Arthur Christopher Benson

BENSON, Arthur Christopher. b. Crowthorne, Berkshire, 24 April 1862; d. Cambridge, 17 June 1925. He was the son of Edward White Benson*, who was Headmaster of Wellington College, Crowthorne, at the time of his birth, and subsequently Archbishop of Canterbury. The younger Benson was educated at Eton, and King’s College, Cambridge (BA 1884). He taught at Eton, 1885-1903, resigning to become a full-time writer. He went to live at Cambridge, where he was elected to a Fellowship at Magdalene College in 1904, becoming Master of the College in 1915. He was a very remarkable Master: his conduct in office is described in the ODNB as ‘radical, analytical, combative, egotistical, and despotic’. He was...