimer, daughter of Sir Michael Bernard Grenville Oppenheimer, 3rd Baronet, and wife (married 12 July 1947) Laetitia Helen Lucas-Tooth (born 30 December 1926), Bachelor of Philosophy, Master of ArtsMaster of Arts (postgraduate)A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
and Doctor of DivinityDoctor of DivinityDoctor of Divinity is an advanced academic degree in divinity. Historically, it identified one who had been licensed by a university to teach Christian theology or related religious subjects....
, in 2003 living at L'Aiguillon, Rue des Cotils, GrouvilleGrouville-Vingtaines:Grouville is divided for administrative purposes into vingtaines as follows:*La Vingtaine des Marais*La Vingtaine de la Rue*La Vingtaine de Longueville*La Vingtaine de la RocqueThe Minquiers are part of the parish of Grouville....
, JerseyJerseyJersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes two groups of small islands that are no longer permanently inhabited, the Minquiers and Écréhous, and the Pierres de Lecq and...
, daughter of Sir Hugh Vere Huntly Duff Munro-Lucas-Tooth, 1st Baronet, and Laetitia Florence Findlay, and had four children:- Nathaniel Inigo Mosley (born 15 June 1982)
- Felix Harry Mosley (born 16 November 1985)
- Scipio Louis Mosley (born 7 June 1988)
- Noah Billy Mosley (born 10 October 1990)
- Hon. Robert Mosley (born 24 December 1955), married 1980 Victoria McBain, and had three children:
- Gregory Mosley (born 9 May 1981)
- Orson Mosley (born 6 June 1984)
- Vija Mosley (born 19 July 1985)
- Hon. Clare Mosley (born 11 November 1959), unmarried, has a natural daughter named Rosie Mosley (born 29 February 1992)
He married secondly in 1974 Verity Elizabeth Raymond, daughter of John Raymond, and had one son:
- Hon. Marius Mosley (born 28 May 1976), unmarried and without issue
Novels
- Spaces of the Dark (1951)
- The Rainbearers (1955)
- Corruption (1957)
- Meeting Place (1962)
- Accident (1965) (filmed in 1967 by Joseph LoseyJoseph LoseyJoseph Walton Losey was an American theater and film director. After studying in Germany with Bertolt Brecht, Losey returned to the United States, eventually making his way to Hollywood...
, with a screenplay by Harold PinterHarold PinterHarold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...
– see Accident (1967 film)) - Assassins
- Impossible Object (1968) (filmed in 1973 by John FrankenheimerJohn FrankenheimerJohn Michael Frankenheimer was an American film and television director known for social dramas and action/suspense films...
as Story of a Love StoryStory of a Love StoryStory of a Love Story, also known as Impossible Object, is a 1973 drama film starring Alan Bates and Dominique Sanda. It was directed by John Frankenheimer and based on a novel by Nicholas Mosley...
) - Natalie NataliaNatalie NataliaNatalie Natalia is a novel by Nicholas Mosley first published in 1971 about a middle-aged British MP who, while seemingly on the brink of insanity, conducts an adulterous affair with the wife of a colleague.-Plot summary:...
(1971) - Catastrophe Practice (1979) (Part One of the Catastrophe Practice Series)
- Imago Bird (1980) (Part Two of the Catastrophe Practice Series)
- Serpent (1981) (Part Three of the Catastrophe Practice Series)
- Judith (1986) (Part Four of the Catastrophe Practice Series)
- Hopeful Monsters (1990) (Part Five of the Catastrophe Practice Series) – which won the Whitbread Book of the Year Award.
- Children of Darkness and Light (1995)
- The Hesperides Tree (2001)
- Inventing God (2003)
- Look at the Dark (2005)
- God's Hazard (2009)
Non-fiction
- African Switchback (1958)
- The Life of Raymond Raynes (1961)
- The Assassination of Trotsky (1972) (filmed in 1972 by Joseph LoseyJoseph LoseyJoseph Walton Losey was an American theater and film director. After studying in Germany with Bertolt Brecht, Losey returned to the United States, eventually making his way to Hollywood...
as The Assassination of TrotskyThe Assassination of TrotskyThe Assassination of Trotsky is a 1972 British film directed by Joseph Losey with a screenplay by Nicholas Mosley. It starred Richard Burton as Leon Trotsky, as well as Romy Schneider and Alain Delon.-Plot:...
) - Julian Grenfell, his life and the times of his death, 1888–1915 (1976) Republished by Persephone BooksPersephone BooksPersephone Books is an independent publisher based in Bloomsbury, London. Founded in 1999 by Nicola Beauman, Persephone has a catalogue of 93 "neglected novels, diaries, poetry, short stories, non-fiction, biography and cookery books, mostly by women and mostly dating from the early to...
in 1999 - Rules of the Game: Sir Oswald and Lady Cynthia Mosley 1896-1933 (1982)
- Beyond the Pale: Sir Oswald Mosley and Family 1933-1980 (1983)
- Experiece and Religion (2006)
- The Uses Of Slime Mould – Essays of four Decades (2004)
Autobiography
- Efforts at Truth (1994)
- Time at War (2006)
- Paradoxes of Peace (2009)
Criticism
- Shiva Rahbaran (2010) Nicholas Mosley's Life and Art: A Biography in Six Interviews (London: Dalkey Archive Press)
- Shiva Rahbaran (2007) Paradox of Freedom: A Study of Nicholas Mosley's Intellectual Development in His Novels and Other Writings (London: Dalkey Archive Press)
- John O'Brien (1982) "It's like a story. Nicholas Mosley's impossible object." Review of Contemporary Fiction: 142–148.
- John Banks (1982) "Slight-of-Language" Review of Contemporary Fiction: 118–123.