david stuart horner was born on 29 july 1900, the son of john stuart horner (b. 1855) and emily green, the daughter of col. james francis birch, of the 3rd west india regiment. he was part of the horners of mells manor. according to the same horner, "i am directly descended from little jack horner (henry viii) who was lampooned in the nursery rhyme--the "plum" being the property of mells bought by my ancestor when the monks were kicked out of glastonbury abbey--his enemies said that he had stolen the title deeds: mells, which now belongs to my first cousin katharine [horner] asquith, is once again in the hands of a catholic." according to osbert sitwell, horner's future companion, "the horners are probably one of the few saxon families still extant. [...] i am rather bored with the normans and consider them nouveaux riches."