Reg Selfe was born in Eltham, SE London in 1926, but moved to Holland-on-Sea in Essex six months later.The war years were spent in Clacton-on-Sea, where his mother ran a wool shop, and where his father, who was much older than his mother, died in 1944. In 1946, with his mother, he removed to London to continue his studies in pharmacy. After National Service in the Royal Army Medical Corps, he qualified as a pharmacist and was appointed to a managerial position in various branches of Boots the Chemists. After his mother died in 1982, he retired and returned to Essex to live near his brother and family.