His father, Arnold, had been born in Cheshire, and moved to London where he worked as a buyer for a bookshop.

After serving in World War II, Arnold got a scholarship to Oxford University, and gained a degree in history.

In 1952, the family moved to Kuala Lumpur in Malaya, where Arnold worked in the British Colonial Service.

From a young age, Peter became acquainted with many of the city's top literary and intellectual names, whom his father had become friends with through his university work.

His initial plans were to complete postgraduate study, but instead he worked as a freelance journalist while acquiring a love for European art.

[3] He stood for the office of Mayor of Dunedin in 1980 as part of a campaign against the building of an aluminium smelter at Aramoana.