George Pitt-Rivers and the Nazis

249 Pages·2015·2.47 MB·English

by  Churchill

George Pitt-Rivers
and the Nazis

George Pitt-Rivers
and the Nazis
BRADLEY W. HART
Bloomsbury Academic
An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
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First published 2015
© Bradley W. Hart, 2015
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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: HB: 978-1-4725-6995-0
PB: 978-1-4725-6994-3
ePDF: 978-1-4725-6996-7
ePub: 978-1-4725-6997-4
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hart, Bradley W.
George Pitt-Rivers and the Nazis/Bradley W. Hart.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4725-6995-0 (hardback) – ISBN 978-1-4725-6994-3 (paperback) –
ISBN 978-1-4725-6996-7 (ePDF) – ISBN 978-1-4725-6997-4 (ePub) 1. Pitt-Rivers, George
Henry Lane Fox, 1890–1966. 2. Pitt-Rivers, George Henry Lane Fox, 1890-1966–
Political and social views. 3. Anthropologists–Great Britain–Biography. 4. Gentry–Great
Britain–Biography. 5. Politicians–Great Britain–Biography. 6. Eugenics–Great Britain–
History–20th century. 7. Fascism–Great Britain–History–20th century. 8. Antisemitism–
Great Britain–History–20th century. 9. Churchill, Clementine, 1885-1977–Family.
10. Great Britain–Politics and government–1936-1945. I. Title.
DA566.9.P55H37 2015
942.3'32082092 – dc23
[B]
2014047442
Typeset by Integra Software Services Pvt. Ltd.
For Val and Anthony

CONTENTS
List of Illustrations viii
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction 1
1 A World Destroyed 9
2 From Nietzsche to the Antipodes 27
3 Australia and the Science of Man 43
4 Eugenics and the Science of Population 67
5 Becky and the Nazis 91
6 ‘My dear cousin Clementine’ 121
7 A World Destroyed, Again 153
Afterword: A Life of Contradictions 175
Notes 181
Bibliography 217
Index 230
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Figure 3.1 Pitt-Rivers taking anthropological notes in
the South Pacific, 1921 (courtesy Churchill
Archives Centre/Pitt-Rivers family). 51
Figure 3.2 Pitt-Rivers travelling to conduct field
research, 1921 (courtesy Churchill Archives
Centre/Pitt-Rivers family). 52
Figure 5.1 Pitt-Rivers and Catherine Sharpe in
Spain, 1936 (courtesy Churchill Archives
Centre/Pitt-Rivers family). 112
Figure 6.1 Adolf Hitler at the 1937 Nuremberg
Rally, as photographed by Pitt-Rivers
(courtesy Churchill Archives Centre/
Pitt-Rivers family). 127
Figure 6.2 Catherine Taylor (née Sharpe) and Lance
Taylor following their marriage in Cape
Town, 1939 (courtesy Michael Taylor). 140
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Any project acquires a number of debts along the way, and the present
work has incurred more than most. First, and most importantly, this book
would have been impossible without the incredible generosity of Anthony
and Valerie Pitt-Rivers, to whom it is gratefully dedicated. From my first
contact with them in 2009, they have shown me incredible kindness and
in 2010 made the decision to donate the George Pitt-Rivers archive to the
Churchill Archives Centre, Cambridge. These materials have provided the
archival base for this book and will undoubtedly feature in the work of
other scholars over the years and decades to come. In addition, Mr Pitt-
Rivers made an extraordinary effort to help me during my research and
writing, saving me from many mistakes along the way and giving me
context beyond the archival materials themselves.
In a similar vein, others have shown immense kindness along the way
as well. Michael Taylor kindly allowed me access to materials related
to his mother’s life and career that were hugely valuable. The discovery
of the South African aspect of this project relatively late in the research
process has added an unexpected and entirely new dimension of interest,
and I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to tell this important part
of the story.
This project also relied on access to a number of archives and collections
in the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany and elsewhere. Allen
Packwood and his outstanding staff at the Churchill Archives Centre not
only took in the Pitt-Rivers collection when it was offered but also did
an outstanding job with its preservation. Thanks to their efforts, these
materials will be available to researchers in perpetuity. In addition,
Churchill College once again became my home for much of this research,
and I am grateful to the former master, Sir David Wallace, and the fellows
of the college for granting me a visiting by-fellowship during Easter
Term 2014. Without support from the Archives Centre and the College,
this project would never have been completed.
There are many others to thank as well. My doctoral supervisor,
Sir Richard J. Evans, made many helpful suggestions over the years
that gave me both wider perspectives on my work and taught me
how to write history. Richard Carr read early drafts of this work and