Jack Cecil Drummond 1891-1952

Jack Cecil Drummond, the only child of Major John Drummond of the Royal Artillery and Mrs Drummond, was born at Leicester on 12 January* 1891. His school education was received at the Roan School, Greenwich, and at Strand School, London. While he was very young his parents died in India, and he went to live with an elderly uncle and aunt, Captain and Mrs Spinks, Mrs Spinks being the sister of Jack’s father. Captain and Mrs Spinks, having no children of their own, brought up young Jack as their own child, but their home seems to have been rather bleak and run on rigid lines, Mrs Spinks being a strict nonconformist and insisting on Jack’s accompanying her to chapel until he was quite a young man. Captain Spinks was a Crimean veteran and a keen gardener, and it is probable that from him Jack first acquired an interest in and love for flowers. Certainly it is recorded that from an early age he was absorbingly interested in the countryside, especially in wild flowers, birds and aquatic life. His interest in birds was outstanding until the end of his life.