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THE LIFE OF JAMES LEES-MILNE
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1908-1931: James Lees-Milne was born on 6 August 1908.
Both his parents came from minor landed families which had made industrial
fortunes in the 19th century; but the money was fast disappearing and JLM would
receive little of it, and that late in life. His father, whom he feared, was a
man of many gifts, but an irascible bully; his beautiful mother, whom he
adored, instilled in him a love of nature, but was consumed by vanity. They
neglected their children and led largely separate lives. JLM grew up a lonely,
hypersensitive child, suffering from an inferiority complex. He spent much of
his childhood wandering dreamily in the grounds of
Wickhamford
Manor, the atmospheric mediaeval property in Worcestershire which his
parents had purchased around the time of his birth.
At
Lockers Park
and Eton,
he failed to shine at either work or games, and was regarded as dim and
backward. Though shy and withdrawn, he formed passionate friendships - notably
with
Tom Mitford and Desmond Parsons, both of whom would die
young. He also conceived a passion for Tom's sister
Diana
(who would later marry JLM's relative, the fascist leader
Sir
Oswald Mosley). After Eton, his father made him take a secretarial course
in London, as hilariously described in his autobiographical novel Another
Self. But thanks to his mother's support he entered
Magdalen
College, Oxford at the age of twenty, reading history. Though failing to
distinguish himself, he was taken up by such brilliant undergraduates as Basil
Ava and Randolph Churchill; and he developed a love of poetry and architecture,
encouraged by John
Betjeman and
Osbert Lancaster. He dreamed of a literary career, but
remained immature.
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1931-1936: With no qualifications, no money
and little confidence in his abilities, JLM came down from Oxford in 1931
despairing about his future. But his soulful personality and romantic looks
soon won him devoted patrons and patronesses. Foremost among these were two
eminent men (both married homosexuals) who became father-figures to him and
helped complete his education - the proconsul
Lord
Lloyd and the writer
Harold Nicolson. Lloyd appointed JLM his private secretary
and taught him to work hard; Nicolson - in whose London flat JLM went to live
in 1934 - encouraged his interest in literature and introduced him to a set of
brilliant young literary men including Raymond Mortimer and James
Pope-Hennessy. Mother figures included Kathleen Kennet, the fascinating widow
of Scott of the Antarctic, and the shipping heiress Mrs Bower |
Ismay. Meanwhile, JLM virtually broke off
relations with his own parents for a time when he became a Roman Catholic in
1934 - a step bound up with his longing for authority and love of classical
architecture. At the time of his conversion, he was attempting to write a
biography of the Jesuit poet
Hopkins, one of several abortive early literary works of
which little trace survives.
At this period JLM had many casual
affairs with both sexes, and once made a girl cousin pregnant; the ensuing
miscarriage lay heavily on his conscience and may have influenced his later
enthusiasm for birth control. In the spring of 1935 he became engaged to
Lady
Anne Gathorne-Hardy, sister of
Lord Cranbrook, a
young woman with literary interests who lived in Suffolk and had four
homosexual brothers. But their poverty made it difficult for them to marry, and
JLM was depressed about his career, hating the job Lloyd had obtained for him
as assistant to the head of
Reuters,
the bombastic Sir Roderick Jones. In a fit of despair, he broke off the
engagement in January 1936, distressing her and shocking their friends. |
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This site has been created by Michael
Bloch, James Lees-Milne's literary executor, who is currently editing his later
diaries and writing his biography (to be published by John Murray). He may be
contacted at MAB@jamesleesmilne.com.
Many
of James Lees-Milne's papers are in the Beinecke Library at Yale. Their
catalogue can be accessed
here
James Lees-Milne's copyrights are managed by
Bruce Hunter of David Higham Associates, London. Enquiries may be addressed to
him at brucehunter@davidhigham.co.uk. |
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