Sir William Robert Ferdinand Mount, 3rd Baronet,

FRSL The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 600 Fellows, elec ...

(born 2 July 1939), is a British writer, novelist, and columnist for ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'', as well as a political commentator.

Life

Ferdinand Mount, brought up by his parents in the isolated village of Chitterne,

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, began school at the age of eight. He then attended

Greenways Greenway or Greenways may refer to: * Greenway (landscape), a linear park focused on a trail or bike path * Another term for bicycle boulevards in some jurisdictions People * Greenway (surname) Places Australia * Electoral Division of Greenwa ...

and Sunningdale School before

Eton College Eton College () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England, Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. i ...

, after which he went to

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniq ...

. Mount worked at

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

HQ as

Head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals ...

of the

Number 10 Policy Unit The Number 10 Policy Unit is a body of policymakers based in 10 Downing Street, providing policy advice directly to the British Prime Minister. Originally set up to support Harold Wilson in 1974, it has gone through a series of guises to suit the ...

during 1982–83, when

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

was Prime Minister and played a significant part in devising the 1983 general election

manifesto A manifesto is a published declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government. A manifesto usually accepts a previously published opinion or public consensus or promotes a ...

. Mount is regarded as being on the one-nation or "wet" side of the Conservative Party. He succeeded his uncle, Sir William Mount, in the family title as 3rd

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...

in 1993, but prefers to remain known as Ferdinand Mount. For eleven years (1991–2002) he was editor of the ''

Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to '' The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

'', and then became a regular contributor to '' Standpoint'' magazine. He wrote for ''

'', and in 2005 joined ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' as a commentator. He writes for the ''

London Review of Books The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published twice monthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews. History The ''London Review o ...

''. Mount has written novels, including a six-volume novel sequence called ''Chronicle of Modern Twilight'', centring on a low-key character, Gus Cotton; the title alludes to the sequence ''A Chronicle of Ancient Sunlight'' by

Henry Williamson Henry William Williamson (1 December 1895 – 13 August 1977) was an English writer who wrote novels concerned with wildlife, English social history and ruralism. He was awarded the Hawthornden Prize for literature in 1928 for his book ''Tarka ...

, and another sequence entitled ''Tales of History and Imagination''. Volume 5, entitled 'Fairness', was long-listed for the Man Booker Prize in 2001. Sir Ferdinand serves as Chairman of the

Friends of the British Library The Friends of the British Library is a registered charitable organisation in the UK with close links to the British Library. It provides funding in the form of grants to the British Library in order to allow the Library to acquire new items an ...

and was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 600 Fellows, elec ...

(FRSL) in 1991.

Family

The only son of Robert (Robin) Mount, an army officer and amateur steeplechase jockey, and Lady Julia Pakenham, youngest daughter of the 5th Earl of Longford, KP, Ferdinand inherited the

baronetcy A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

from his uncle Lt-Col. Sir William Mount, Bt, TD, DL, who died in 1993, having had three daughters, including Mary Cameron, JP (b. 1934), mother of

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

, former

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

(and Conservative Party leader). The Labour politician

Frank Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford Francis Aungier Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford, 1st Baron Pakenham, Baron Pakenham of Cowley, (5 December 1905 – 3 August 2001), known to his family as Frank Longford and styled Lord Pakenham from 1945 to 1961, was a British politician and ...

, and his brother,

Edward Pakenham, 6th Earl of Longford Edward Arthur Henry Pakenham, 6th Earl of Longford (29 December 1902 – 4 February 1961) was an Irish peer, politician, and ''littérateur''. Also known as Eamon de Longphort, he was a member of the fifth Seanad Éireann, the upper house of th ...

, were Mount's maternal uncles. His maternal aunts were the writers Lady Mary Clive, Lady Pansy Lamb and

Lady Violet Powell Lady Violet Georgiana Powell (''née'' Pakenham; 13 March 1912 – 12 January 2002) was a British writer and critic. Her husband was the author Anthony Powell. Life and career Lady Violet was the third daughter of Thomas Pakenham, 5th Earl ...

, the wife of author

Anthony Powell Anthony Dymoke Powell ( ; 21 December 1905 – 28 March 2000) was an English novelist best known for his 12-volume work ''A Dance to the Music of Time'', published between 1951 and 1975. It is on the list of longest novels in English. Powell' ...

. Sir Ferdinand and his wife, Julia ''née'' Lucas, live in

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ...

; he and Lady Mount have three surviving children, William (b. 1969 and

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

to the

title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...

Harry Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...

(b. 1971, a journalist) and Mary (b. 1972, an editor who is married to Indian writer

Pankaj Mishra Pankaj Mishra FRSL (born 1969) is an Indian essayist and novelist. He was awarded the Windham–Campbell Prize for non-fiction in 2014. Early life and education Mishra was born in Jhansi, India. His father was a railway worker and trade unioni ...

Works

*''Very Like a Whale'' (1967), novel *''The Theatre of Politics'' (1972), *''The Man Who Rode Ampersand'' (1975), novel, (''Chronicle of Modern Twilight – 1'') *''The Clique'' (1978), novel *''The Subversive Family: An Alternative History of Love and Marriage'' (1982) *''The Practice of Liberty'' (1986), novel *''The Selkirk Strip'' (1987), novel, (''Chronicle of Modern Twilight – 2'') *''Of Love and Asthma'' (1991), novel, (''Chronicle of Modern Twilight – 3''), Winner of the Hawthornden Prize 1992 *''Communism: A Times Literary Supplement Companion'' (1992), editor *''The British Constitution Now: Recovery or Decline?'' (1992) *''The Recovery of the Constitution'' (Sovereignty Lectures) (1992) *''Umbrella: A Pacific Tale'' (1994), novel, (''Tales of History and Imagination – 1'') *''The Liquidator'' (1995), novel, (''Chronicle of Modern Twilight – 4'') *''Jem (and Sam): A Revenger's Tale'' (1999), novel, (''Tales of History and Imagination – 2'') *''Fairness'' (2001), novel, (''Chronicle of Modern Twilight – 5'') *''Mind the Gap: Class in Britain Now'' (2004) *''Heads You Win'' (2004), novel, (''Chronicle of Modern Twilight – 6'') *''Private Life 21st Century'' (2006) *''The Condor's Head'' (2007), novel *''Cold Cream: My Early Life and Other Mistakes'' (2009), memoir *''Full Circle: How the Classical World Came Back to Us'' (2010) *''The New Few: Power and Inequality in Britain Now or A Very British Oligarchy'' (2012) *''The Tears of the Rajas: Mutiny, Money and Marriage in India 1805–1905'' (2015) *''English Voices: Lives, Landscapes, Laments'' (2016) *''Prime Movers: From Pericles to Gandhi'' (2018) *''Kiss Myself Goodbye: The Many Lives of Aunt Munca'' (2020) *''Making Nice'' (2021), novel

References

External links

www.spectator.co.uk

www.burkespeerage.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mount, Ferdinand 1939 births Living people People from Islington (district) People educated at Greenways School People educated at Sunningdale School People educated at Eton College Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford 20th-century British novelists 21st-century British novelists Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom British male journalists British male novelists British memoirists British non-fiction writers Daily Mail journalists The Daily Telegraph people London Evening Standard people The Sunday Times people Conservative Party (UK) politicians Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature

Ferdinand Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "protection", "peace" (PIE "to love, to make peace") or alternatively "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "co ...

Life

Family

Works

See also

References

External links