Rotha Lintorn-Orman

Rotha Beryl Lintorn-Orman (1895-1935) was a pioneer for women in British politics who went on to found the earliest British Fascist movement.

Related Topics:
1895 - 1935 - British politics - Fascist

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Born in Somerset, the daughter of a Field Marshal, she served in World War I as a member of the Women?s Reserve Ambulance. In these early years she developed a strong sense of British nationalism, and became a staunch monarchist and imperialist. She continued her work in the field of military medicine after the war, becoming head of the Red Cross Motor School to train drivers in the battlefield.

Related Topics:
Somerset - Field Marshal - World War I - Nationalism - Monarchist - Imperialist - Red Cross

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Following her war service, she founded the British Fascisti in 1923 as a response to the growing strength of the Labour Party, a source of great anxiety for the virulently anti-Communist Linton-Orman. Bank-rolled by her mother, Linton-Orman's movement nonetheless struggled due to her prefernce for remaining within the law and her continuing ties to the fringes of the Conservative Party. The movement was subject to a number of splits, such as when the more radical members left to form the National Fascisti, and ultimately lost members to the Imperial Fascist League and the British Union of Fascists when these groups emerged.

Related Topics:
British Fascisti - 1923 - Labour Party - Anti-Communist - Conservative Party - National Fascisti - Imperial Fascist League - British Union of Fascists

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Rumours about her private life began to damage her reputation, until her mother cut off her founding amid lurid tales of alcohol, drugs and orgies. She died in March 1935, with the British Fascists all but defunct.

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