1909
Francis Bacon is born on 28 October in a nursing home at 63 Lower Baggot Street, Dublin, Ireland. He is the second of five children. Both his parents are English.
His father, Anthony Edward (‘Eddy’) Mortimer Bacon, is a captain of the Durham Light Infantry who left the army with the rank of honorary major and is embarking on a career as a horse breeder and trainer.
His mother, Christina Winifred Loxley Bacon (née Firth), has inherited a fortune from her family’s steel business. The family live at Cannycourt House, near Kilcullen, in County Kildare, Ireland ‒ handy for the Curragh Racecourse and local studs.
c. 1910
1911
Jessie Lightfoot, Bacon’s nanny, lives with the family as nurse and domestic servant. She is to remain with Francis until her death in 1951.
c. 1938
1915
When the First World War breaks out, the Bacon family return to live in London, at Westbourne Crescent, Paddington, where Bacon’s father works for the British Army Reserve.
c. 1910
1918
The Bacons return to Ireland and settle in Farmleigh House, the home of his grandmother Winifred Supple, near Abbeyleix, Laois. Young Francis is immensely fond of his grandmother’s company.
1919
Francis’ sister, Ianthe, is born.
