Beaton, Sir Cecil Walter Hardy (1904–1980), photographer and designer for screen and theatre, was born at 21 Langland Gardens, Hampstead, London, on 14 January 1904, the eldest of the two sons and two daughters of Ernest Walter Hardy Beaton (1867–1936), timber merchant, and his wife, ...
Article
Beaton, Sir Cecil Walter Hardy (1904–1980), photographer and designer for screen and theatre
Hugo Vickers
Article
Betjeman, Sir John (1906–1984), poet, writer, and broadcaster courtier
Kingsley Amis
revised by M. Clare Loughlin-Chow
revised
Betjeman, Sir John (1906–1984), poet, writer, and broadcaster, was born on 28 August 1906 at 52 Parliament Hill Mansions, north London, the only child of Ernest Edward Betjemann (1872–1934), a furniture manufacturer, and his wife, Mabel Bessie Dawson (1879–1952). The family name, of Dutch or German origin, can be traced back to an immigration in the late eighteenth century. The poet adopted his style of it about the age of twenty-one....
Article
Craig, (Edward Henry) Gordon (1872–1966), theatre director and designer and wood-engraver
James Hamilton
Craig, (Edward Henry) Gordon (1872–1966), theatre director and designer and wood-engraver, was born on 16 January 1872 in Railway Street, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, the only son and second child of the architect and radical Edward William Godwin (1833–1886) and the actress Ellen Alice Terry (1847–1928)...
Article
Gilchrist [married name Fitzmaurice], Constance Macdonald, countess of Orkney [Connie] (1865–1946), artist’s model, dancer, and actress
Eilidh Innes
Gilchrist [married name Fitzmaurice], Constance Macdonald, countess of Orkney [Connie] (1865–1946), artist’s model, dancer, and actress, was born at 18 Winchester Street, Agar Town, London, on 23 January 1865, the youngest of five daughters of David Gilchrist (1818–1868...
Article
Hurry, Leslie George (1909–1978), painter and theatre designer
Raymond Ingram
Hurry, Leslie George (1909–1978), painter and theatre designer, was born on 10 February 1909 at 53 High Street, St John's Wood, London, the third and last child of Alfred George Hurry (c.1880–1951/2), funeral director, and his wife, Edith Louise Perry, née...
Article
Jones, Inigo (1573–1652), architect and theatre designer
John Newman
Jones, Inigo (1573–1652), architect and theatre designer, was born in London on 15 July 1573 and baptized on 29 July 1573 at St Bartholomew-the-Less, London, the eldest of the four surviving children of Inigo Jones (d. 1597), clothworker of the City of London...
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Lambert, George (1699/1700–1765), landscape and scene painter
Elizabeth Einberg
Lambert, George (1699/1700–1765), landscape and scene painter, is of unknown parentage. His birth date is computed from Vertue's note on him in September 1722 as 'a young hopefull Painter in Landskape aged 22 much in imitation of Wotton. Manner of Gasper Pousin...
Article
Negus, Arthur George (1903–1985), antiques expert and broadcaster
Anne Pimlott Baker
Negus, Arthur George (1903–1985), antiques expert and broadcaster, was born on 29 March 1903 in Reading, Berkshire, the only child of Arthur George Negus (d. 1920), cabinet-maker, from Huntingdonshire, and his wife, Amy Julia Worsley (d. 1925). He left Reading School...
Article
Piper, John Egerton Christmas (1903–1992), artist and designer
David Fraser Jenkins
Piper, John Egerton Christmas (1903–1992), artist and designer, was born on 13 December 1903 at Alresford, Ashley Road, Epsom, Surrey, the youngest of the three sons of Charles Alfred Piper (1862–1927), solicitor, and his wife, Mary Ellen Mathews (1866/7–1957).