Mark Adayre Bence-Jones was a London-born writer, noted mainly for his books on Irish architecture, the British aristocracy and the British Raj.
11 Facts About Mark Bence-Jones
1.
2.
Mark Bence-Jones regarded himself as being both Irish and English, seeing no contradiction in these statements of nationality.
3.
Mark Bence-Jones's mother was half-French and half-English, and had been brought up in Alexandria, Egypt.
4.
Mark Bence-Jones was born in London, in 1930, but most of his childhood was spent in India, and plans for his education in England were curtailed by the outbreak of World War II.
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Mark Bence-Jones completed his schooling at Ampleforth College, and went on to study history at Pembroke College, Cambridge, then agriculture at the Royal Agricultural College, at Cirencester, with the intention of running the family's estate in Ireland.
6.
Mark Bence-Jones is best known for his authorship of Burke's Guide to Country Houses Volume 1: Ireland.
7.
Mark Bence-Jones made copious use of photographs and family albums in private ownership.
8.
Mark Bence-Jones wrote three books about India, Palaces of the Raj, The Viceroys of India and Clive of India.
9.
Mark Bence-Jones tried his hand at writing novels: three comedies of upper-class life in Rome, London and Ireland.
10.
Mark Bence-Jones was a devout Catholic, serving, at one time, as Chancellor of the Irish Association of the Knights of Malta, and attending the Lourdes pilgrimage.
11.
Mark Bence-Jones was interviewed and appeared in the documentary film The Raj In The Rain by Trust Films, filmed over ten years and released in 2012, screened on RTE in 2013, with the Directors Cut DVD released in 2015.