[1] He and his sisters grew up at Stanway House surrounded by the creative influence of close family friends such as James Barrie, who would write plays for them to perform during the summer months.

In 1948 he married Virginia Mary (born 1922), daughter of Colin Forbes Adam and granddaughter of Beilby Lawley, 3rd Baron Wenlock.

Sir Oswald Mosley, who was related by marriage to his wife's family, launched but later abandoned a libel action over the tragic fascist portrayed in The River Watcher (1965).

His greatest critical success came, however, with The Toggle, a moving portrayal of the helpless isolation of a schoolboy controlled by cold, harsh adults.

[4] He worked with BBC producer Verity Lambert on scripts to adapt his novel, The Coat (1966), into either a film or television series.

The people and the place are seen with an unmatched intensity and brought to life by a distinctive prose style of rare beauty and extraordinary expressive power.

He died of cancer on 20 December 1970, at his home, The Grange, Elvington, Yorkshire, and was buried in St Helen's churchyard, Skipwith, York.