He was born in
Whimple,
Devonshire, the son of Kellow and Vera Moule Chesney. He married Anne M. H. Thackeray, a social worker, on 19 March 1951. They had one daughter, Charlotte Chesney. He attended
Haileybury and Imperial Service College, a boarding school situated between
Hertford and
Hoddesdon, about 20 miles north of central London. He then studied at
Wadham College, Oxford, from 1928 to 1933. He served in the British Army from 1940 to 1946, retiring as a lieutenant. He then entered journalism, eventually becoming a full-time writer. == Publications ==