John Basil Lee Jellicoe was the eldest son of the Reverend Thomas Harry Lee Jellicoe of St Peter’s Church, Chailey and Bethia Theodora Jellicoe (nee Boyd).  His uncle, Arthur Hamilton Boyd, who was also a clergyman in civil life, would have a distinguished career in the army during the First World War.

Basil, as he was known, was born on 5th February 1899.  He first gets a mention in Chailey Parish Magazine’s roll of honour in March 1917 where he is noted as Jellicoe, J B L, Univ OTC, Oxford.  By December 1917 he is noted as serving with the RNVR and in March 1918 is noted as assistant paymaster with the RNVR.  This information is then repeated monthly up to and including the final published roll call in July 1919.

The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004) has this to say about John Jellicoe:

Jellicoe, (John) Basil Lee (1899-1935), housing reformer and Church of England clergyman, was born on 5 February 1899 at Chailey, Sussex, the elder son of Thomas Harry Lee Jellicoe, rector of Chailey, and his wife, Bethia Theodora, youngest daughter of Sir John Boyd, of Maxpoffle, Roxburgh, lord provost of Edinburgh from 1888 to 1891. His father was a cousin of J. R. Jellicoe, first Earl Jellicoe.

A few months before the end of the First World War he left Oxford to join the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve and served for a short time in the Mediterranean.

This rather spare and stuffy review does not appear to do justice to the man. In the 1920s he campaigned successfully to replace the Somers Town slums in Camden, north London with decent housing and was a colossus in the neighbourhood as well as a firm favourite with the residents.  He founded what later became the St Pancras Housing and Humanist Association and helped set up similar groups throughout England.  He worked tirelessly for the benefit of poorer communities and must have been sorely missed when he died at the young age of 36.

In 2003, Jellicoe - The Musical, scripted by veteran writer and Somers Town resident Ron Inglis, brought Father Basil Jellicoe back to life when it was staged at The Shaw Theatre in London.  The photo reproduced on this page is lifted from the Camden New Journal website and shows Basil Jellicoe right, in the Hope and Anchor pub in 1930.  Prince George, The Prince of Wales stands in between him and the pub's manager.

Basil Jellicoe's younger brother Christopher Theodore Jellicoe is also noted in Chailey’s Parish Magazine as serving his King and Country.

Sources and Acknowledgements