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 away from Communism.
He is also notable for his work in the '30's in helping refugees escape from Nazi Germany - by the simple expedient of marrying them, getting them to Britain, ensuring that they thus became British citizens, and then divorcing them. I gather he managed this a number of times. Trump would love him!
And my favourite, Granny Lilly as she was known in the family, was a wonderful woman, whom I had the good fortune to know before she died. She started out as a Lady-in-waiting to Queen Victoria then became active in the fledgling British Communist party, where, as with most of her kids, she remained an active member until 1956, when much disillusioned, she left the party. One of her most notable feats was during a Communist International in Geneva in the '20's where it was solemnly decided that good Communists should support and practice free-love, she stood up and announced that she had been practicing this for years, and thought it was a splendid idea - this went down like a lead balloon with the others there, as they approved of the idea, but in reality, not the practice.
She was also notable for climbing a mountain in Crete with Bertrand Russell (an unlikely pair if there ever was one!), which was renamed in her honour by the Cretans as Mount Lilly, which I believe it still is called.
Furthermore, she chain smoked Woodbines, a very cheap and nasty cigarette, and used to stay in the Dorchester Hotel when in London, always taking a room that overlooked Park Lane, a very "posh" street in the centre of London. Here she used to wash her underwear and hang it out of the window over Park Lane to dry... A real no no as far as the hotel bosses were concerned, but no one dared to try and stop her doing this, as she was capable of being very much the Grand Dame at need.
A lovely, kind and superbly eccentric woman who was much loved by all who knew her - apart from the owners of the Dorchester perhaps.
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 away from Communism.
He is also notable for his work in the '30's in helping refugees escape from Nazi Germany - by the simple expedient of marrying them, getting them to Britain, ensuring that they thus became British citizens, and then divorcing them. I gather he managed this a number of times. Trump would love him!
And my favourite, Granny Lilly as she was known in the family, was a wonderful woman, whom I had the good fortune to know before she died. She started out as a Lady-in-waiting to Queen Victoria then became active in the fledgling British Communist party, where, as with most of her kids, she remained an active member until 1956, when much disillusioned, she left the party. One of her most notable feats was during a Communist International in Geneva in the '20's where it was solemnly decided that good Communists should support and practice free-love, she stood up and announced that she had been practicing this for years, and thought it was a splendid idea - this went down like a lead balloon with the others there, as they approved of the idea, but in reality, not the practice.
She was also notable for climbing a mountain in Crete with Bertrand Russell (an unlikely pair if there ever was one!), which was renamed in her honour by the Cretans as Mount Lilly, which I believe it still is called.
Furthermore, she chain smoked Woodbines, a very cheap and nasty cigarette, and used to stay in the Dorchester Hotel when in London, always taking a room that overlooked Park Lane, a very "posh" street in the centre of London. Here she used to wash her underwear and hang it out of the window over Park Lane to dry... A real no no as far as the hotel bosses were concerned, but no one dared to try and stop her doing this, as she was capable of being very much the Grand Dame at need.
A lovely, kind and superbly eccentric woman who was much loved by all who knew her - apart from the owners of the Dorchester perhaps.
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