Robert Julian Yeatman (15 July 1897 – 13 July 1968) was a British humourist who wrote for ''Punch''. He is best known for the book '' 1066 and All That'', a tongue-in-cheek guide to "all the history you can remember", which he wrote with

W. C. Sellar Walter Carruthers Sellar (27 December 1898 – 11 June 1951) was a Scottish humourist who wrote for ''Punch''. He is best known for the 1930 book ''1066 and All That'', a tongue-in-cheek guide to "all the history you can remember," which he ...

. Yeatman was born in

Chelsea, London Chelsea is an affluent area in west London, England, due south-west of Charing Cross by approximately 2.5 miles. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the south-western postal area. Chelsea histori ...

. He spent some of his early years in Oporto, the principal city and port of northern Portugal, where his father worked as a

port wine Port wine (also known as vinho do Porto, , or simply port) is a Portuguese wine, Portuguese fortified wine produced in the Douro, Douro Valley of Norte, Portugal, northern Portugal. It is typically a sweetness of wine, sweet red wine, often ...

merchant, a family business connected with Taylor's Port. From 1911 he was educated at Marlborough College. In World War I he was commissioned into the Royal Field Artillery. Serving in France, he won the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC ...

and was severely wounded. After the war he attended Oriel College, Oxford, where he met Sellar. Yeatman then worked as a journalist before becoming advertising manager for

Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...

Ltd. When asked to convert his BA from Oxford into an MA, Yeatman could not find the fee owing to debt, and hence he is recorded in ''1066 and All That'' as "Failed M.A., etc. Oxon". With ambitions to be a writer, Yeatman contributed humorous pieces to

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pun ...

from 1926, with ''1066 and All That'' published in 1930, which was an immediate success. Three further joint ventures with Sellar followed: ''And Now All This'' (1932), ''Horse Nonsense'' (1933), and ''Garden Rubbish'' (1936), all selling well but without the popular success of ''1066''. Yeatman rejoined the army in 1940, serving as a captain in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

, then working for the Ministry of Information from 1943 until 1949. Afterwards he was employed as a copywriter, retiring in 1962. A biography of R J Yeatman, written by his son Bill Yeatman, is available a
www.agoodmanforallthat.com

Bibliography

All of the following books were co-authored with W. C. Sellar: * '' 1066 and All That'' (1930) * ''And Now All This'' (1932) * ''Horse Nonsense'' (1933) * ''Garden Rubbish and other Country Bumps'' (1936)

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