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Rotha Lintorn-Orman | |
|---|---|
 Lintorn-Orman, pictured on 22 August 1916[1] | |
| Born | Rotha Beryl Lintorn Orman 7 February 1895 |
| Died | 10 March 1935(1935-03-10) (aged 40) Santa Brígida,Canary Islands, Spain |
| Organisation | British Fascists |
| 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 and First World War veteran who founded theBritish Fascists, the first avowedlyfascist movement to appear in British politics.
Lintorn-Orman was born at 36,Cornwall Gardens,South Kensington, London, toCharles Edward Orman, a major from theEssex Regiment, and his wife, Blanche Orman (née Simmons). Her maternal grandfather wasField Marshal, SirLintorn 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] The Orman family adopted the surname of Lintorn-Orman bydeed poll in 1912.[4]
Raised inBournemouth inHampshire,[5] before moving toLiphook, Hampshire, at the age of nine, Lintorn-Orman was among the few girls seeking entry into scouting organisations; along with her friendNesta Maude, in 1908, Lintorn-Orman had registered as a Scout troop, using initials rather thanforenames.[6] By 1909, she had led both the first and second BournemouthGirl Guides[5] and she was awarded one of the first of the Girl Guides'Silver Fish Awards in 1911.[3]
When theFirst World War broke 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 front in 1916.[5][10] During her time in the war, she was, according to a later report in the fascist press, twice decorated with theCroix de Charité [fr], awarded for gallantry in action, for "heroic rescues inSalonica".[11][a] In 1917, she contractedmalaria and returned to London, joining theRed Cross. In 1918, she became Commandant of theBritish Red Cross Motor School atDevonshire House, which put her in charge of training all ambulance drivers for the Red Cross.[12]
Following Lintorn-Orman's war service, she placed an advertisement in the right-wing journalThe Patriot seekinganti-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 conflict andinternationalism, these being two political positions she strongly opposed.[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 Mussolini and 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. Blakeney defected to theOrganisation for the Maintenance of Supplies during the1926 General Strike or when the more radical members resigned to form theNational Fascisti, and ultimately lost members to theImperial Fascist League and theBritish Union of Fascists when 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 son claimed 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 Hawkins left in favour of the BUF in 1932 after a formal merger was narrowly rejected.[22][23]
Lintorn-Orman was dependent on alcohol and drugs, which theHome Office used 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.[25] In 1933, her mother stopped funding her after hearing lurid tales of drink, drugs and orgies.[26][27] The same year, Lintorn-Orman was taken ill 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.
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