Alethea Catharine Hayter (7 November 1911 – 10 January 2006) was an English

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

and

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

Representative.

Family and early life

Hayter was the daughter of Sir William Goodenough Hayter, a legal adviser to the Egyptian government, and his wife, Alethea Slessor, daughter of a

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

rector. Her brother, another Sir William Goodenough Hayter, went on to become British

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

to the

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and Warden of

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

, while her sister Priscilla Napier was a

biographer Biographers are authors who write an account of another person's life, while autobiographers are authors who write their own biography. Biographers Countries of working life: Ab=Arabia, AG=Ancient Greece, Al=Australia, Am=Armenian, AR=Ancient Rome ...

.Harvey-Wood, Harriet,
Aletha Hayter
', obituary in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' dated 13 January 2006, accessed July 2008Alethea Hayter, Adventurous biographer of poets, best known for her study 'Opium and the Romantic Imagination'
obituary in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' at timesonline.co.uk, accessed 7 August 2008 Hayter spent her early years in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

, Egypt, in the years before the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, where the three Hayter children were well taught by a

governess A governess is a woman employed as a private tutor, who teaches and trains a child or children in their home. A governess often lives in the same residence as the children she is teaching; depending on terms of their employment, they may or ma ...

. The children's lives changed dramatically when their father died, still in his fifties, and they returned to England in reduced circumstances. Alethea Hayter was only twelve years old. Her sister Priscilla later described their happy childhood in Cairo in her memoir ''A Late Beginner'' (1966). The three all won scholarships for their higher education. Hayter was educated at

Downe House School Downe House School is a private girls' boarding and day school in Cold Ash near Newbury, Berkshire, for girls aged 11–18. Entrance is selective, and the school has an enrollment of 559. The '' Good Schools Guide'' described Downe House ...

, in

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, then under the headship of its founder Olive Willis, and at

Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford Lady Margaret Hall (LMH) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, located on a bank of the River Cherwell at Norham Gardens in north Oxford and adjacent to the University Parks. The ...

, where she arrived in 1929 and went on to graduate BA in

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. Of her time at

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, Hayter later wrote "We were conventional and innocent, though we considered ourselves pioneering and revolutionary – not in politics, we were not much interested in them, but in our preferences in literature, the arts, social values... In our Oxford days, none of us could have boiled a potato, let alone made a

soufflé A soufflé () is a baked egg dish originating in France in the early 18th century. Combined with various other ingredients, it can be served as a savoury main dish or sweetened as a dessert. The word ''soufflé'' is the past participle of the Fr ...

, or would have known an azalea from a stinging nettle."

Career

Following her years at Oxford, Hayter was on the editorial staff of '' Country Life'' until 1938. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

she worked in postal

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Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

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, and

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

. In 1945, she joined the

, and in 1952 was posted to

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as an assistant Representative. In 1960, she went to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

as Deputy Representative and assistant cultural attaché, and her apartment on the

Île Saint-Louis Île Saint-Louis (), in size, is one of two natural islands in the Seine river, in Paris, France (the other natural island is the Île de la Cité, where Notre-Dame de Paris is located). Île Saint-Louis is connected to the rest of Paris by fo ...

became a meeting place for writers and artists. Her last British Council posting was as a Representative to

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, and she retired in 1971. She was a member of the governing bodies of the

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and the

Sadler's Wells Theatre Sadler's Wells Theatre is a London performing arts venue, located in Rosebery Avenue, Islington. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site. Sadler's Wells grew out of a late 17th-century pleasure garden and was opened as a theatre buil ...

and of the management committee of the

Society of Authors The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884 to protect the rights and further the interests of authors. Membership of the society is open to "anyon ...

Personal life and death

Hayter never married. She died on 10 January 2006, aged 94, and is buried in the churchyard of St Swithun's, Headbourne Worthy.

Publications

On the basis of their originality, Hayter' most important works are considered to be ''A Sultry Month'' (1965), ''Opium and the Romantic Imagination'' (1968), ''Horatio’s Version'' (1972) and ''A Voyage in Vain'' (1973). *''Mrs Browning: A Poet's Work and its Setting'' (1962) *''Elizabeth Barrett Browning'' (1965) *''A Sultry Month'' (1965) * ''Opium and the Romantic Imagination'' (1968, rev. 1998) *''Horatio's Version'' (1972) *''A Voyage in Vain: Coleridge's Journey to Malta in 1804'' (1973) *''FitzGerald to His Friends: Selected Letters of Edward FitzGerald'' (1979) d.*''Portrait of a Friendship: Drawn from New Letters of James Russell Lowell to Sybella Lady Lyttelton, 1881-91'' (1990) d.*''The Backbone: Diaries of a Military Family in the Napoleonic Wars'' (1993) d.*''Charlotte M Yonge'' (British Council's Writers and their Work series, 1996) *''A Wise Woman: A Memoir of Lavinia Mynors from her Diaries and Letters'' (1996) d.*''The Wreck of the Abergavenny'' (2002)

Honours

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 800 Fellows, elect ...

, 1962 *

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, 1970

References

External links

"Alethea Hayter"
Fellows Remembered, The Royal Society of Literature {{DEFAULTSORT:Hayter, Alethea 1911 births 2006 deaths Alumni of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford People educated at Downe House School English biographers British women biographers English literary critics British women literary critics Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Officers of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century British biographers Country Life (magazine) people