Today, I’ve read James Methuen-Campbell’s account of Denton’s time at Repton and China, and I’m delighted to have seen him through different eyes. Denton’s account of Repton in Maiden Voyage left few insights to be gleaned from his biography, other than he had teachers called Snape and Tonks. It tickles me to think that JK Rowling’s characters of the same name might have been inspired by JMC’s biography!
Delightfully, JMC’s account of Denton’s time at Goldsmiths is all new information. Denton was clearly very happy there. He finally achieved the independence he’d wanted all his life, moving into a room of his own at 34 Croom’s Hill aged 17. His landlady? Evie Sinclair, with whom Denton lived for most of the rest of his life.
From a slow start at Goldsmiths, Denton built up a circle of mainly female friends, which calls into question my previous comments about his misogynist leanings. Denton’s friend and classmate, Helen Roeder, told JMC that Denton liked to have dumpy little girls around him, which made me smile, and he was seen as very protective and caring. He seemed to feel most secure when he was around women.
In the middle of the Goldsmiths chapter appear some photographs. One of the best parts of any biography is the photographs. I gaze and gaze at them, trying to peep beyond the borders into the space beyond, trying to guess what the people in the photographs are thinking when they’re taken. JMC’s biography includes several photographs of Denton and Eric Oliver in 1946, both individually and together. When you look closely at them, it’s clear that they were all taken on the same day, as they’re both wearing the same clothes in all of the pictures. Presumably Evie is the one taking the pictures*; I wonder what it was about that day that they wanted to remember.
It’s a shame that no colour photographs of Denton exist; by all accounts he was a flamboyant and colourful dresser. His self portraits show him wearing colourful clothes, and Gerald Mackenzie’s 1935 portrait of Denton (presumably pre-hospital) shows him wearing the mustard colour that his mother adored.
Tomorrow’s reading will be difficult. Denton’s unconventional early life made it hard for him to adjust when he finally went to school. After a decade of struggling against fitting in, at Goldsmiths he found security, friendship and ambition. All that came to an abrupt end on 9 June 1935. More tomorrow…
*Update: Gerald Mackenzie took the pictures. He visited Middle Orchard for the day, not long after Denton and Eric moved there, bringing his camera.