About
Richard Perceval Graves, was born in Brighton on 21 December 1945. His home at that time was 3 Moreton Road, Croydon where he lived with his parents John Graves (1903-1980), youngest son of the Irish poet Alfred Perceval Graves (1846-1931); and Mary Graves nee Wickens (1917-2003).
In 1949 he moved to White Hazel, a cottage in the grounds of Sandroyd School, Tollard Royal, Wiltshire, where his father was Assistant Headmaster.
In 1951 he moved to Holme Grange School, Wokingham, Berkshire, where his father was Headmaster, and which would be his home until the spring of 1970.
After brief periods at a village school in Tollard Royal, Dorset, at The White House, Wokingham and at Holme Grange School, Wokingham, he was educated at Copthorne School (1954-1959), Charterhouse (1959-1964) and St. John's College Oxford (1964-1968).
While at St. John's he read Modern History for three years, and then stayed on for a year to read for a Diploma in Education.
He then went into teaching, and taught at Arnold Lodge Preparatory School (1968); Harrow School (1969); Holme Grange School (1969-1971); and Ellesmere College (1971-1973).
In the spring of 1970 he married Anne Katharine Fortescue (born 1946) and lived with her in rented accommodation (a flat over a butcher’s shop) at 80 Evendons Lane, Wokingham, until the summer of 1971.
In the autumn of 1971 he and Anne moved to Pen-Y-Bryn House, Boot Street, Whittington, Oswestry, Shropshire, where their three children were born: David (1972), Philip (1974) and Lucia (1977).
In 1973 he resigned from Ellesmere College and began writing full-time. His first book Lawrence of Arabia and his World was published in 1976.
In October 1982 he and Anne moved to 11 Canonbury, Shrewsbury, Shropshire.
Sadly, in 1987 he was divorced; and from 1987 to 1989 he lived in 12 Betton Street, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, with his then girlfriend the artist Judy Coleridge.
In June 1989 he moved alone to 21 Bishop Street, Shrewsbury.
On 28 October 1995 he married his second wife [the artist Elizabeth Richmond Turner, nee Nicholas] and after a few weeks of living with her in her house in Oxfordshire, they moved to rented accommodation at 16 Whiteoaks, Wilton, Cork, Republic of Ireland.
In 1996 Richard and Elizabeth moved to Brook House, Ballygarvan, Co. Cork; but he left her in 1997, returning to Shrewsbury where he lived with his mother at 26 Hills Lane; and he and Elizabeth were divorced in April 1998.
In May 1999 Richard rented a small terraced house at 20 Exmoor Street, Bedminster, Bristol for a year.
From May 2000 he rented Flat 2, 23 Elmdale Road, Tyndalls Park, Bristol BS8 1SH.
By now, he had more than 20 publications to his name, including biographies of A. E. Housman, Richard Hughes and his late Uncle Robert Graves; but in October 2000 he set his writing to one side and began working with his eldest son David as Marketing Director of their new company Grave Web Services, an online marketing company which later became GWS Media Ltd.
In 2003, he moved to a room in his eldest son’s house at 7 Lilymead Avenue, Bristol.
From 2008 to 2010 he lived over the road at 8 Lilymead Avenue in a house belonging to his then girlfriend Mary-Jane Wilkinson.
In 2010 he returned to David’s house at 7 Lilymead Avenue where he has remained until the present day (2023).
From 2020 he began working only part-time 3 mornings a week for GWS Media Ltd. as its Financial Director and returned for the remainder of each week to his writing career. He is publishing 2 books in 2024 (Nicky Samuel: My Life and Loves and A Very English Family (1945-1954)).
