Person    | Male  Born 27/4/1904  Died 22/5/1972

Cecil Day Lewis

Categories: Literature, Poetry

Countries: Ireland

Poet and novelist. Born Ireland but brought up in London. His mystery novels were written under his pseudonym, Nicholas Blake. During the 1940s, while still married to his first wife, he had a long love affair with Rosamond Lehmann.  He then began an additional affair with the actor Jill Balcon (daughter of Michael Balcon), eventually dumping his first wife and Lehmann and in 1951 married Balcon, to whom, surprise, he was unfaithful. 

Father of of actor Daniel Day-Lewis. First President of the Greenwich Society. Poet Laureate from 1968 until his death. Died at Lemmons, Hadley Wood, Hertfordshire, home of the novelists Elizabeth Jane Howard and Kingsley Amis.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Cecil Day Lewis

Commemorated ati

Cecil Day-Lewis - plaque

C. Day-Lewis, 1904 - 1974, poet laureate, lived here, 1957 - 1972. English He...

Read More

Cecil Day Lewis - tree

Tree Planting Year 1973 Presented by the Greenwich Society in memory of thei...

Read More

This section lists the memorials created by the subject on this page:
Cecil Day Lewis

Creations i

International Brigade

The quote “they went….other way” is a paraphrase of two lines from C. Day Lew...

Read More

Other Subjects

Enid Bagnold

Enid Bagnold

Novelist and playwright. Born Enid Algerine Bagnold at Borstal Cottage, Rochester, Kent. She spent several years of her childhood in Jamaica, where her father, a military engineer had been posted. ...

Person, Literature, Theatre, Jamaica

1 memorial
Katherine Mansfield

Katherine Mansfield

Born New Zealand as Kathleen Mansfield Beauchamp. Sent to Queen's College to be "finished". Met John Murry in 1911, he moved in and they jointly edited an avant-garde magazine, Rhythm, later Blue ...

Person, Literature, New Zealand

1 memorial
Wilkie Collins

Wilkie Collins

William Wilkie Collins was a writer of thriller novels such as The Woman in White, The Moonstone. Born 11 New Cavendish Street. A great friend of Charles Dickens, to the extent that they grew beard...

Person, Literature

2 memorials
Ruth Rendell

Ruth Rendell

Crime writer. Born Ruth Barbara Grasemann in South Woodford. She started work as a feature writer for the Chigwell Times, but was forced to resign after filing a story about a local sports club din...

Person, Literature

1 memorial
George Orwell

George Orwell

George Orwell was born in Bengal as Eric Arthur Blair, his father was a British colonial civil servant. Joined the Indian imperial police in Burma but left in 1927 and decided to become a writer. ...

Person, Journalism / Publishing, Literature, Seriously Famous, TV & Radio, Bengal, Burma, France, India, Spain

12 memorials

Previously viewed

PP - 3A - Griffin

PP - 3A - Griffin

EC1, Edward Street

This garden acquired its name due to its popularity as a lunchtime garden with workers from the nearby General Post Office (long gone). ...

2 subjects commemorated, 3 creators