His parents were Charles Alexandre De Sélincourt and Theodora Bruce Bendall.
He continued to write book reviews for the Observer long after quitting his official post in 1914.
He had also published a few light-hearted novels – the first of these, A Boy's Marriage, came out in 1907 – but after World War I broke out, his literary output took on a more serious note.
In the immediate postwar years, Hugh and his wife Janet, lived at Sand Pit, a lush house in Sussex and had an open marriage.
[3] The Saturday Match (1937) and Gauvinier Takes to Bowls (1948) were among de Selincourt's final books.