Editing David Bellamy (section)

==Early and personal life==
Bellamy was born at [[Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital]] in London to parents Winifred May (née Green) and Thomas Bellamy on 18 January 1933.<ref name = Buczacki>{{cite ODNB|doi = 10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.90000380834|title = Bellamy, David James (1933–2019), botanist, broadcaster, and environmentalist|year = 2023|last = Buczacki|first = Stefan|authorlink = Stefan Buczacki}}</ref><ref name=secret1>{{cite web|title= My Secret Life: David Bellamy, broadcaster and botanist, 78|url= https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/my-secret-life-david-bellamy-broadcaster-and-botanist-78-2297783.html|work=The Independent|date=18 June 2011}}</ref> He was raised in a [[Baptists|Baptist]] family and retained a strong Christian faith throughout his life.<ref name="Wilkinson">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/dec/12/david-bellamy-obituary|title=David Bellamy obituary|last=Wilkinson|first=Pete|date=12 December 2019|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=17 December 2019}}</ref> As a child, he had hoped to be a ballet dancer, but he concluded that his physique precluded him from pursuing the training.<ref name=secret1/>

Bellamy went to school in south London, attending Chatsworth Road Primary School in [[Cheam]], Cheam Road Junior School, and [[Sutton Grammar School for Boys|Sutton County Grammar School]]. He said that he "was never a model pupil".<ref name = Buczacki/> He gained an [[honours degree]] in botany at [[Chelsea College of Science and Technology]] (now part of [[King's College London]]) in 1957 and a doctor of philosophy at [[Bedford College, London|Bedford College]] in 1960.<ref name="Royal Holloway">{{cite web|last1=Professor David Bellamy OBE|title=Professor David Bellamy OBE|url=https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/alumni/ouralumni/notablealumni/biologicalsciences/professordavidbellamyobe.aspx/|website=www.royalholloway.ac.uk|access-date=15 October 2017}}</ref>

Bellamy was influenced by Gene Stratton-Porter's 1909 novel ''[[A Girl of the Limberlost (novel)|A Girl of the Limberlost]]'' and Disney's 1940 film ''[[Fantasia (1940 film)|Fantasia]]''.<ref name=secret1 />

Bellamy married Rosemary Froy in 1959, and the couple remained together until her death in 2018.<ref name = Buczacki/> They had five children: Henrietta (died 2017), Eoghain, Brighid, Rufus, and Hannah.<ref name="Wilkinson"/> A resident of the [[Pennines]] in [[County Durham]],<ref name=secret1 /><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/countiesofbritain/3349609/Counties-of-Britain-Durham-by-David-Bellamy.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090218020230/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/countiesofbritain/3349609/Counties-of-Britain-Durham-by-David-Bellamy.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=18 February 2009 | location=London | work=The Daily Telegraph | first=Elspeth | last=Thompson | title=Counties of Britain: Durham by David Bellamy | date=3 May 2006}}</ref> Bellamy died from [[vascular dementia]] at a care home in [[Barnard Castle]] on 11 December 2019, at the age of 86.<ref name = Buczacki/>