Roy Beddington

Roy Beddington (16 June 1910 – 31 May 1995) was a British painter, illustrator, fisherman, poet, writer on fishing, and journalist. As an artist he was known for his watercolours, with his first one-man shows being at Grafton and Walker's galleries in London in the 1930s. He continued to exhibit in shows for decades, with his last show exhibiting just shortly before he died in 1995 at 84 years old. In the mid 1930s he illustrated three books for Irish author Stephen Gwynn, mostly with a fishing theme. His work was part of the painting event in the art competition at the 1948 Summer Olympics. As an author, Beddington published a novel, a children's book, a biographical book on a yellow Labrador, two volumes of poetry, and a book on fishing. He also worked for many years as a journalist for Country Life; notably penning a regular column on fishing while occasionally contributing stories on other topics to the magazine. His column and other stories often included his art work in addition to his writing. Early life and education Born into a prominent Jewish family in Paddington, London, Beddington was the son of Reginald Beddington; a well known fisherman in the United Kingdom who served terms as President of both the Freshwater Biological Association and National Association of Fishery Boards. His mother was the sister of the British philanthropist Basil Henriques, and herself a talented angler who at one time was a record holder for the catching of salmon. He attended Rugby School in his youth; a place where he experienced antisemitism from some of the staff and students; often being teased about the family's historically Jewish surname, Moses, which had been altered generations earlier to avoid persecution. While there, he found solace in his art and spent considerable amounts of his time in the art room. The British philosopher and historian and fellow Jew Isaiah Berlin later befriended Beddington when they were both students at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and he wrote the following about Beddington's experience at Rugby:There was perhaps not a very nice teacher at Rugby where Roy Beddington was, who used to say to the boys, 'And the Lord said unto Moses, good morning, Mister Beddington.' I felt very sorry for Roy Beddington, but I never thought something like that could happen to me. Beddington's father wanted his son to become an accountant; having secured him a place in that capacity with the Mazawattee Tea Company.