Background
Lees-Milne was born on 6 August 1908 in Wickhamford, Worcestershire, United Kingdom. Both his parents came from minor landed families which had made industrial fortunes in the 19th century; but the money was fast disappearing and Lees-Milne would receive little of it, and that late in life. His father, whom he feared, was a man of many gifts, but an irascible bully; his beautiful mother, whom he adored, instilled in him a love of nature, but was consumed by vanity. They neglected their children and led largely separate lives. Lees-Milne grew up a lonely, hypersensitive child, suffering from an inferiority complex. He spent much of his childhood wandering dreamily in the grounds of Wickhamford Manor, the atmospheric mediaeval property in Worcestershire which his parents had purchased around the time of his birth.