An illustrated presentation for the launch of a book by William Cross, FSA Scot about life & times of The Honourable Thomas Freeman-Mitford ( 1909-1945), the only brother of the infamous Mitford Sisters, Nancy, Pam, Diana, Unity, Jessica and Deborah.

Tom was educated at Eton College and studied law and music in pre WW2 Austria and Germany. Later he was a barrister, Judge and soldier. He was killed by a sniper’s bullet in Burma 80 years ago this year, fighting the Japanese.

A handsome charmer and seducer of both sexes, Tom lived life to the full, yet he was a brooding personality in the shadow of his heady, grasping sisters. He always acted to protect and save their skins and mend their troubled affairs.

Tom was a skilled advocate, strategist and role player. He seemed to side equally with his sisters, despite their many differences, twisting one way and another in favour of their opposing camps in order to calm things over. Hence the book’s sub-title.

Tom takes centre stage in the story line but the talk also weaves in the profiles of his sisters and their controversial exploits in love, marriage, politics and in their topsy-turvy relationships with their parents and each other.