Drawing of Trees

14 January 1904

Born in Hampstead

The eldest of four children of Ernest Beaton, a prosperous timber merchant, and Esther “Etty” Sisson, the daughter of a Cumbrian blacksmith; he has two sisters, Nancy and Barbara (“Baba”), and a brother, Reginald.

1927

First exhibition at the Cooling Gallery

Under the patronage of Osbert Sitwell, his first exhibition is held at the Cooling Gallery in London.

1938

Scandal at American Vogue and dismissal

He inserts small but legible anti-Semitic phrases into an illustration about New York society in American Vogue; the issue is recalled and reprinted, and Beaton is dismissed from the magazine.

1940–1945

Photographer for the Ministry of Information

Back in England, he joins the Ministry of Information on the Queen’s recommendation and records the home front and the damage of the German Blitz; between 1940 and 1945 he takes over 7,000 photographs in Britain, China and Africa. With his style sharpened and his range broadened, the war restores his career.

until 1976

A stroke leaves him paralysed on the right side

A stroke leaves him permanently paralysed on the right side of his body; he learns to write and draw with his left hand and has his cameras adapted, but is frustrated by the limits it puts on his work.

18 January 1980

Dies at Reddish House

By the end of the 1970s his health has faded; he dies at Reddish House four days after his 76th birthday and is buried in the parish church graveyard.