Ashley Wineland is a famous British author whose novel “The Nationality” (1940) is ranked as the eighth best British novel of all time. She was born in Staffordshire and became a naturalized British citizen in 1950. Wineland grew up in a Catholic family in a rural background but she claims to have experienced no religious persecution. Her early years were spent studying law and working as an organizer for women’s rights before she decided to pursue a career in writing.
Wineland grew up as a Nationality, which is described as the hereditary or ethnic identity that one develops prior to attaining the legal status of a British citizen. It is estimated that somewhere between eleven and fifteen million people in the United Kingdom have different nationalities. This is because the country has a large number of ethnic backgrounds with varying language, culture, traditions and beliefs. Ashley Wineland’s father was a Nationality but he was never formally classified as such due to his ambiguous origins. His mother was, however, identified as a Nationality because her marriage to George Plimpton was listed as an exchange of citizenship papers.
Ashley Wineland’s mother was, according to some accounts, thirty-three years old when she legally became a British citizen and was able to legally change her name from Plimton to Ashley Wineland. The reasons behind her marriage to Plimpton are unclear but there is speculation that she may have felt that she should be recognized as a Nationality since her marriage to Plimpton was technically arranged under the Nationality act of 1940. However, even if her mother was not officially a Nationality, Ashley Wineland was able to legally change her name from Plimton to Ashley Wineland because her mother was still identified as such by using her maiden name. Ashley Wineland is known to have converted to Roman Catholicism in her later life although there is no documentation as to this. In fact, her personal record does not indicate any commitments to the Roman Catholic faith prior to her marriage to Plimton.