Rotha Lintorn-Orman
Rotha Lintorn-Orman | |
|---|---|
 Lintorn-Orman, pictured on 22 August 1916[1] | |
| Born | 7 February 1895 London,United Kingdom |
| Died | 10 March 1935(aged 40) Santa Brígida,Canary Islands,Spain |
| Organisation | British Fascisti |
| Movement | British Fascism |
| Military Service | |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Unit | Women's Emergency Corps Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Service |
| Battles/wars | First World War |
Rotha Beryl Lintorn Lintorn-Orman(bornRotha Beryl Lintorn Orman,7 February 1895 – 10 March 1935) was a British political activist andWorld War Iveteran who founded theBritish Fascisti,the first avowedlyfascistmovement to appear in British politics.
Early life[edit]
Lintorn-Orman was born at 36 Cornwall Gardens inKensington,London,toCharles Edward Orman,a major from theEssex Regiment,and his wife, Blanche (néeSimmons). Her maternal grandfather wasField MarshalSirLintorn Simmons.[2]Upon her grandfather's death in February 1903, Lintorn-Orman's mother inherited the family's immense wealth, since she was likely the only surviving child at the time.[3]Raised inBournemouth,[4]before moving toLiphookat the age of nine, Lintorn-Orman was among the few girls seeking entry into scouting organizations; along with her friendNesta Maude,in 1908, Lintorn-Orman had registered as a Scout troop, using initials rather thanforenames.[5]By 1909, she had led both the first and second BournemouthGirl Guides[4]and she was awarded one of the first of the Girl Guides'Silver Fish Awards.[3]The Orman family adopted the surname of Lintorn-Orman bydeed pollin 1912.[6]
WhenWorld War Ibroke out, Lintorn-Orman joined the war effort as anambulance driver.[7]Initially serving with theWomen's Volunteer Reserve,she was assigned to theScottish Women's Hospital Corps[8][9]and sent to theSerbian frontin 1916.[4][10]During her time in the war, she was, according to a later report in the fascist press, twice decorated with theCroix de Charité,awarded for gallantry in action, for "heroic rescues inSalonica".[11][a]In 1917, she contractedmalariaand returned to London, joining theRed Cross.In 1918, she became Commandant of theBritish Red CrossMotor School atDevonshire House,which put her in charge of training all ambulance drivers for the Red Cross.[12]
Fascism[edit]
Following Lintorn-Orman's war service, she placed an advertisement in the right-wing journalThe Patriotseekinganti-communists.[13]This led to the foundation of theBritish Fascisti(later the British Fascists) in 1923 as a response to the growing strength of theLabour Party,a source of great anxiety for the virulently anti-Communist Lintorn-Orman.[14]She felt Labour was too prone to advocatingclass conflictandinternationalism,two of her pet hates.[15]
Financed by her mother Blanche, Lintorn-Orman's party nonetheless struggled due to her preference for remaining within the law and her continuing ties to the fringes of theConservative Party.[16]Lintorn-Orman was essentially a Tory by inclination but was driven by a strong anti-communism and attached herself to fascism largely because of her admiration forBenito Mussoliniand what she saw as his action-based style of politics.[17]The party was subject to a number of schisms, such as when the moderates led byR. B. D. Blakeneydefected to theOrganisation for the Maintenance of Suppliesduring the1926 General Strikeor when the more radical members resigned to form theNational Fascisti,and ultimately lost members to theImperial Fascist Leagueand theBritish Union of Fascistswhen these groups emerged. Lintorn-Orman wanted nothing to do with the BUF as she considered its leader,Oswald Mosley,to be a near-communist[18]and was particularly appalled by his former membership in the Labour Party.[19]The feelings were reciprocated; Mosley referred to the British Fascists as "three old ladies and a couple of office boys", despite the fact that Lintorn-Orman was only 37-years-old,[20]andMosley's sonclaimed that she got the idea to save Britain from communism one day while she was weeding her kitchen garden.[21]Nonetheless, the BF lost much of its membership to Mosley's party afterNeil Francis Hawkinsleft in favour of the BUF in 1932 after a formal merger was narrowly rejected.[22][23]
Final years[edit]
Lintorn-Orman was dependent on alcohol and drugs, which theHome Officeused to disparage the British Fascists as a fringe movement supported by a mere drug addict,[24]and rumours about her sexual orientation began to damage her reputation.[citation needed]Eventually[when?]her mother stopped funding her after hearing lurid tales of drink, drugs and orgies.[25]Lintorn-Orman was taken ill in 1933 and was sidelined from the British Fascists, as effective control passed toMrs D. G. Harnett,who sought to breathe new life into the group by seeking to ally it withUlster loyalism.[20]
Lintorn-Orman died of an alcohol-related illness at the age of 40 on 10 March 1935 atSanta Brígida, Las Palmas,in theCanary Islands.By then her organisation was all but defunct. She was buried at the English Cemetery inLas Palmas.
References[edit]
Notes[edit]
- ^Gottlieb 2008casts doubt as to the legitimacy of her awards, butThurlow 1987does not.
Citations[edit]
- ^"Rotha Beryl Lintorn Lintorn-Orman".National Portrait Gallery.22 August 1916.Retrieved13 June2024.
- ^
- Gottlieb 2008
- Thurlow 1987,p. 51
- "Blanche Simmons Diary, 1879–1880".David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.Duke University.9 May 2024.Retrieved12 June2024.
- "British Fascist".The Post-Star.Glens Falls, New York.18 April 1933. p. 6.Retrieved14 June2024– viaNewspapers.
- ^abLiphook Guides2013.
- ^abcGottlieb 2008.
- ^Proctor, Tammy M.(2009).Scouting for Girls: A Century of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.ABC-CLIO. p. 5.
- ^"Lintorn-Orman".Bedfordshire Times and Independent.27 December 1912. p. 1.Retrieved1 October2023.
- ^
- ^Durham 2003,p. 216.
- ^Durham 2003,pp. 215–216.
- ^Griffiths 1983,p. 55.
- ^
- Gottlieb 2000,p. 15
- Thurlow 1987,p. 51
- The quote is derived from Thurlow.
- ^
- Griffiths 1983,p. 55
- Thurlow 1987,p. 51
- Liphook Guides2013
- ^Durham 2003,p. 215.
- ^Thurlow 1987,p. 51.
- ^Cole 1964,p. 29.
- ^Thurlow 1987,p. 34.
- ^Thurlow 1987,p. 52.
- ^Dorril 2006,p. 204.
- ^Cole 1964,pp. 39–40.
- ^abGriffiths 1983,p. 58.
- ^Mosley 1982,p. 229.
- ^Benewick 1969,p. 36.
- ^Thurlow 1987,p. 57.
- ^Dorril 2006,p. 198.
- ^Thurlow 1987,p. 56.
Sources[edit]
- "Liphook District Guides".Liphook Guides.7 July 2013. Archived fromthe originalon 7 July 2013.Retrieved14 June2024.
- Benewick, Robert (1969).Political Violence & Public Order: A Study Of British Fascism.London: Penguin Press.
- Cole, J. A. (1964).Lord Haw-Haw: The Fully Story of William Joyce.Bungay, United Kingdom:Richard Clay Ltd. (published 1987).ISBN978-0-571-14860-8.
- Dorril, Stephen(2006).Blackshirt: Sir Oswald Mosley and British Fascism.London: Viking Adult.ISBN0-670-86999-6.
- Durham, Martin (2003). "13. Britain". InPassmore, Kevin(ed.).Women, Gender, and Fascism in Europe, 1919–45.Manchester: Manchester University Press.ISBN0-7190-6083-4.
- Gottlieb, Julie V. (2000).Feminine Fascism: Women in Britain's Fascist Movement.London: I. B. Tauris.ISBN1-86064-544-5.
- Gottlieb, Julie V. (2008) [2005]. "Orman, Rotha Beryl Lintorn Lintorn".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/93720.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
- Griffiths, Richard(17 April 1983).Fellow Travellers of the Right: British Enthusiasts for Nazi Germany 1933–1939.London: Oxford University Press.ISBN9780192851161.
- Mosley, Nicholas(1982).Rules of the Game.London: Fontana Press.ISBN0-00-636644-9.
- Pugh, Martin(2005)."Hurrah for the Blackshirts!": Fascists and Fascism in Britain Between the Wars.London: Vintage.ISBN0-224-06439-8.OCLC60319338.
- Thurlow, Richard(1987).Fascism in Britain.Oxford: Blackwell.ISBN0-631-13618-5.