Item 3 - Speech

The son of a schoolmaster, Kendon was born in Goudhurst, Kent, in 1893. He was educated at Bethany House School and subsequently joined the staff there as Assistant Master. In 1915 Kendon joined the RE Signal Service as a sapper, serving in Egypt until 1919. After the War he came to St John's College Cambridge to study English, graduating in 1921 with a Second Class. He subsequently worked on the editorial staff of 'John O'London's Weekly' (c.1928-35) and then as Assistant Secretary to the Syndics of Cambridge University Press (1935-54). Kendon was three times winner of the Seatonian Prize (1942, 1945, 1946) and Fellowships at the Royal Society of Literature (1946) and then at St John's (1948-58) followed. Kendon's publications include 'Poems and Sonnets' (1924), an autobiography entitled 'The Small Years' (1930), and a novel titled 'Martin Makesure' (1950).