Betjeman
Page 32
I knew he was worried about Elizabeth … CLG II, p. 552
People kept expecting him … Deborah Devonshire to author, 24 October 2005
There is surely a sort of parable … Motion, Philip Larkin, p. 515
I wish you wouldn’t worry about me … CLG II, p. 581
I know that at that point … ibid.
His fear of death seemed to go … Elizabeth Cavendish to John Gaskell, June 1984
I truly think that those last months … BP, Elizabeth Cavendish to Billa Harrod
In 1975 … JB to Roy Plomley, 5 March 1975, author’s collection
the poignancy of sitting … James Lees-Milne, diary, 22 May 1984, Holy Dread, John Murray, 2001, p. 169
the blinding charm. The blinding charm … Deborah Devonshire to author, October 2005
I think I might never come back from this trip … Imogen Lycett Green, Grandmother’s Footsteps, p. 354. All subsequent details of Penelope’s death and funeral come from this source.
Acknowledgements
Alas! Many of those who have told me most, over the years, about Betjeman were dead before I began the formal research for this book. The more I have continued with my research, I have realised that it was a book which I have been writing, or preparing to write, ever since I became obsessed by Betjeman as a teenager. It has been my good fortune to have known several of his friends quite well, and to have met many others. One of the immediately noticeable things about Betjeman’s friends was how frequently, and affectionately, they spoke about him. I list my debt to the following, some still with us, though many are on a brighter shore. All of them in different ways have helped me – Anthony Adolph, Anthony Barnes, Alan Bennett, Lily Betjeman, Paul Betjeman, Maurice Bowra, Glynn and Carrie Boyd-Harte, Elizabeth Cavendish, David Cecil, Hugh Cecil, Jonathan Cecil, Michael and Joan Constantinidis, Caroline Dawnay, Deborah Devonshire, Katherine Duncan-Jones, James and Maggie Fergusson, Donald Findlay, Alastair Forbes, Antonia Fraser, John Gaskell, Michael Gillingham, John Guest, Ruth Guilding, Desmond Guiness, Eve de Harlen, Billa Harrod, Dominick Harrod, Henry Harrod, Selina Hastings (especial thanks for reading the typescript and improving it), Mark Heathcoat Amory, Susan Hussey, Richard Ingrams, Gerard Irvine, Eric James, Julian Jebb, Kathryn Johnson, Monica Jones, Lucy Lambton, to whom I owe a special debt because she took me to Radnor Walk to meet the great man, Philip Larkin, Deirdre Levi, John Lucas, Princess Margaret, Hugh Montefiore, Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd also suggested I wrote this book and persuaded Candida Lycett Green to commission it, Diana Mosley, Jock Murray, Tory Oaksey, Robin Penna, John and Myfanwy Piper, Anthony Powell, Alan Pryce-Jones, Peter Quennell, A. L. Rowse, Robert Runcie, Anne Scott James, Gavin Stamp, Michael Thomas, Rachel Trickett, Bron and Teresa Waugh, Rowan Williams, Sharon Wilson, Stephen Wilson.
All those helped in some way or another, either with an actual memory of Betjeman, or by giving me letters, or by some particular perception or insight. Candida Lycett Green gave help of a different order. In her house at Uffington, she assembled a Betjeman archive sans pareil which has now been moved to the Tom Brown Museum, Uffington. She has photocopied not only the Betjeman holding at the McPherson Library of the University of Victoria, British Columbia, but also relevant papers from many other sources, of which I found the Osbert Lancaster Archive at Lincoln College, and the Tom Driberg at Christ Church, Oxford, especially helpful. Her husband Rupert Lycett Green, as well as tolerating my constant presence in the attic, prepared delicious lunches, and children and grandchildren, both in Uffington and in Cornwall, helped with my Betjemanic preoccupations.
Amy Boyle, with her usual patience, efficiency and good humour, typed and retyped. Jenny Overton was a model and observant editor. James Nightingale, ever kind and unflappable, saw the book into production. The staff at the British Library, those who work in the Manuscript Room, and in the other reading rooms, and in the copying service, were all exemplary in their professionalism. Thanks too to the staff of the Bodleian Library, the Marylebone Public Library and the London Library.
Illustrations
Ernie Betjemann & Bess Betjemann (Courtesy of the John Betjeman Estate)
John Betjemann (Courtesy of the John Betjeman Estate)
Summoned by Bells typescript (Courtesy of the John Betjeman Estate/British Library Add 71645)
Sketches for Summoned by Bells (Courtesy of the John Betjeman Estate/British Library Add 71645)
JB’s sketch of St James’s church, Holloway (Courtesy of the John Betjeman Estate/British Library Add 71656)
JB as a schoolboy (Courtesy of the John Betjeman Estate)
JB with Bosie and Nancy Mitford (Courtesy of the John Betjeman Estate)
JB at Magdalen (Courtesy of the John Betjeman Estate)
Osbert Lancaster (Courtesy of Anne Scott-James)
Father Freddy Hood (Courtesy of Candida Lycett Green)
Colonel Kolkhorst
Maurice Bowra (National Portrait Gallery, London)
Letter from JB to Nancy Mitford (Courtesy of Candida Lycett Green)
JB’s sketch of Archibald and Jumbo (Courtesy of the John Betjeman Estate/British Library Add 71645)
Pamela Mitford (Courtesy of Desmond Guinness)
Penelope Chetwode (Courtesy of Candida Lycett Green)
JB and Penelope (Courtesy of Candida Lycett Green)
Wilhelmine ‘Billa’ Cresswell (Courtesy of Henry Harrod)
The Chetwodes (Courtesy of Candida Lycett Green)
Moti at Garrad’s Farm (Courtesy of Candida Lycett Green)
Penelope, Moti, Robert Heber-Percy and Evelyn Waugh (Courtesy of Candida Lycett Green)
JB and Moti (Courtesy of Candida Lycett Green)
‘Summer is icumen in’ by Osbert Lancaster (Reproduced by permission of Anne Lancaster)
Lady Mary Lygon, Robert Heber-Percy, Penelope and Lord Berners (Courtesy of Candida Lycett Green)
JB’s sketch of a Berkshire landscape (Courtesy of the John Betjeman Estate/British Library Add 71656)
John Piper (Courtesy of the John Betjeman Estate)
Myfanwy Piper (Courtesy of the John Betjeman Estate)
JB’s sketch of St Mary’s, Castle Street, Reading (Courtesy of the John Betjeman Estate/British Library Add 71656)
Peter Quennell (Cecil Beaton/Sotheby’s Picture Library)
JB’s sketch of St Paul’s, Avenue Road, Swiss Cottage (Courtesy of the John Betjeman Estate/British Library Add 71656)
JB’s sketch of Arkwright Mansions (Courtesy of the John Betjeman Estate/British Library Add 71656)
St Cyprian’s Church, London
Ninian Comper (Courtesy of Candida Lycett Green)
JB’s sketch of the Chetwodes’ London house, St John’s Wood (Courtesy of the John Betjeman Estate/British Library Add 71656)
JB’s sketches of Penelope and Candida (Courtesy of the John Betjeman Estate/British Library Add 71656)
JB’s sketch of railings in West Hampstead (Courtesy of the John Betjeman Estate/British Library Add 71656)
JB’s sketch of dustbin and door (Courtesy of the John Betjeman Estate/British Library Add 71656)
JB’s sketch of a German Pietà (Courtesy of the John Betjeman Estate/British Library Add 71656)
JB’s baroque sketch (Courtesy of the John Betjeman Estate/British Library Add 71656)
Diana Mitford (Getty Images)
JB on a swing (Courtesy of Candida Lycett Green)
Jill Menzies (Courtesy of the John Betjeman Estate)
Portrait of Lady Elizabeth Cavendish by Lucian Freud (Reproduced by permission of the Chatsworth Settlement Trustees. Photograph by John Riddy)
Elizabeth Cavendish (Courtesy of Candida Lycett Green)
Jill Balcon, Christopher Fry, David Cecil, JB (Courtesy of Candida Lycett Green)
JB’s sketch of Elizabeth on a train (Courtesy of Candida Lycett Green)
T.S. Eliot (Getty Images)
Portrait of Lady Mary Cecil by Lucian Freud (Reproduced by permission of the Chatsworth Settlement Trustees. P
hotograph by John Riddy)
JB in France (Courtesy of Anne Barnes)
Elizabeth, Anne Barnes, George Barnes, JB (Courtesy of Anne Barnes)
JB writing (Courtesy of Anne Barnes)
JB by car (Courtesy of Candida Lycett Green)
Tony Armstrong Jones and Elizabeth (Courtesy of Candida Lycett Green)
JB’s sketch of bedroom window, Wantage (Courtesy of the John Betjeman Estate/British Library Add 71646)
JB’s sketch of Penelope (Courtesy of the John Betjeman Estate/British Library Add 71656)
JB and Penelope dressed for Princess Margaret’s wedding (Courtesy of Candida Lycett Green)
Opening page of Summoned by Bells (Courtesy of the John Betjeman Estate/British Library Add 71645)
Philip Larkin (Fay Godwin/National Portrait Gallery, London)
JB and Penelope (Courtesy of Candida Lycett Green)
Barry Humphries (Courtesy of Candida Lycett Green)
St Endellion Church, Cornwall
John Osborne (Getty Images)
Rupert and Candida Lycett Green’s wedding day (Courtesy of Candida Lycett Green)
Paul Betjeman (Courtesy of Candida Lycett Green)
JB looking at spires (Courtesy of Candida Lycett Green)
JB’s sketch of a station (Courtesy of the John Betjeman Estate/British Library Add 71656)
JB’s sketch of Elizabeth abroad (Courtesy of the John Betjeman Estate/British Library Add 71645)
JB with The Queen Mother (Courtesy of Candida Lycett Green)
JB in archway (Courtesy of Candida Lycett Green)
JB with Rupert Lycett Green and grandchildren (Courtesy of Candida Lycett Green)
Portrait of Deborah Devonshire by Pietro Annigoni (© The Devonshire Collection, Chatsworth. Reproduced by the permission of the Chatsworth Settlement Trustees)
Penelope in India (Courtesy of Candida Lycett Green)
Every effort has been made to contact all copyright holders. The publishers will be glad to make good in any future editions any errors or omissions brought to their attention.
Index
The index that appeared in the print version of this title does not match the pages in your eBook. Please use the search function on your eReading device to search for terms of interest. For your reference, the terms that appear in the print index are listed below.
A.
Acton, (Sir) Harold
Acton, William
Adams, Vasey, Ralph and Alastair
Admiralty: JB works for ‘P’ branch in war
All Hallows’ Church, Lombard Street, London
Amende, May
Amis, (Sir) Kingsley
Anderson, Horace
Andrew, Horace Victor
Angus, Peggy see Richards, Peggy
Arber, Father (of Holy Trinity, Gas Street)
Archibald (teddy bear)
Architectural Review: JB works and writes for; and modernism; Piper writes for
Armstrong-Jones, Antony see Snowdon, st Earl of
Armstrong-Jones, Ronald
Arnold, Matthew
Ashbee, C.R.
Asprey, Philip Rolls
Asprey’s (company)
Astor, Michael
Atkinson, Robert
Attlee, Clement (later 1st Earl)
Auden, Wystan Hugh: at Oxford; poetic style; schoolteaching; stays with Betjemans at Uffington; Carpenter’s biography of
Austen, Jane
Austin, Alfred
Australia: JB first visits (1961); JB’s film making in (1971)
B.
Balfour, Patrick see Kinross, 3rd Baron
Baring, Anne
Baring, Molly
Barman, Christian
Barnes, Anne
Barnes, Anthony (‘Little Prawls’)
Barnes, George: influence on JB; as Director of Television at BBC; introduces JB to Mottistone; signs up JB for BBC TV programmes; moves to Keele; cancer and death
Bath: JB’s Admiralty post in
Batsford, Sir Brian
Bauhaus
Bawden, Edward
Beaverbrook, William Maxwell Aitken, 1st Baron
Beddington, Jack
Bedford Park, London
Beerbohm, Sir Max
Belfast, University of
Bell, George Kennedy Allen, Bishop of Chichester
Belloc, Hilaire
Bennett, Alan
Berlin, Sir Isaiah
Berners, Gerald Hugh Tyrwhitt-Wilson, 14th Baron
Berry, Mary see Higgins, Molly
Berry, Lady Pamela (née Smith)
Betjemann, Bess (Mabel Bessie; née Dawson; JB’s mother): background; death; visits to Cornwall; in Chelsea; marriage relations; and JB’s correspondence with Lord Alfred Douglas; home life; attends JB’s wedding; and sale of family business; JB stays with in war; religious observance
Betjemann, Ernest Edward (JB’s father): JB’s relations with; reads Goldsmith’s Deserted Village to JB as boy; accent; background and career; marriage; burial in Highgate Cemetery; visits to Cornwall; and JB’s bullying as child; encourages JB’s love of books; marriage relations; mistresses and supposed second family; and JB’s correspondence with Lord Alfred Douglas; and JB’s difficulties at Oxford; home life; arranges employment for JB with marine insurers; attends JB’s wedding; death and will; professional and private life; religious observance
Betjemann, G. & Sons. (cabinet-makers)
Betjeman, George (JB’s great-grandfather)
Betjeman, Sir John: in old age in Chelsea; Parkinson’s disease; melancholia; relations with son and daughter; depicted in Osborne’s Inadmissible Evidence; self-doubts; sexual orientation; celebrity and popularity; devotion to Church of England; popularity as poet; schooling in Highgate; political idiosyncracies; family origins and name; birth; juvenile poetry; love of and burial in Cornwall; manner as child; poetic influences on; attends Dragon School, Oxford; amateur theatricals; early eccentricity; book collecting; church visiting; at Marlborough College; estrangement from father; sketching; religious awakening; at Oxford; declines to take over family business; religious observances and churchgoing; social ambitions; student journalism at Oxford; fails Oxford exam and rusticated; schoolteaching; animus against C.S. Lewis; offers Welsh as language at Oxford; relations with Waugh; as secretary to Sir Horace Plunkett; in Bryan Guinness circle; hymn-singing; nature of humour; love poetry; romances and love affairs; embraces Quakerism; employed by Architectural Review; converted to modernism in architecture; first meets Penelope; relations with Penelope; engagement to Billa Cresswell; marriage to Penelope; rents house in Uffington; religious commitment and belief; commuting from Berkshire to London; journalism and reviewing; experience at father’s death; life pattern corresponds with father’s; qualities and characteristics as poet; as preservationist and conservationist; architectural tastes and interests; pacifist doubts; serves in Observer Corps; wartime employment; as press attaché in Dublin during war; supposed IRA assassination plans for; learns Gaelic; affair with Alice Jennings; employed by Admiralty in war; affair with Honor Tracy; car ownership and motoring; moves to Old Rectory, Farnborough; post with British Council in Oxford; finances; hostility to Labour government; and Penelope’s conversion to Roman Catholicism; travels around Britain; Waugh attacks religious beliefs; radio broadcasts; relations with Margaret Wintringham; sympathy for others in disgrace; fondness for Jill Menzies; meets and falls in love with Elizabeth Cavendish; notion of ideal woman; moves to Wantage; speaking engagements; friendship with Devonshire family; television broadcasts and films; holiday in France with Barneses; devotion to friends; liaison with and devotion to Elizabeth; gives Burges washstand to Waugh; depicted in Waugh’s Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold; accomplishments in later life; fear of death; rents and occupies house in Cloth Fair; hospital visiting at Bart’s; protests at inadequate fees for broadcasting; appears on Desert Island Discs; in Rotherhithe Street; wins Duff Cooper Memorial Prize (1958); as Poet in Residence at University of Cincinnati; le
tter of rebuke from Penelope; golfing; friendship with and admiration for Larkin; buys Treen (house), Trebetherick; in Australia (1961); nostalgia; recalls music-hall; correspondence; exhibitionism; attracted to celebrities; employs clergymen as secretaries; rewrites Shell Guide to Cornwall; discontinues Shell Guides; serves on committees; holidays abroad with Elizabeth; poem on investiture of Prince of Wales; knighthood; film making in Australia (1971); poetry declines; becomes Poet Laureate; leaves Wantage and separates from Penelope; memorial service in Westminster Abbey; drinking; visits Penelope at Cusop; moves to house in Radnor Walk; assessed at poet; persecution mania; poems set to music and recorded by Jim Parker; health decline and ageing; heart attack (1978); guilt over Penelope and Paul; later relations with son Paul; suffers heart attack and stroke (September 1983); death and funeral; estate;
Works: Archie and the Strict Baptists; ‘The Arrest of Oscar Wilde at the Cadogan Hotel’; ‘City’; ‘Civilised Women’; ‘The Cockney Amorist; Collected Poems (1958); Collins Guide to English Parish Churches (ed.); ‘Death of King George V’; ‘Death in Leamington’; English, Scottish and Welsh Landscape (ed. with Geoffrey Taylor); ‘Eunice’; ‘Felixstowe, or The Last of Her Order’; A Few Late Chrysanthemums; ‘The Flight from Bootle’; ‘The Garden City’; ‘Harrow-on-the-Hill’; ‘Harvest Hymn’; ‘In a Bath Tea-shop’; ‘In the Public Garden’; ‘In Westminster Abbey’; ‘In Willesden Churchyard’; ‘Inland Waterway’; ‘Ireland with Emily’; ‘Late-Flowering Lust’; ‘Lenten Thoughts of a High Anglican’; Mount Zion; ‘Myfanwy’; ‘Myfanwy at Oxford’; A Nip in the Air; Old Lights for New Chancels; An Oxford University Chest; ‘Parliament Hill Fields’; Pity About the Abbey (play, with Stewart Farrer); ‘St Aloysius Church, Oxford’; ‘Senex’; ‘A Seventeenth-Century Lyric’; ‘Shattered Image’; ‘A Shropshire Lad’; ‘A Subaltern’s Love Song’ (‘Joan Hunter Dunn’); Summoned by Bells: allusions to T.S. Eliot; on relations with father; and spelling of surname; on childhood; on being beaten at school; on visiting churches; on life at Marlborough; on homo-sexual attraction; on life at Oxford; on not taking over family firm; writing; on religious belief; publication and reception; on exhibitionism; ‘To the Crazy Gang’; ‘Youth and Age on Beaulieu River, Hants’