Michael Pitt-Rivers
| Michael Pitt-Rivers | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Michael Augustus Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers May 27, 1917 |
| Died | December 1999 (aged 82) |
| Residence | The Rushmore Estate |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Landowner |
| Known for | Being a defendant in the 1954 Montague trial |
| Criminal charge | "Conspiracy to incite certain male persons to commit serious offences with male persons" |
| Criminal penalty | 18 months imprisonment |
| Spouse(s) |
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| Partner(s) | William Davis |
| Parent(s) |
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| Relatives | Julian A. Pitt-Rivers (1919–2001) brother |
Major Michael Augustus Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers (27 May 1917 – December 1999) was a West Country landowner who gained notoriety in Britain in the 1950s when he was put on trial charged with buggery. This trial was instrumental in bringing public attention—and opposition—to the laws against homosexuality as they then stood.
Pitt-Rivers was the son of Captain George Henry Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers and the Hon. Emily Rachel Forster, who died in 1979. A West Country landowner and conservationist of colourful antecedents, his great-grandfather was Lt-Gen A.H. Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers whose ethnographic collection, donated to Oxford University in 1883, formed the basis of the Pitt Rivers Museum named after him. He served in World War II, and in 1946 gained the substantive rank of Captain.
In the summer of 1953, Lord Montagu of Beaulieu offered his friend Peter Wildeblood the use of a beach hut near his country estate. Wildeblood brought with him two young RAF servicemen, Edward McNally and John Reynolds. The four were joined by Montagu's cousin Michael Pitt-Rivers. At the subsequent trial, the two airmen turned Queen's Evidence and claimed there had been dancing and "abandoned behaviour" at the gathering. Wildeblood said that it had in fact been "extremely dull". Montagu claimed that it was all remarkably innocent, saying: "We had some drinks, we danced, we kissed, that's all."
Arrested on 9 January 1954, in March of that year Pitt-Rivers was brought before the British courts, charged with "conspiracy to incite certain male persons to commit serious offences with male persons" or "buggery".
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