Editing David Niven (section)

==Early life and family==
James David Graham Niven was born on 1 March 1910 at [[Belgrave Mansions]], [[Grosvenor Gardens]], London, to William Edward Graham Niven (1878–1915) and his wife, Henrietta Julia (née Degacher) Niven (1878–1932).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Morley |first1=Sheridan |title=David Niven, Brief Lives |date=1997 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |isbn=0198600879 |page=413}}</ref> He was named David after his birth on [[St David's Day]]. Niven later claimed he was born in [[Kirriemuir]], in the Scottish county of [[Angus, Scotland|Angus]] in 1909, but his birth certificate disproves this.<ref name="OtherSide">{{Cite book|last=Morley|first=Sheridan|author-link=Sheridan Morley|title=The Other Side of the Moon|year=1985|publisher=Weidenfeld and Nicolson|location=London|isbn=0-340-39643-1}}</ref> He had two older sisters and a brother: Margaret Joyce Niven (1900–1981), Henry Degacher Niven (1902–1953), and the sculptor [[Grizel Niven|Grizel Rosemary Graham Niven]] (1906–2007), who created the [[bronze sculpture]] ''Bessie'' that is presented to the annual winners of the [[Women's Prize for Fiction]].

Niven's father, William Niven, was of [[Scottish people|Scottish]] descent; he was killed in the [[First World War]] serving with the [[Berkshire Yeomanry]] during the [[Gallipoli campaign]] on 21 August 1915. He is buried in [[Green Hill Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery|Green Hill Cemetery]], Turkey, in the Special Memorial Section in Plot F. 10.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/602423 |title=Casualty details—Niven, William Edward Graham |publisher=[[Commonwealth War Graves Commission]] |access-date=4 September 2009}}</ref> Niven's paternal great-grandfather and namesake, David Graham Niven, (1811–1884) was from [[St Martins, Perth and Kinross|
St Martins]], a village in [[Perthshire]]. A physician, he married in [[Worcestershire]], and lived in [[Pershore]].

Niven's mother, Henrietta, was born in [[Brecon]], Wales. Her father was Captain (brevet Major) William Degacher (1841–1879) of the 1st Battalion, [[24th Regiment of Foot]], who was killed at the [[Battle of Isandlwana]] during the [[Anglo-Zulu War]] in 1879.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The Times|title=Marriages|date= 26 October 1888}}</ref> Although born William Hitchcock, in 1874, he and his older brother Lieutenant Colonel Henry Degacher (1835–1902), both followed their father, Walter Henry Hitchcock, in taking their mother's maiden name of Degacher.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The Times|title=Notices|date= 18 February 1874|page= 1}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britishempire.co.uk/forces/armyunits/britishinfantry/24thfootdegacher.htm|title=Henry James Degacher CB|website=www.britishempire.co.uk|access-date=14 August 2020}}</ref> Henriette's mother was Julia Caroline Smith, the daughter of [[Lieutenant-General (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant General]] [[James Webber Smith]] [[Companion of the Order of the Bath|CB]].

After her husband's death in Turkey in 1915, Henrietta Niven remarried in London in 1917 to Conservative politician and diplomat Sir Thomas Walter Comyn-Platt (1869–1961).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://hjordisniven.com/hjordis-genberg-niven-1948/1917-thomas-comyn-platt-henriette-niven/|title=1917 – David Niven's mother marries Thomas Comyn Platt| website=hjordisniven.com|date=17 December 2017 |access-date=19 June 2021}}</ref> David and his sister Grizel were close, and both loathed Comyn-Platt. The family moved to Rose Cottage in [[Bembridge]] on the [[Isle of Wight]] after selling their London home.<ref name="country">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.countrylife.co.uk/property/south-east-england-property-for-sale/david-nivens-idyllic-childhood-home-comes-sale-adored-happier-ever-210749|title=David Niven's idyllic childhood home comes up for sale: 'I adored it and was happier there than I had ever been' |magazine =[[Country Life (magazine)|Country Life]]|date= 23 January 2020|quote = Part of the reason that the young Niven enjoyed his school holidays in Bembridge so much is that his mother saw very clearly that her two teenage sons needed space and freedom to let their hair down — so much so, in fact, that she built an extension to the rear of the house which was quickly dubbed the 'Sin Wing'. [When] David and his brother used to come in rather noisily at night [...] his mother got a bit cross so she built two bedrooms and a bathroom at the back. }}</ref> In his 1971 biography, ''[[The Moon's a Balloon]]'', Niven wrote fondly of his childhood home:
<blockquote>It became necessary for the house in London to be sold and our permanent address was now as advertised—a cottage which had a reputation for unreliability. When the East wind blew, the front door got stuck and when the West wind blew, the back door could not be opened—only the combined weight of the family seemed to keep it anchored to the ground. I adored it and was happier there than I had ever been, especially because, with a rare flash of genius, my mother decided that during the holidays she would be alone with her children. Uncle Tommy [Comyn-Platt] was barred—I don't know where he went—to the [[Carlton Club]] I suppose.<ref name="country"/></blockquote>
Literary editor and biographer, [[Graham Lord]], wrote in ''Niv: The Authorised Biography of David Niven'', that Comyn-Platt and Niven's mother may have been in an affair well before her husband's death in 1915 and that Comyn-Platt was actually Niven's biological father, a supposition that had some support among Niven's siblings. In a review of Lord's book, [[Hugh Massingberd]] from ''[[The Spectator]]'' stated photographic evidence did show a strong physical resemblance between Niven and Comyn-Platt that "would appear to confirm these theories, though photographs can often be misleading."<ref name="HM">{{cite magazine|last=Massingberd|first= Hugh|url=http://www.spectator.co.uk/books/20678/its-being-so-cheerful-that-keeps-me-going.thtml|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130421070632/http://www.spectator.co.uk/books/20678/its-being-so-cheerful-that-keeps-me-going.thtml|url-status=dead|archive-date=21 April 2013|title=It's being so cheerful that keeps me going|date= 15 November 2003|magazine=The Spectator|access-date= 25 May 2009}}</ref> Niven is said to have revealed that he knew Comyn-Platt was his real father a year before his own death in 1983.<ref name="Irish">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/books/the-flawed-real-life-of-the-perfect-movie-gentleman-26552274.html|title=The flawed real life of the perfect movie gentleman|newspaper=[[Irish Independent]]|date= 19 July 2009}}</ref>

After his mother remarried, Niven's stepfather had him sent away to boarding school. In ''The Moon's a Balloon'', Niven described the bullying, isolation, and abuse he endured as a six-year-old. He said that older pupils would regularly assault younger boys, while the schoolmasters were not much better. Niven wrote of one sadistic teacher:

<blockquote>Mr Croome, when he tired of pulling ears halfway out of our heads (I still have one that sticks out almost at right-angles thanks to this son of a bitch) and delivering, for the smallest mistake in [[Latin declension]], backhanded slaps that knocked one off one's bench, delighted in saying, 'Show me the hand that wrote this' — then bringing down the sharp edge of a heavy ruler across the offending wrist.<ref name="moon">{{cite book| isbn = 9780140239249|year= 1971|type= Reprint (2005)|title=The Moon's a Balloon|publisher= Penguin Books Limited|first= David|last= Niven|pages=38–45}}</ref></blockquote>

Years later, after joining the British Army, a vengeful Niven decided to return to the boarding school to pay a call on Mr Croome but he found the place abandoned and empty.<ref name="moon"/>
 
While attending school{{snd}}as was customary for the time{{snd}}Niven received many instances of [[corporal punishment]] owing to his inclination for pranks. It was this behaviour that finally led to his expulsion from his next school, [[Heatherdown Preparatory School]], at the age of {{frac|10|1|2}}. This ended his chances for [[Eton College]], a significant blow to his family. After failing to pass the naval entrance exam because of his difficulty with maths, Niven attended [[Stowe School]], a newly created public school led by headmaster [[J. F. Roxburgh]], who was unlike any of Niven's previous headmasters. Thoughtful and kind, he addressed the boys by their first names, allowed them bicycles, and encouraged and nurtured their personal interests. Niven later wrote, "How he did this, I shall never know, but he made every single boy at that school feel that what he said and what he did were of real importance to the headmaster."<ref name="moon"/>

In 1928, while she was on holiday in [[Bembridge]], 15-year-old [[Margaret Whigham]] (the future socialite and [[Duchess of Argyll]]) had a sexual encounter with 18-year-old Niven, resulting in her pregnancy. Furious, her father rushed her to a London nursing home for a secret abortion. "All hell broke loose," remembered Elizabeth Duckworth, the Whigham family cook. Margaret Whigham adored Niven until the day he died; she was among the VIP guests at his London memorial service in 1983.<ref>{{cite book| title=Niv: The Authorised Biography of David Niven|first= Graham |last=Lord|publisher= Orion|year= 2004|page= 420}}</ref>