Being the oldest of the three children in the Leigh family, Benjamin learns at a young age how to provide for the family. Their father died in 1919, their mother around 1935.

Benjamin's hair is very red, has little bit of a wave, is on the longer side and greased back. He is reserved and serious, but very relaxed with Harry. At home he wears slacks and a button-up shirt with a sweater (his favorite is cream-colored).

Benjamin is not the athletic type but would rather stay inside on a beautiful day and work in his study. He is also not the type to dance much more than a waltz and, at that, not very well. He is well read. He plays piano well, but seldom does, unless Harry asks him to.

Benjamin is already working in Whitehall when the war begins, so he does not serve his country on the battlefront. Almost as soon as war is declared, he starts working in the Cabinet War Rooms.

The War Rooms were a vast underground complex under what is now HM Treasury. It covered three acres and housed a staff that reached 528 people. Many of the staff were on call 24 hours a day and rarely went up to the outside world, so the complex featured a canteen, a shooting range, a hospital and dormitories. They also contained sun lamps and regular treatments to help with the lack of Vitamin D.