Donald Howard Beves (6 March 1896 – 6 July 1961) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

academic whose subject was modern languages, and dean and later vice-provost of

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

Life

Beves was the son of Edward Leslie Beves, a prosperous

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

timber merchant, and was educated at

Windlesham House School Windlesham House School is an independent boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 4 to 13 on the South Downs, in Pulborough, West Sussex, England. It was founded in 1837 by Charles Robert Malden and was the first boys' preparatory sc ...

Rugby School Rugby School is a Public school (United Kingdom), private boarding school for pupils aged 13–18, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independ ...

, and

. He gained a classics scholarship to King's in December 1914 but postponed his further education to serve with the

Rifle Brigade The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Rifle ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. By 1919 he was a captain commanding the drill unit of the Central School of Instruction at

Berkhamsted Berkhamsted ( ) is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, in the River Bulbourne, Bulbourne valley, north-west of London. The town is a Civil parishes in England, civil parish with a town council within the borough of Dacorum which ...

. That same year he took up his place at King's, where he graduated in 1922 with a First in the

Classical Tripos The Classical Tripos is the taught course in classics at the Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge. It is equivalent to '' Literae Humaniores'' at Oxford University. It is traditionally a three-year degree, but for those who have not previ ...

and a Second in modern languages. He became a clerk at the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

, but after writing a thesis on the

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he was given a

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ship of King's. In 1926 he was appointed as dean of the college and in 1946 as vice-provost. At his death in 1961, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' said of him "although he wrote little, he delivered ... important lectures on sixteenth-century French literature". He was also chairman of the governing body of Trent College in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

.'Mr. D. H. Beves' (obituary) in ''

'' of London, issue 55127 dated 7 July 1961, p. 18 Beves had considerable private means. He entertained lavishly and was one of the few fellows at Cambridge to drive a

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

. He also produced many plays at Cambridge. In June 1977,

Peter Hennessy Peter John Hennessy, Baron Hennessy of Nympsfield, (born 28 March 1947) is an English historian and academic specialising in the history of government. Since 1992, he has been Attlee Professor of Contemporary British History at Queen Mary Univ ...

accused Beves of being the "fourth man" in the affair of

Philby Philby can refer to the following people * St John Philby (1885–1960), British Arabist, explorer, writer and intelligence officer * Kim Philby (1912–1988), British intelligence officer and spy for the Soviet Union * Dell Philby, fictional chara ...

, Burgess, and

Maclean MacLean, also spelt McLean, is a Scottish Gaelic surname (Mac Gille Eathain, or, Mac Giolla Eóin in Irish Gaelic), Eóin being a Gaelic form of Johannes (John). The clan surname is an Anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic "Mac Gille Eathain", a ...

. However,

Geoffrey Grigson Geoffrey Edward Harvey Grigson (2 March 1905 – 25 November 1985) was a British poet, writer, editor, critic, exhibition curator, anthologist and naturalist. In the 1930s he was editor of the influential magazine ''New Verse'', and went on to p ...

and others immediately leapt to the defence of Beves, considering him to be uninterested in politics.'Who was the fourth man?' in ''

'' of London, issue 60032 dated Friday, 17 June 1977, p. 17 It later transpired that the role Hennessy suggested for Beves was that of

Anthony Blunt Anthony Frederick Blunt (26 September 1907 – 26 March 1983), (formerly styled Sir Anthony Blunt from 1956 until November 1979), was a leading British art historian and a Soviet spy. Blunt was a professor of art history at the University ...

Life

Notes

Further reading