Beb Asquith Part II

Beb's marriage to Cynthia was a moderate success. He was quiet and gentle and Cynthia was more socially outgoing. They were not well off, and this led to quarrels as Beb was extravagant, and Cynthia tried to rein him in. They had 2 sons, at first, John who was probably autistic and ended by being institutionalised and Michael. Beb joined the army when War broke out and this inspired some of his poems. War affected him very much, he suffered from shell shock and his brother Raymond was killed and so were his wife's two brothers Hugo and Yvo. Cynthia was a flirtatious woman and had several male admirers all through her marriage. She kept a diary which gives a picture of London at war, and Beb arriving and departing. He told Cynthia that he wanted to give up the law and become a full time writer, which added to their financial problems. He took up writing after the war and one of his poem, the Volunteer, became famous. Cynthia realised that she would have to help support the family, so she took a part time job as secretary to JM Barrie, and began to look for writing projects. She had another son, Simon and Beb concentrated on his writing but was never a great success. Cynthia was more succeessful. Beb died in 1947- in Bath where he and Cynthia were living.