Painter, illustrator and writer, born in London and educated at Charterhouse, where he early showed a talent for drawing. Studied at Slade School of Fine Art, 1920–4, but found its regime unsympathetic. Instead preferred the company of Augustus John and his circle, sometimes assisting in John’s studio. A congenial man, Daintrey gathered a wide circle of friends, who included the artists Nina Hamnett and Rex Whistler, Matthew Smith and Alvaro Guevara and the writer Anthony Powell. After the Slade he continued his studies in the Louvre and L’Académie de la Grande Chaumière, Paris, then became art master at Dean Close School, Cheltenham. First exhibition shared with Paul Nash at Dorothy Warren’s gallery in 1928, and as a result Daintrey gained aristocratic patrons who helped ease his money worries.