Nigel Balchin#References

Balchin was born on 3 December 1908 in Potterne, Wiltshire, the third and last child of William Edwin Balchin (1872–1958), a baker and teashop proprietor, later grocer, and Ada (née Curtis), the daughter of a railway guard.{{sfn|Collett|2015|p=}} His paternal grandfather, George Marlin Balchin (1830–1898), was a farmer of 800 acres from a long line of wealthy Surrey farmers in Milford. George Balchin moved during the 1870s to Reading to become a Storekeeper.1881 UK census: 1881/04/03 Store Keeper, aged 48, of 81 Friars Place, Reading – RG11/1305 f.39 p.22 but his sudden decision in 1887 to cease work on his farm had a negative impact on the Balchin family's subsequent finances.{{sfn|Collett|2015|p=}}

At the age of eighteen months, Balchin knocked over a kettle of scalding water, and was so badly burned that he was not expected to survive.{{sfn|Collett|2015|p=}} He was educated at Dauntsey's School and Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he took a scholarship and became a Prizeman in Natural Sciences. He then worked for the National Institute of Industrial Psychology between 1930 and 1935. For part of this time he was a consultant to JS Rowntree & Sons, where he was involved in the design and marketing of Black Magic chocolates{{cite magazine |last=Collett |first=Derek |date=December 2008 |title=Nigel Balchin |magazine=Book and Magazine Collector |issue=301 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.makingthemodernworld.org.uk/stories/the_age_of_the_mass/05.ST.06/?scene=4&tv=true |title=Making the Modern World: Rowntree's Cocoa Works study guide |publisher=The Science Museum }} and, he claimed, responsible for the success of the company's Aero and Kit Kat brands.

During World War II he was a civil servant at the Ministry of Food, and then, on the basis of his pioneering work on personnel selection and scientific research, using early computers, appointed Deputy Scientific Adviser to the Army Council, being promoted to the rank of brigadier at the early age of thirty-six. With that and the film of his semi-autobiographical novel The Small Back Room, he became regarded as a prototypical boffin.{{sfn|Collett|2015|p=}} On 29 October 1954, he was the celebrity castaway on Desert Island Discs. In 1956, he moved abroad to write screenplays in Hollywood, Italy and elsewhere, but was increasingly troubled by alcoholism, and returned permanently to England in 1962. He wrote about the changes in his home village of Potterne and nearby areas on a revisit for The Sunday Times Magazine's Return Journey series published on 6 August 1964. Balchin said "for me, perhaps the strongest formative influence in my early years was Salisbury Plain, itself. I thought, and still think, that those bare windswept chalk downs were one of the most beautiful places in the world . . . . Certainly, they gave me a love of space and tumbling wind [and] a liking for big sweeping views . . .".{{Cite journal |last=Balchin |first=Nigel |date=9 August 1964 |title=Rim of the Plain |journal=The Sunday Times Magazine |pages=22, 24}}

File:The grave of Nigel Balchin, Hampstead Cemetery, London.JPG

Balchin was married twice.

Firstly, on 21 January 1933 at Chelsea, to Elisabeth Evelyn Walshe, daughter of the novelist Douglas Walshe, whom he had met at Cambridge where she was reading English, archaeology and anthropology at Newnham.{{cite ODNB |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/49561 |title=Ayrton , Elisabeth Evelyn (1910–1991) |author=Justine Hopkins |date=2011 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/49561 |access-date=16 January 2011}} Their children were:

1. Prudence Ann Balchin (1934–2004),GRO Register of Births: DEC 1934 1a 16 PADDINGTON – Prudence A. Balchin, mmn = WalsheGRO Register of Deaths 2004 Rockhampton, Gloucestershire who married Z-Cars scriptwriter John Hopkins (1931–1998) and ran a zoo for many years.
2. Penelope Jane Balchin (born 1937),GRO Register of Births: MAR 1938 1a 808 HAMPSTEAD – Penelope J. Balchin, mmn = Walshe better known as childcare expert Dr Penelope Leach, who married the science journalist Gerald Leach (1933–2004).{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2005/jan/21/obituaries.pressandpublishing |title=Obituary: Gerald Leach |work=The Guardian|location=London |date=21 January 2005 }}
3. Freja Mary Balchin (born 1944),GRO Register of Births: MAR 1945 1a 551 MARYLEBONE – Freja M. Balchin, mmn = Walshe who became the first female president of Cambridge University's theatre groupDaily Express, 1 May 1966 and married Professor Richard Gregory (1923–2010), a psychologist.

His first marriage broke up following a partner-swapping arrangement between the Balchins, the artist Michael Ayrton and the latter's partner Joan. Elisabeth also had an affair with the composer Christian Darnton. Balchin divorced Elisabeth in 1951 and she married Ayrton a year later. Balchin included an unflattering caricature of Darnton as the poet Stephen Ryle in his novel Darkness Falls from the Air (1942).

Secondly, in February 1953 at Marylebone, he married Yovanka (later Jane) Zorana Tomich.GRO Register of Marriages: MAR 1953 5d 712 MARYLEBONE – Balchin = Tomich or Tomic They had two children:

1. Charles Zoran Marlin Balchin (born 1955),GRO Register of Births: DEC 1955 5d 189 PADDINGTON – Charles Z. M. Balchin, mmn = Tomich who held senior roles at the BBC, Sky Sports and various overseas broadcasters.
2. Cassandra Marlin Balchin (1962–2012),GRO Register of Births: JUN 1962 5d 261 PADDINGTON – Cassandra M. Balchin, mmn = Tomich an authority on women's rights under Islamic law.

He died on 17 May 1970 at a nursing home in Hampstead, London, and is buried on the edge of the north path in Hampstead Cemetery in north London. His gravestone is small, but distinctive, having the form of an open book.

{{ahnentafel |collapsible=yes |ref={{cite web |url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/tree |title=Ancestors of Nigel Marlin Balchin (1908-70) |publisher=Ancestry.co.uk |access-date=30 December 2020}}

|1 =1. Nigel Marlin Balchin (1908-70)

|2 =2. William Edwin (Willie) Balchin (1872-1968)

|3 =3. Ada Elizabeth Curtis (1870-1939)

|4 =4. George Marlin Balchin (1830-96)

|5 =5. Sarah Anne Puttock (1833-1917)

|6 =6. William Curtis (1842-1916)

|7 =7. Elizabeth Harriett Piper (1839-1877)

|8 =8. Henry Balchin (1797-1874)

|9 =9. Sarah Butcher (1797-1872)

|10=10. James Puttock (1805-76)

|11=11. Ann Child (1804-)

|12=12. Henry Curtis (1813-95)

|13=13. Elizabeth Spencer (1811-55)

|14=14. John Piper (1818-)

|15=15. Harriett Whately (1818-)

|16=16. Uriah Balchin (1749-1810)

|17=17. Sarah Frost (1758-1842)

|18=18. John Butcher (1766-)

|19=19. Sarah Joyes

|20=20. James Puttock (1764-1849)

|21=21. Leah Ede (1779-1828)

|22=22. Thomas Child (1768-)

|23=23. Sarah Cheasmar (1767-)

|24=24. James Curtis (1777-)

|25=25. Elizabeth

|26=26. Thomas Spencer (1786-)

|27=27. Elizabeth

|28=28. Samuel Piper (1778-1841)

|29=29. Charity Brook (1773-1850)

|30=30. Thomas Whately (1796-)

|31=31. Harriet Dowell (1798-)

}}

Balchin wrote articles for Punch and The Aeroplane magazine, and published three non-fiction books as Mark Spade.

He also wrote novels under his own name, and enjoyed great popular success for a time. Darkness Falls from the Air is set during the London Blitz and was written while the bombing was still in progress. The Small Back Room became a Powell and Pressburger film of the same title. A Way Through the Wood was adapted as a stage play, Waiting for Gillian, and as the 2005 film Separate Lies, which marked the directorial debut of Oscar-winning screenwriter Julian Fellowes. Other critically acclaimed Balchin novels include A Sort of Traitors, Sundry Creditors, The Fall of the Sparrow and Seen Dimly before Dawn.{{cite web |url=http://www.clivejames.com/pieces/hercules/balchin |title=The Effective Intelligence of Nigel Balchin |author=Clive James |author-link=Clive James |publisher=Web Archive.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131125213927/http://www.clivejames.com/pieces/hercules/balchin |access-date=17 December 2020|archive-date=25 November 2013 }}

As a screenwriter he worked on an early draft of Cleopatra but is principally remembered for The Man Who Never Was, for which he won the 1957 BAFTA Award for Best British Screenplay, and Mandy, the story of a deaf child. He also wrote the screenplay for The Singer Not the Song and adapted two of his own novels for the screen.

• {{cite magazine |author=Nigel Balchin |date=1930s |title=The Compleat Modern |magazine=Punch }}
• {{cite magazine |author=Nigel Balchin |date=1930s |title=Various |magazine=Punch }}
• {{cite magazine |author=Nigel Balchin |date=1930s |title=Various |magazine=The Aeroplane }}

• {{cite book |title=How to Run a Bassoon Factory; or Business Explained |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1046328892 |author=Mark Spade |publisher=Hamish Hamilton, London |oclc=1046328892 |date=1934}}
• {{cite book |title=Business for Pleasure, illustrated by W.M. Hendry |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1079305095 |author=Mark Spade |publisher=Hamish Hamilton, London |oclc=1079305095 |date=1935}}
• {{cite book |title=Fun and Games – How to Win at Almost Anything|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1221705989 |author=Mark Spade |publisher=Hamish Hamilton, London |oclc=1221705989 |date=1936}}
• {{cite book |title=How to Run a Bassoon Factory or Business Explained and Business for Pleasure|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/64306962 |author=Mark Spade |publisher=Hamish Hamilton, London |oclc=64306962 |date=1950}}

• {{cite book |title=No Sky |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/946487463 |author=Nigel Balchin |publisher=Hamish Hamilton, London |oclc=946487463 |date=1934}}
• {{cite book |title=Simple Life |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/730264388 |author=Nigel Balchin |publisher=Hamish Hamilton, London |oclc=730264388 |date=1935}}
• {{cite book |title=Lightbody on Liberty |author=Nigel Balchin |publisher=Collins, London |oclc=750432392 |date=1936}}
• {{cite book |title=Darkness Falls from the Air |author=Nigel Balchin |publisher=Collins, London |oclc=723504299 |date=1942}}
• {{cite book |title=The Small Back Room |author=Nigel Balchin |publisher=Collins, London |oclc=557970682 |date=1943}}

::made into the 1948 film, The Small Back Room

• {{cite book |title=Mine Own Executioner |author=Nigel Balchin |publisher=Collins, London |oclc=1077883764 |date=1945}}

::made into the 1947 film, Mine Own Executioner

• {{cite book |title=Satisfactions in Work |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/896674463 |author=Nigel Balchin |oclc=896674463 |date=1947}}
• {{cite book |title=Lord, I Was Afraid |author=Nigel Balchin |publisher=Collins, London |oclc=655784256 |date=1947}}
• {{cite book |title=The Borgia Testament |author=Nigel Balchin |publisher=Hulton Press, London |oclc=4924669 |date=1948}}
• {{cite book |title=A Sort of Traitors |author=Nigel Balchin |publisher=Collins & The Book Society |oclc=906290090 |date=1949}}

::made into the 1960 film, Suspect

• {{cite book |title=Who is my Neighbour? |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/561658304 |author=Nigel Balchin |oclc=561658304 |date=1949}}
• {{cite book |title=A Way Through the Wood |author=Nigel Balchin |publisher= Book Club, London |oclc=1184558943 |date=1952}}

::made into the 1954 stage play, Waiting for Gillian, and the 2005 film, Separate Lies

• {{cite book |title=Private Interests |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1702499 |author=Nigel Balchin |publisher=Houghton, Boston |oclc=4924669 |date=1953}}
• {{cite book |title=Sundry Creditors |author=Nigel Balchin |oclc=906154029 |date=1953}}
• {{cite book |title=The Fall of the Sparrow |author=Nigel Balchin |oclc=3619072 |date=1955}}
• {{cite book |title=Seen Dimly before Dawn|author=Nigel Balchin |publisher=Collins |oclc=1351246 |date=1962}}
• {{cite book |title=In the Absence of Mrs. Petersen|author=Nigel Balchin |oclc=1126673615 |date=1966}}
• {{cite book |title=Kings of Infinite Space |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/877801758 |author=Nigel Balchin |publisher=Hamish Hamilton, London |oclc=877801758 |date=1970}}

• {{cite AV media |people=Nigel Balchin |date=1947 |title=Fame is the Spur}}
• {{cite AV media |people=Nigel Balchin |date=1947 |title=Mine Own Executioner|title-link=Mine Own Executioner }}
• {{cite AV media |people=Nigel Balchin |date=1952 |title=Mandy}}
• {{cite AV media |people=Nigel Balchin |date=1953 |title=Malta Story}}
• {{cite AV media |people=Nigel Balchin |date=1955 |title=Josephine and Men}}
• {{cite AV media |people=Nigel Balchin |date=13 November 1955 |title=The Leader of the House |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1272557/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 }} (written for TV)
• {{cite AV media |people=Nigel Balchin |date=1956 |title=The Man Who Never Was|title-link=The Man Who Never Was }}
• {{cite AV media |people=Nigel Balchin |date=1956 |title=23 Paces to Baker Street|title-link=23 Paces to Baker Street }}
• {{cite AV media |people=Nigel Balchin |date=1957 |title=Sea Wife (uncredited)}}
• {{cite AV media |people=Nigel Balchin |date=1958 |title=The Barbarian and the Geisha (uncredited)}}
• {{cite AV media |people=Nigel Balchin |date=1959 |title=The Blue Angel}}
• {{cite AV media |people=Nigel Balchin |date=1960 |title=Suspect}}
• {{cite AV media |people=Nigel Balchin |date=1961 |title=Circle of Deception|title-link=Circle of Deception }}
• {{cite AV media |people=Nigel Balchin |date=1961 |title=The Singer Not the Song|title-link=The Singer Not the Song }}
• {{cite AV media |people=Nigel Balchin |date=1962 |title=Barabbas}}
• {{cite AV media |people=Nigel Balchin |date=5 June 1962 |title=The Hatchet Man |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1285119/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2}} (written for TV)
• {{cite AV media |people=Nigel Balchin |date=1963 |title=Cleopatra (uncredited)}}
• {{cite AV media |people=Nigel Balchin |date=12 July 1969 |title=Better Dead |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0953965/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 }} (written for TV)

• {{cite book |title=Income and Outcome. A Study of Personal Finance |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/557970392 |author=Nigel Balchin |oclc=557970392 |date=1936}}
• {{cite book |title=Pobottle|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/21047832 |author=Nigel Balchin |publisher=High Duty Alloys, Slough |oclc=651738291 |date=1939}}
• {{cite book |title=The Aircraft Builders. An Account of British Aircraft Production 1935-1945 |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/559079703 |author=Nigel Balchin |publisher=Ministry of Aircraft Production |oclc=559079703 |date=1947}}
• {{cite book |title=The Anatomy of Villainy |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/909993025 |author=Nigel Balchin |publisher=Collins |oclc=909993025 |date=1950}}
• {{cite book |title=The Worker in Modern Industry |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/878285048 |author=Nigel Balchin |publisher=Institute of Personnel Management |oclc=878285048 |date=1954}}
• {{cite book |title=Last Recollections of My Uncle Charles |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/219879186 |author=Nigel Balchin |publisher=Collins |oclc=909993025 |date=1955}}
• {{cite book |title=Fantasia Mathematica – Imaginaries |author=Various |publisher=Collins |oclc=1143214091 |date=1958}}

:: an anthology including God and the Machine by Nigel Balchin

• {{cite book |title=Fatal Fascination (1964) essays by Balchin and three other writers |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/752942012 |author=Nigel Balchin |publisher=Hutchinson |oclc=909993025 |date=1964}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book|last=Collett|first=Derek|title=His Own Executioner: The Life of Nigel Balchin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dnEyjgEACAAJ |year=2015 |publisher=SilverWood |isbn=978-1-78132-391-5 }}

• {{IMDb name|0049587}}
• [http://www.nigelmarlinbalchin.com The Nigel Marlin Balchin website], operated by Derek Collett
• [http://balchinfamily.uk/ Balchin Family History Society website]
• [https://generals.dk/general/Balchin/Nigel_Marlin/Great_Britain.html Generals of World War II]

{{BAFTA Award for Best British Screenplay}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Balchin, Nigel}}

Category:1908 births

Category:1970 deaths

Category:British Army brigadiers

Category:Military personnel from Wiltshire

Category:British Army brigadiers of World War II

Category:Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge

Category:Writers from Wiltshire

Category:People educated at Dauntsey's School

Category:Burials at Hampstead Cemetery

Category:English psychologists

Category:20th-century British psychologists

Category:English civil servants

Category:20th-century English non-fiction writers

Category:20th-century English novelists

Category:English male screenwriters

Category:20th-century English screenwriters

Category:Best British Screenplay BAFTA Award winners

Category:20th-century English male writers

Category:British Army General List officers