 Duncombe-Jewell lived at Crowley's Scottish residence 'Boleskine' for several years from 1903.He later converted to Catholicism.Formerly a Lieutenant in the 3rd Volunteer Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers, he represented "The Times" in Spain during the rumours of an impending Carlist rising in 1898-99, and served as a Special War Correspondent for the "Morning Post" newspaper in South Africa, the same paper that also employed Winston Churchill, with the 3rd Division South African Field Force.