The Evelyn Waugh Circle

The Evelyn Waugh Circle Acton, Sir Harold (1904-94), of Anglo-American parentage, was at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford and spent most of his life at the family horne, La Pietra, near Florence. As well as poems, novels and historical works, he published Memoirs of an Aesthete (1948), More Memoirs (1970) and a memoir of Nancy Mitford (1975). Asquith, Katharine (1885-1977), nee Horner, married (1907) Raymond Asquith (killed in action 1916), eldest son of H.H. Asquith, Prime Minister. A Roman Catholic convert, she lived at the Manor House, Mells, Somerset, inherited from her father, Sir John Horner; from 1949 Ronald Knox also lived there, and EW was a frequent visitor to the house. Balfour, Patrick (1904-77), author and journalist, was educated at Winchester and Balliol College, Oxford, and succeeded to the title of 3rd Baron Kinross in 1939. As an Evening Standard corre spondent, he covered the war in Abyssinia. The character of Lord Kilbannock in the Sword of Honour trilogy is based on Balfour. Baxter, Beverley (1891-1964), born and educated in Canada, be came a journalist in England and served for many years on the staff of the Daily Express. Later he served as a Member of Parlia ment (1935-50) and was knighted in 1954. Beaton, Cecil (1904-80), photographer and stage designer. Educated at Harrow and Cambridge. Knighted in 1972. Beerbohm, Max (1872-1956), essayist, dramatic critic, parodist and caricaturist, greatly admired by EW from boyhood onwards. He lived mainly in Italy after his marriage in 1910, but often visited England. Bell, Clive (1881-1962), writer on art and a member of the Bloomsbury Group, married (1907) Vanessa Stephen, herself an artist and a sister of Virginia Woolf. He was a friend of Roger Fry and a champion of the Post-Impressionists. 189 190 An Evelyn Waugh Chronology Belloc, Hilaire (1870-1953), prolific and once very popular writer, journalist and politician; a Roman Catholic and a close friend of Katharine Asquith (above). EW was introduced to Belloc by Duff Cooper. Bemers, Lord (Gerald Hugh Tyrwhitt-Wilson), 14th Baron Berners (1883-1950), composer, author, painter, aesthete and eccentric, achieved a measure of popularity between the wars for his bal let music and also published fiction and autobiography. EW vis ited his country home, Faringdon House, Berkshire. Berry, Pamela, second daughter of the 1st Earl of Birkenhead, married (1936) the Hon. Michael Berry, later Baron Hartwell. Betjeman, John (1906-84), poet and writer on architecture and topography, was educated at Marlborough and Magdalen Col lege, Oxford. The most popular poet of his day, he was knighted in 1969 and became Poet Laureate in 1972 . He was a friend of EW's at Oxford, and both Betjeman and his wife Penelope re mained in close touch with him, Penelope Betjeman serving as a model for the Empress Helena in Waugh's Helena. Boothby, Robert (1900-86), politician, was educated at Eton and Magdalen College, Oxford. He was an MP from 1924 to 1958 and was created a life peer in 1958. Bowra, Maurice (1898-1971), classical scholar, wit and renowned Oxford 'personality', was first Fellow and from 1938 Warden of Wadham College and served as Vice-Chancellor of Oxford Uni versity. Knighted in 1951. He is said to have been the model for Mr Samgrass in Brideshead Revisited. Bridgman, the Hon. Maurice (1904-80), businessman and Chair man of the British Petroleum Company, was the third son of Viscount Bridgman and was educated at Eton and Trinity Col lege, Cambridge. Knighted in 1964. Bushell, Tony, stage and film actor notable for his good looks. He began as an understudy for Ivor Novello and later worked with Laurence Olivier as associate producer of the film versions of Hamlet and Richard III. The Evelyn Waugh Circle 191 Byron, Robert (1905-41), traveller and author, educated at Eton and Oxford, was a close friend of EW in his early years. His books include The Byzantine Achievement (1929) and The Road to Oriana (1937). He was killed in action while serving in the Royal Navy in the Second World War. See Christopher Sykes, Four Studies in Loyalty (1946). Carew, Dudley (b. 1903) was a contemporary (and hero-wor shipper) of EW's at Lancing College and later became a journalist on The London Mercury and, from 1926 to 1963, on The Times. He also published novels. He is said to have introduced EW to Evelyn Gardner, who became his first wife. His A Fragment of Friendship (1974) includes reminiscences of EW's schooldays. Cecil, Lord David (1902-86), younger son of the 4th Marquess of Salisbury. Educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, he became a don and was Goldsmiths' Professor of English Litera ture at Oxford (1948-69). He published many works of biogra phy and criticism. His wife Rachel, a daughter of the critic Desmond MacCarthy, was also a friend of EW. Churchill, Randolph (1911-68), son of Sir Winston Churchill, was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford. He became a jour nalist and a Conservative MP and served as an intelligence of ficer in the Second World War. He enjoyed a somewhat tempestuous friendship with EW from about 1930 (for the prob able circumstances of their meeting, see the entry for March 1930). There are references to EW in his autobiography, Twenty-One Years (1965). Clonmore, Lord (b. 1902), educated at Eton and Merton College Oxford, succeeded to the title of 8th Earl of Wicklow in 1946. An Anglican priest, he had be<;ome a Roman Catholic convert, ed ited the Dublin Review (1937-40) and published a book on Pope Pius (1937). Cockburn, Claud (1904-81), journalist. Educated at Berkhamsted and Keble College, Oxford. Foreign correspondent for The Times (1929-32) and for the Communist newspaper The Daily Worker (1935-46). 192 An Evelyn Waugh Chronology Connolly, Cyril (1903-74), journalist and critic, educated at Eton (where his contemporaries included Harold Acton, George Orwell, Anthony Powell and Henry Yorke) and Balliol College, Oxford. He worked for the New Statesman and the Observer, and for many years had a regular book-review column in the Sunday Times. In 1939 he was one of the founders of the influential magazine Horizon (alluded to as Survival in EW's 'Sword of Honour' trilogy), which published The Loved One, and remained its editor until its de mise in 1950. His novel The Rock Pool shows the influence of EW. See biography by David Pryce-Jones (1983). Cooper, Lady Diana (1892-1986), a daughter of the Duke of Rutland, was a famous beauty and for many years one of the leaders of the London and international social world. She had a close friendship with EW that began in 1932 and (unlike many of his friendships) lasted to the end of his life. In 1919 she mar ried Alfred Duff Cooper (1890-1954), created Viscount Norwich in 1952, politician, diplomat and author, Ambassador to Paris from 1944 to 1947. In the 1920s she was for a time an actress, notably in Max Reinhardt's The Miracle (see entry for 16 April 1932). She is said to have been the prototype of Mrs Stitch in Scoop and the Sword of Honour trilogy. She published three vol umes of autobiography (1958-60); her correspondence with EW is full of interest and has been edited by her grand-daughter, Artemis Cooper, as Mr Wu and Mrs Stitch (1991). Crease, Francis, who lived near Lancing College during EW's time there and (though unconnected with the school) gave him private lessons in the writing of illuminated scripts, is described by Michael Davie as an 'unworldly amateur scribe of uncertain origins and effeminate manners'. EW wrote a preface for a book of his designs published in 1928. Later Crease lived at Marston, near Oxford, and EW visited him there. D' Arey, the Very Reverend Martin, S.J. (1888-1977), Jesuit priest who gave EW instruction in the Roman Catholic faith, received him into the Church and officiated at his marriage to Laura Herbert. He was educated at Stony hurst and Oxford and later became Master of Campion Hall, Oxford (1932-45), to which EW was a frequent visitor. He was Provincial of the English Prov ince of the Society of Jesus (1945-50) and published many theo logical works. The Evelyn Waugh Circle 193 Dawkins, Richard McGillivray (1871-1955), distinguished and highly eccentric classical scholar, became Professor of Byzantine and Modern Greek at Oxford in 1920. The Dictionary of National Biography tactfully refers to him as 'an original', adding that 'His taste in men as in books was catholic'. His friends included Norman Douglas (of whom he published a study in 1933) and 'Baron Corvo'. Dawkins' visit to EW at Arnold House, at a cru cial moment in the latter's personal life, suggests an earlier acquaintance. Deakin, F.W. (Bill) (b. 1913), historian, was a tutor at Wad ham College, Oxford before the Second World War, in which he served with distinction, leading the first British Military Mission to Tito (1943). Subsequently he served at the British Embassy in Belgrade and later became Warden of St Antony's College (1950-68). Driberg, Tom (1905-76), journalist, politician, biographer and autobiogapher, was educated at Lancing, where he was a con temporary of EW (and his fellow-sacristan in the College Chapel), and Christ Church, Oxford. He became a popular and successful journalist, creating the 'William Hickey' gossip column in the Daily Express (a newspaper for which he worked from 1928 to 1943), and later an MP and Chairman of the Labour Party. Cre ated a life peer in 1975.

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