John Heygate
Encyclopedia
Sir John Edward Nourse Heygate, 4th Baronet (19 April 1903 – 18 March 1976) was a Northern Irish journalist and novelist.
Heygate was the son of an Eton College
housemaster
Arthur Conolly Gage Heygate and Frances Evelyn Rowley Harvey. He was educated at Eton College
and graduated from Balliol College, Oxford
with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.).He was an Assistant News Editor, BBC.
He was educated at Eton and Balliol
. In 1926 he went to Heidelberg
as a trainee for the Foreign Office. He subsequently got a job as an assistant news editor at the BBC
.
He is chiefly remembered for his liaison in 1929 with Evelyn Gardner while she was married to Evelyn Waugh
. Heygate and Gardner subsequently married, then divorced. He is portrayed as "John Beaver" in Waugh's A Handful of Dust
.
In the late 1920s Heygate was on the fringes of the group of socialites known as the "Bright Young People
" and was friends with the author Anthony Powell
In 1929 divorce proceedings began between Evelyn Waugh and the Honourable
Evelyn Gardner (a daughter of the 1st Baron Burghclere
). Heygate was cited and hence was forced to resign from the BBC. (This scandal is said to be one reason why the BBC
’s first Director General, Reith
, took a firm line against any of his staff being involved in a divorce). In 1930 he married Gardner.
In 1932 he joined the Gaumont-British Picture Corporation
and worked in collaboration with the German UFA
film company at their Babelsberg Studio near Berlin
. He was present at the 1935 Nuremburg rally in the company of his friend the writer Henry Williamson
. In neighbouring seats were Unity Mitford
, Diana Mitford
and Dr. Frank Buchman.
He gained the rank of Bombardier in the service of the Royal Artillery during the Second World War. He wrote the book These Germans, published 1940.
He succeeded to the title of 4th Baronet Heygate, of Southend, Essex [U.K., 1831] on 14 January 1940.
He married, secondly, the Gaumont-British
actress Gwyneth Eliot Lloyd, the daughter of John Eliot Howard Lloyd, on 2February 1936 and subsequently moved to Sussex
. They had two sons Sir George Lloyd Heygate, 5th Bt.+2 (28 October 1936 - 1991) and Sir Richard John Gage Heygate, 6th Bt (b. 30 January 1940), both of whom eventually inherited the baronetcy. Heygate and Lloyd divorced in 1947. He and Gwyneth Eliot Lloyd were divorced in 1947.
He married, thirdly, Dora Luz Harvey, daughter of John Harvey, on 8 December 1951. By the 1970s he was living alone in Bellarena
, County Londonderry
.
:
Heygate was the son of an Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
housemaster
Housemaster
In British education, a housemaster is a member of staff in charge of a boarding house, normally at a boarding school . The housemaster is responsible for the supervision and care of boarders in the house and typically lives on the premises...
Arthur Conolly Gage Heygate and Frances Evelyn Rowley Harvey. He was educated at Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
and graduated from Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....
with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.).He was an Assistant News Editor, BBC.
He was educated at Eton and Balliol
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....
. In 1926 he went to Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
as a trainee for the Foreign Office. He subsequently got a job as an assistant news editor at the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
.
He is chiefly remembered for his liaison in 1929 with Evelyn Gardner while she was married to Evelyn Waugh
Evelyn Waugh
Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh , known as Evelyn Waugh, was an English writer of novels, travel books and biographies. He was also a prolific journalist and reviewer...
. Heygate and Gardner subsequently married, then divorced. He is portrayed as "John Beaver" in Waugh's A Handful of Dust
A Handful of Dust
A Handful of Dust is a novel by Evelyn Waugh published in 1934. It is included in Modern Library List of Best 20th-Century Novels, and was chosen by TIME magazine as one of the one hundred best English-language novels from 1923 to present....
.
In the late 1920s Heygate was on the fringes of the group of socialites known as the "Bright Young People
Bright Young People
The Bright Young People was a nickname given by the tabloid press to a group of bohemian young aristocrats and socialites in 1920s London. They threw elaborate fancy dress parties, went on elaborate treasure hunts through nighttime London, and drank heavily and experimented with drugs—all of which...
" and was friends with the author Anthony Powell
Anthony Powell
Anthony Dymoke Powell CH, CBE was an English novelist best known for his twelve-volume work A Dance to the Music of Time, published between 1951 and 1975....
In 1929 divorce proceedings began between Evelyn Waugh and the Honourable
The Honourable
The prefix The Honourable or The Honorable is a style used before the names of certain classes of persons. It is considered an honorific styling.-International diplomacy:...
Evelyn Gardner (a daughter of the 1st Baron Burghclere
Herbert Gardner, 1st Baron Burghclere
Herbert Colstoun Gardner, 1st Baron Burghclere PC was a British Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 until he was raised to the peerage in 1895...
). Heygate was cited and hence was forced to resign from the BBC. (This scandal is said to be one reason why the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
’s first Director General, Reith
John Reith, 1st Baron Reith
John Charles Walsham Reith, 1st Baron Reith, KT, GCVO, GBE, CB, TD, PC was a Scottish broadcasting executive who established the tradition of independent public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom...
, took a firm line against any of his staff being involved in a divorce). In 1930 he married Gardner.
In 1932 he joined the Gaumont-British Picture Corporation
Gaumont British
Gaumont-British Picture Corporation was the British arm of the French film company Gaumont. The company became independent of its French parent in 1922, when Isidore Ostrer acquired control of Gaumont-British....
and worked in collaboration with the German UFA
Universum Film AG
Universum Film AG, better known as UFA or Ufa, is a film company that was the principal film studio in Germany, home of the German film industry during the Weimar Republic and through World War II, and a major force in world cinema from 1917 to 1945...
film company at their Babelsberg Studio near Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. He was present at the 1935 Nuremburg rally in the company of his friend the writer Henry Williamson
Henry Williamson
Henry William Williamson was an English naturalist, farmer and prolific author known for his natural and social history novels. He won the Hawthornden Prize for literature in 1928 with his book Tarka the Otter....
. In neighbouring seats were Unity Mitford
Unity Mitford
Unity Valkyrie Mitford was a member of the aristocratic Mitford family, tracing its origins in Northumberland back to the 11th century Norman settlement of England. Unity Mitford's sister Diana was married to Oswald Mosley, leader of British Union of Fascists...
, Diana Mitford
Diana Mitford
Diana Mitford, Lady Mosley , was one of Britain's noted Mitford sisters. She was married first to Bryan Walter Guinness, heir to the barony of Moyne, and secondly to Sir Oswald Mosley, 6th Baronet, of Ancoats, leader of the British Union of Fascists; her second marriage, in 1936, took place at the...
and Dr. Frank Buchman.
He gained the rank of Bombardier in the service of the Royal Artillery during the Second World War. He wrote the book These Germans, published 1940.
He succeeded to the title of 4th Baronet Heygate, of Southend, Essex [U.K., 1831] on 14 January 1940.
Marriages
He married, firstly, Hon. Evelyn Florence Margaret Winifred Gardner, daughter of Herbert Colstoun Gardner, 1st and last Baron Burghclere of Walden and Lady Winifred Anne Henrietta Christiana Herbert, on 7 August 1930. He and Evelyn were divorced in 1936.He married, secondly, the Gaumont-British
Gaumont British
Gaumont-British Picture Corporation was the British arm of the French film company Gaumont. The company became independent of its French parent in 1922, when Isidore Ostrer acquired control of Gaumont-British....
actress Gwyneth Eliot Lloyd, the daughter of John Eliot Howard Lloyd, on 2February 1936 and subsequently moved to Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
. They had two sons Sir George Lloyd Heygate, 5th Bt.+2 (28 October 1936 - 1991) and Sir Richard John Gage Heygate, 6th Bt (b. 30 January 1940), both of whom eventually inherited the baronetcy. Heygate and Lloyd divorced in 1947. He and Gwyneth Eliot Lloyd were divorced in 1947.
He married, thirdly, Dora Luz Harvey, daughter of John Harvey, on 8 December 1951. By the 1970s he was living alone in Bellarena
Bellarena
Bellarena is a small village in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is on the A2 coastal road between Limavady and Coleraine, 6 miles north of Limavady. It is sometimes referred to as Ballyscullion or Drumavalley. In the 2001 Census the population was 291...
, County Londonderry
County Londonderry
The place name Derry is an anglicisation of the old Irish Daire meaning oak-grove or oak-wood. As with the city, its name is subject to the Derry/Londonderry name dispute, with the form Derry preferred by nationalists and Londonderry preferred by unionists...
.
Books
His books comprise:- Decent Fellows (1930), a public schoolPublic School (UK)A public school, in common British usage, is a school that is neither administered nor financed by the state or from taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of endowments, tuition fees and charitable contributions, usually existing as a non profit-making charitable trust...
novel. - White Angel (1934)
- Talking Picture (Jonathan CapeJonathan CapeJonathan Cape was a London-based publisher founded in 1919 as "Page & Co" by Herbert Jonathan Cape , formerly a manager at Duckworth who had worked his way up from a position of bookshop errand boy. Cape brought with him the rights to cheap editions of the popular author Elinor Glyn and sales of...
, 1934), a semi-autobiographical novel dealing with experiences in WeimarWeimar RepublicThe Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
BerlinBerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, similar to Christopher IsherwoodChristopher IsherwoodChristopher William Bradshaw Isherwood was an English-American novelist.-Early life and work:Born at Wyberslegh Hall, High Lane, Cheshire in North West England, Isherwood spent his childhood in various towns where his father, a Lieutenant-Colonel in the British Army, was stationed...
's I Am a CameraI Am a CameraI Am a Camera is a 1951 Broadway play inspired by Christopher Isherwood's novel Goodbye to Berlin which is part of The Berlin Stories...
. - Motor Tramp (Jonathan Cape, 1935), a factual account of tours in an MG motor carMG F-TypeThe MG F-type Magna was a six cylinder engined car produced by the MG Car company from October 1931 to 1932. It was also known as the 12/70.Looking for a car to fill the gap between the M-Type Midget and the 18/80, MG turned to another of the engines that had become available from William Morris's...
, including a visit to Nazi GermanyNazi GermanyNazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. - A House for Joanna (1937). A tale of life on the Sussex coast.
- These Germans: An estimate of their character seen in flashes from the drama, 1918–1939 (1940)
- Love and Death (1943)
- Kurumba (Eyre & SpottiswoodeEyre & SpottiswoodeEyre & Spottiswoode, Ltd. was the London based printing firm that was the King's Printer, and subsequently, after April 1929, a publisher of the same name...
, 1949). Described as: A raffish, intelligent tale of a soldier and his native mistress, set in the imaginary Kurumba, somewhere on the Indian sub-continent, during the second world war.
Screenplays
Heygate is credited as a co-writer on the following films, made in Germany and starring Lilian HarveyLilian Harvey
Lilian Harvey was a British-born actress and singer, long-based in Germany, where she is best known for her role as Christel Weinzinger in Erik Charell's 1931 film Der Kongress tanzt.-Life:...
:
- The Only Girl (Ich und die Kaiserin) (1934)
- Black Roses (Schwarze Rosen) (1935)
Citations
- 1.[S37] Charles Mosley, editor, Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes (Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), volume 1, page 698. Hereinafter cited as Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 107th edition.
- 2.[S37] Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 107th edition.
- 3.[S1122] Michael Rhodes, "re: updates," e-mail message to www.thepeerage.com, 8 July 2004. Hereinafter cited as "re: updates."
- 4.[S37] Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 107th edition, volume 2, page 1899
- 5.[S37] Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 107th edition, volume 2, page 1898