Cliveden set
18 People in sitter grouping:
In November 1937, Claud Cockburn, editor of The Week, wrote and published a damning report on what he saw as the pro-German activities of Waldorf Astor, his wife, the politician Vicountess Nancy Astor and their circle of friends. He alleged that the group, who where often hosted by the Astors at their country residence, Cliveden in Buckinghamshire, were using their close political connections and media power (Waldorf owned The Observer) to influence the British Government into a policy of appeasement with Nazi Germany. Cockburn's article, accusing the Astors and their circle, was published just as the tide of public feeling was turning against appeasement, consequently, the story was picked up and embellished by newspapers all over the world, with the phrase 'The Cliveden Set' coined by another British publication. There remains, however, no evidence that the group acted in any way to actively distort British foreign policy, although some did hold pro-appeasement values, and Cockburn's theories are generally disregarded today.

Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor
1879-1964Conservative politician; MP for Plymouth Sutton; former wife of R.G. Shaw, and later wife of 2nd Viscount Astor; daughter of Chiswell Dabney Langhorne
Sitter in 39 portraits

Robert McGowan Barrington-Ward
1891-1948Journalist; editor of The Times and army officer, Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry
Sitter in 7 portraits

Robert Henry Brand, 1st Baron Brand of Eydon
1878-1963Director of Lloyds Bank Ltd
Sitter in 3 portraits

Sir Henri Wilhelm August Deterding
1866-1939Director General of Royal Dutch Petroleum
Sitter in 4 portraits

Montagu Collet Norman, 1st Baron Norman
1871-1950Governor of the Bank of England
Sitter in 3 portraits

John Allsebrook Simon, 1st Viscount Simon
1873-1954Statesman and Lord Chancellor
Sitter in 35 portraits

Josiah Charles Stamp, 1st Baron Stamp of Shortlands
1880-1941Economist, financier and statistician
Sitter in 25 portraits

Samuel John Gurney Hoare, Viscount Templewood
1880-1959Politician and Ambassador; Foreign Secretary
Sitter in 16 portraits