Charles Hadfield was born at Pietersburg, South Africa, where his New Zealand-born father was an Assistant Resident Magistrate; his mother was daughter of a Devon clergyman. Hadfield went to England in 1924 to be educated at Blundell's School, Devon, after which he went up to St Edmund Hall, Oxford. In 1936 he joined the Oxford University Press.
Charles Hadfield was born in Pietersburg, South Africa, where his father, a New Zealand native, served as an Assistant Resident Magistrate, and his mother came from a family of a Devon clergyman. Hadfield moved to England in 1924 to attend Blundell's School in Devon, later attending St Edmund Hall, Oxford, before joining the Oxford University Press in 1936.