Robert von Ranke Graves was born on 24 July 1895 at Red Branch House, Lauriston Road, Wimbledon, Surrey. His mother, Amalie (Amy) Elizabeth Sophie, née von Ranke, helped design the house, while Alfred, his father, named it after a band of chivalrous Irish knights called the Red Branch Heroes.
While romping through the house, Robert would have passed by the family’s silver canteen engraved with the Graves motto: ‘An eagle does not hunt flies.’
Standing left to right in the photograph below are Charles, Rosaleen and Robert. Seated are Clarissa, Alfred (with John on his knee) and Amy. Robert is thirteen.
Photographs with kind permission from The St John’s College Robert Graves Trust, Oxford.
The Graves family in September 1908.