John Betjeman was born on August 28th, 1906, near Highgate, London. His father was Ernest Betjemann, a cabinet maker, a trade which had been in the family for several generations. The family name was Betjemann, with two 'n's, but John dropped the second 'n' during the First World War, to make the name less German.
John was an only child, and by all accounts had a lonely childhood, taking comfort from his teddy bear, Archibald, later to feature in his children's story, Archie and the Strict Baptists.
Having attended his first schools in Highgate, John became a boarder at Dragon School, Oxford, aged eleven. Three years later, he went to Marlborough College, again as a boarder.
Throughout John's childhood, his family went for holidays to Trebetherick in Cornwall, where his father owned a number of properties. These seemed to have been the happiest times for JB, and are remembered in many of his poems.
In 1925, JB went to Magdalen College, Oxford. However, the many distractions of college life meant that he did not complete his degree, having failed a Divinity exam. He became a teacher at Thorpe House School, Gerrard's Cross, before working as a private secretary, and then at another prep school.
In 1930, JB became an assistant editor of The Architectural Review. In 1931, his first book of poems, Mount Zion, was published by an old Oxford friend, Edward James. Soon afterwards, JB met and married Penelope Chetwode, the daughter of Field Marshal Lord Chetwode, a former Commander-in-Chief in India. It was clear that he did not approve of JB.
His second book was Ghastly Good Taste, a commentary on architecture, published in 1934.
JB and Penelope moved to Uffington in Berkshire, and John was given the job of film critic for the Evening Standard, but he continued to write poetry, and his next book, Continual Dew, appeared in 1937. He also began work on the series of Shell Guides to the counties of England.
His prolific writing output continued throughout the 30s and 40s, with books and magazine articles appearing regularly. In 1941, JB went to Dublin, as the Press Officer to the British Representative. Many years later, it was revealed that the IRA thought he was a spy, and considered assassinating him. However, on reading his poetry, they decided otherwise. His daughter Candida was born in 1942.
Returning to England in 1943, JB worked in the Ministry of Information, and continued to write for a number of publications. The family eventually settled in Wantage in 1951. A Few Late Chrysanthemums was published in 1952, and by the mid 1950's, JB was a well-known figure, making both radio and television appearances, commenting on architecture and campaigning for many threatened buildings. Collected Poems and his verse autobiography, Summoned by Bells, were both best sellers. His broadcasting career continued during the 1960's and 70's, with documentaries such as Metroland and A Passion for Churches.
In 1969, he was knighted, and when Cecil Day Lewis died in 1972, JB was made Poet Laureate.
His last book of new poems, A Nip in The Air, was published in 1974. After that, he began to suffer from Parkinson's Disease, and a series of strokes reduced his mobility.
John Betjeman died on May 19th 1984, at his home in Trebetherick. He was buried in the nearby church of St Enodoc.
John Betjeman moved into 43 Cloth Court, overlooking the graveyard of St. Bartholemew the Great and within earshot of Smithfield Market, in August 1954. He rented the little house, above a shop, for £200 a year. It was owned by Lord Mottistone who lived at no. 45, with his companion Paul Paget. They were partners at Seely and Paget, the architectural firm that looked after St. Paul’s Cathedral, and their Elizabethan house was one of the few to survive the Great Fire of London. No. 43, was much smaller, with just two rooms. Betjeman loved it. He could work there peacefully with his secretary, and sometimes take her off early to drink champagne and lunch at Coltman’s Restaurant in Aldersgate.
Four years later his young secretary was Tory Dennistoun, the daughter of a great family friend. Perhaps because her dictation skills were not up to scratch, Betjeman bought her a Stenorette (a primitive tape recorder). One night she forgot to unplug it, and turned up the next morning to find the fire brigade dousing the flames in Cloth Court. For the next months Betjeman camped out at a hideaway in Rotherhithe lent to him by Tony Armstrong-Jones, the photographer, while his house was repaired and refurbished.
Betjeman stayed on at Cloth Court, with all his books around him, until 1973. He claimed that he was driven away by the noise of lorries delivering carcasses to Smithfield during the night, but in truth his health was beginning to fail, and he was under pressure to live near his companion Lady Elizabeth Cavendish. He moved to Chelsea, just off the King’s Road in Radnor Walk – or “dog-mess walk”, as he used to call it.
43 Cloth Court is now a holiday house owned by the Landmark Trust.