Bellhouse was born in
Stanmore, New South Wales, the second son of Florence Chapman (née Pickering) and the Reverend Herbert Edward Bellhouse (1879–1961). His father was a
Methodist minister and he attended state schools in
Kempsey,
Woodford,
Mudgee and
Hamilton before sitting for the
Leaving Certificate at
Fort Street High School in
Sydney. He was awarded a
Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Mathematics at the
University of Sydney and a
Diploma of Education graduating in 1935 and studied music at the
Sydney Conservatorium of Music. After a year working in the
Department of Trade and Customs he joined the
Department of Education and taught music at
Sydney Technical High School and later mathematics. In 1940 he married the Australian
composer Dulcie Holland and they had two children, a daughter Holly and a son Lindsay. At the beginning of
World War II Bellhouse was a maths teacher with the Education Department and so was not allowed to enlist. So he changed jobs and his new employer,
Sydney Grammar School, allowed him to serve. In 1942 the
RAAF posted him to educational duties in Sydney for two years and he served as an instructor in science, mathematics, meteorology, and aircraft recognition. During this time he wrote his first book entitled
Whose Plane is That? Then he was posted to an active service area 60 miles from
Darwin, Northern Territory. He was discharged in January 1946 as a
flight lieutenant. At war's end he rejoined the music and mathematics staff of Sydney Grammar, and having played A Grade Tennis before the war, became a
GPS tennis coach. Then he approached the
North Sydney Council for help in forming an orchestra. The mayor was sympathetic to the idea and provided financial assistance from the council to establish a combined orchestral and choral group. This was to be the first ever orchestra on the north side of Sydney. The newly-formed North Shore Symphony Orchestra and the North Shore Choral Society held their first rehearsal on 14 February 1947 in the hall of
St Thomas' Anglican Church, North Sydney. The first concert was given on 20 June 1947. In 1951 and 1952 Bellhouse took up an exchange teaching post in London with his wife and young children. From 1964 until 1973 Bellhouse was the director of music at
Newington College in Sydney. ==Author==