 Michael Ashton Otway Mayne, rector of that parish, and his wife Sylvia Clementia Lumley Ellis.His father committed suicide by jumping from the top of Harlestone church tower when Mayne was three years old, after which his mother moved the family to Torbay and then London.With the support of clerical charities, Mayne was educated at The King's School, Canterbury and later at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge and Cuddesdon Theological College, Oxford.