Some Curious Members Of My Family
On my father's side I have the pleasure of having descended from a splendidly eccentric collection of odd-balls. My Great Grandfather and Grandfather, who were Grant Duffs, were variously governors of the Bank of England, Honorary Colonels-in-Chief of that wonderful Scottish regiment, the Black Watch, oh, and also The Baron Monkswell, the current holder of that title being my cousin Gerard, who upon entering the House of Lords made it possible for a bunch of militant feminists to abseil into the chamber of the House of Commons during a sitting. His father, Larry Collier - a splendid bloke who I was very fond of - was one of the very curious British things, a lord and a Communist, and only felt able to sit in the House of Lords as it gave him a chance to actively pursue his aims as a life long Communist. Well, like many British Communists, he left the Communist party in 1956 when the Russians violently invaded Hungary and suppressed the move of the Hungarians to move awa...