The Book, Cat, & Cat Book Lovers Almanac

of historical trivia regarding books, cats, and other animals. Actually this blog has evolved so that it is described better as a blog about cats in history and culture. And we take as a theme the advice of Aldous Huxley: If you want to be a writer, get some cats. Don't forget to see the archived articles linked at the bottom of the page.

May 23, 2020

May 23, 1953


There was widespread indignation when they hanged Derek Bentley, January 23, 1953, in London. He was 19 years old, with a mental age of 11, and unarmed, when he and his 16 year old buddy tried to rob a candy (confectioner's) warehouse. And a policeman was killed. There was widespread sentiment against the severity of the sentence. The newspaper with the largest circulation at that time, was The News of the World. Their headline the Sunday before the date, was "Bentley's Pets Join Family Circle as the Eleventh Hour Approaches." There was a photo on the front page of Bentley's sister, Iris. She was holding Flossie (a lurcher pup) and Judy, a Manchester terrier. The photo also showed Bentley's favorite dog, Bob, and looking on was another family pet, Banjo the cat.

Rayner Heppenstall (July 27, 1911 to 23 May 23, 1981) was a British writer of novels, poetry, criticism and history. He worked for the BBC.

His first work was a study of John Middleton Murry-- Middleton Murry: A Study in Excellent Normality (1934) He was a friend and roommate of George Orwell. Novels, poetry, history, and literary criticism were published by this author. His last novel was The Pier (1986).

Heppenstall said in response to the headline we mention above, that "The main reason for ...[the public sympathy for Bentley] was that since his arrest, these dogs had been off their feed." He was being funny. We got our setup  from a history of post-war Britain by David Kynaston,  Family Britain, 1951-1957 (2009). Kynaston says Heppenstall was not really for hanging Derek Bentley. 

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