Editing G. K. Chesterton (section)

=== Early life ===

[[File:G.K. Chesterton at the age of 17.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Chesterton at the age of 17]]

Chesterton was born in [[Campden Hill]] in [[Kensington]], London, on 29 May 1874. His father was Edward Chesterton, an estate agent, and his mother was Marie Louise, {{née}} Grosjean, of Swiss-French origin.<ref>{{cite ODNB | url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-32392 | isbn=978-0-19-861412-8 | doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/32392 | year=2004 | last1=Bergonzi | first1=Bernard | title=Chesterton, Gilbert Keith &#91;G. K. C.&#93; (1874–1936), writer }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Simkin |first=John |title=G. K. Chesterton |url=http://spartacus-educational.com/Jchesterton.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150204194659/http://spartacus-educational.com/Jchesterton.htm |archive-date=4 February 2015 |access-date=4 February 2015 |website=Spartacus Educational}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Haushalter |first=Walter M. |title=Gilbert Keith Chesterton |url=https://archive.org/stream/universitymagazi11mcgiuoft#page/232/mode/2up |work=The University Magazine |volume=XI |page=236 |year=1912 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> Chesterton was baptised at the age of one month into the [[Church of England]],{{sfn|Ker|2011|p=1}} though his family themselves were irregularly practising [[Christian Unitarianism|Unitarians]].{{sfn|Ker|2011|p=13}} According to his autobiography, as a young man he became fascinated with the [[occult]] and, along with his brother [[Cecil Chesterton|Cecil]], experimented with [[Ouija boards]].{{Sfn|Chesterton|1936|loc=[http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks13/1301201h.html#ch15 Chapter IV]}} He was educated at [[St Paul's School, London|St Paul's School]], then attended the [[Slade School of Art]] to become an illustrator. The Slade is a department of [[University College London]], where Chesterton also took classes in literature, but he did not complete a degree in either subject. He married [[Frances Blogg]] in 1901; the marriage lasted the rest of his life. Chesterton credited Frances with leading him back to [[Anglicanism]], though he later considered Anglicanism to be a "pale imitation". He entered in full communion with the [[Catholic Church]] in 1922.{{sfn|Ker|2011|p=265–266}}  The couple were unable to have children.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://chestertonaustralia.com/downloads/conferences/chesterton_conference_papers_2018.pdf |title=Chesterton and the child – A Collection of Papers presented at a conference of the Australian Chesterton Society on October 20, 2018, at Campion College Australia, Sydney |date=2018 |publisher=Australian Chesterton Society |location=Sydney, Australia |page=41 |access-date=13 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190801202931/http://chestertonaustralia.com/downloads/conferences/chesterton_conference_papers_2018.pdf |archive-date=1 August 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Ker|2011|p=162–163}}

A friend from schooldays was [[Edmund Clerihew Bentley]], inventor of the [[clerihew]], a whimsical four-line biographical poem. Chesterton himself wrote clerihews and illustrated his friend's first published collection of poetry, ''Biography for Beginners'' (1905), which popularised the clerihew form. He became godfather to Bentley's son, [[Nicolas Bentley|Nicolas]], and opened his novel ''The Man Who Was Thursday'' with a poem written to Bentley.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}